The El Quimbo hydroelectric plant has prompted fierce opposition since 2009, when the Colombian government approved its construction near the headwaters of the country’s most important river, the Magdalena, a region of fertile farmland and productive fishing grounds. Protests have brought students, farmers and fisherman to the streets for years, most recently last month, to denounce the dam, which is slated for completion by the end of this year. Opponents also have taken the government and Emgesa, the Italian-Colombian consortium building the dam, to court in a bid to stop the project. And representatives of affected inhabitants in the southern department of Huila have traveled to Washington, D.C. to testify before the Organization of American States’ Inter-American Commission on Human Rights about the... [Log in to read more]