We feel our territory in our guts: impacts of the El Cerrejón open-pit coal mine on the body-territory of the Afro-descendant women of Patilla, Chancleta and Tabaco, in southern La Guajira, Colombia.

This paper analyzes the impacts of the Cerrejón open-pit mine, located in the department of La Guajira, Colombia, on the lives of Afro-descendant women from the communities of Tabaco, Chancleta and Patilla -who were dispossessed of their original territories by the mining company- and how these impacts are manifested in their bodies-territories. The women we worked with have different life experiences; some were resettled; others are in the process of reparation and compensation; and others were not recognized as affected by the mining company's displacement. However, all of them have in common the deep bond that unites them with their ancestral territories, and the participation in organizational initiatives that link the defense and recognition of the role of Afro-Guajira women in sustaining community life; the struggle for black ancestral territory.

To read the complete thesis by Liza Gaitán Ortiz go to this link