Anchicayá, between the remnants of the struggle and the resistance of a process

Abstract

This essay reflects on the longstanding resistance of the Black communities of the Anchicayá River, who have not only fought for the enforcement of the constitutional rights that recognized them as an ethnic group in the 1990s, but who, since 2001, have also been engaged in a protracted legal battle against the Pacific Energy Company (EPSA). In July 2001, EPSA—with the acquiescence of the Colombian state—caused an environmental disaster that profoundly disrupted the lives of the people of Anchicayá, most of whom are rural farmers who, up to that point, had lived without access to public services due to persistent state neglect. The essay draws on legal documents, interviews with social leaders, pamphlets, songs, and poems created by the inhabitants of Anchicayá. It highlights the unwavering determination of the Black communities of Anchicayá to live with dignity on their ancestral lands and in harmony with the natural environment.