Colombia: Two dead, nearly 90 held hostage amid protests against oil company

At least one police officer and a civilian have been killed after violent protests erupted against the Chinese-state-owned company subsidiary, Emerald Energy, in Colombia’s Caqueta province on Thursday (March 2). Some 79 officers and nine workers at the oilfield were taken hostage by the rural communities, said the human rights ombudsman Carlos Camargo, in a statement.

“It's lamentable that, amid these protests, a policeman and civilian were killed, while several policemen were detained and others were injured”, said Camargo, as per Reuters. According to the Colombian police, violence erupted in a rural area of the San Vicente del Caguan municipality where an Emerald Energy oil field was attacked and set on fire by the protesters.

Police sources told Reuters, that one officer and a civilian died from gunshot wounds and they suspect the involvement of the rebel group, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) who are present in the area in the recent protests. People from rural and indigenous communities had blocked access to the oil field and demanded that the Sinochem subsidiary help fix roads in the region.

Notably, protests are not rare in the country as communities have pushed for companies to build infrastructure like roads and schools. Meanwhile, Colombian President Gustavo Petro took to Twitter and said that he has ordered a joint commission from the country’s defence and interior ministries as well as the military to be dispatched to the region to put an end to the violence.

In a series of statements, Petro also seemingly accused rebel groups like the FARC of wanting to destroy the government and plunge Colombia into war. “The extremes come together in practice. The prosecutor’s office…must investigate and identify the criminals who caused the deaths in Caquetá. I expect the collaboration of the national peasantry to free the retained officials of my government,” said the Colombian president.

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