The rights of the Wayúu people and water in the context of mining in La Guajira, Colombia: demands of relational water justice

Abstract

This article discusses the Wayúu people's use of water as a symbol and tool to fight against the Cerrejón
coal mine development in La Guajira, Colombia, by asserting and protecting water's territorial rights.
Environmental inequalities and control and infrastructure arrangements have transformed local water
dynamics, impacting the Wayúu people in a differentiated way, in a semidesertic region of Colombia
where Cerrejón sits—the largest open-pit coal mine in Latin America and Colombia, and the tenth largest
in the world. The Wayúu people's traditional and everyday connections with the regions of water have
been dispossessed and modified as a result of Cerrejón's technological and environmental interventions in
the area, which have an impact on the river Ranchería and its water streams. The group Fuerza de
Mujeres Wayúu (FMW) has responded by suggesting tactics to protect water and fight against mining.
They have also started discussions around the rights and territories of water. According to the FMW,
protecting water's territories—holy sites where water spirits reside—suggests that Wayúu territories and
water are intrinsically linked and cannot be severed or divided via mining operations or governmental
regulations. Their suggestions force us to reevaluate how we define water justice and how we ensure that
all living things, including people, have access to water.