Colombia's feared anti-riot force, the ESMAD [10], used tear-gas June 20 against campesinos occupying lands in the Amazonian department of Caquetá to block oil exploration efforts. Seismic activities are being carried out in the municipalities of Valparaiso and Milan y Morelia by a contractor for firm Emerald Energy [11]. Protest leader José Antonio Saldarriaga said: "We defend our territory, the water and the future for the next generations... It caused us much sadness that 95% has been displaced by violence, and now that we are returning, the multinationals want to displace us for extractive projects." The new blockades come almost a year after three local campesinos were gravely injured in a similar police operation to break up a blockade of seismic exploration workers. UK-based Emerald Energy was purchased by China's Sinochem [12] in 2009. (Contagio Radio [13], June 21)
The protests in Caquetá also come one year after a devastating oil spill [14] on a trans-Andean pipeline through Nariño department. One year after the 400,000- gallon spill, some 100,000 local residents remain without local access to water, and some 14,000 traditional fishermen are without work. (El Tiempo [15], June 12)
