Asked about his family, Teófilo Acura’s expression saddens. ‘I have a small family. They are very worried about me and I’m obviously very worried about them. But I also have a very big family – my community. I have been displaced for a long time and being separated from both of these families affects me a great deal.’
Teófilo is the founder and leader of FEDAGROMISBOL, the Federation of Agro-Miners in the South of Bolívar, Colombia. He represents thousands of small-scale campesinos who are dependent on gold-mining and agricultural work. Their livelihoods are being threatened by a company called Kedahda, which has applied for 2,114 mining concessions in the area. Since the company’s expression of interest, paramilitary intervention and human rights abuses have increased, blockades have been set up to prevent access to food and supplies, and social, political and community leaders have been detained – all tactics aimed at forcing the agro-miners into moving off their land.
