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AQ Documentary: The Relocation of the Rio Rancheria in La Guajira, Colombia

By David Gacs , Alana Tummino and Boris Heger,

Watch an exclusive AQ documentary looking at how an indigenous community grapples with a mining company's plan to divert a local river. (en español)

Al otro lado del río: Proyecto de reubicación del Río Ranchería en la provincia de La Guajira, Colombia

In La Guajira, one of Colombia's poorest provinces, lies Cerrejón, one of the country’s most active and progressive coal mining companies. In the early 2000s, Cerrejón estimated that 500 million tons of coal were lying under the Río Rancheria, a river bed in the region. Getting it out, though, would require moving an entire river 16 miles.
 

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