Development, violence, and resistance: the impact of British foreign policy and natural resource extraction in Colombia, 1986 - 2016

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This study will focus on the relationship between British foreign intervention and private extractive operations in Colombia between 1986 and 2016, and its impact on local communities in the Colombian departments of Casanare and La Guajira. In 1986, British Petroleum began oil exploration in the Colombian department of Casanare. Within a decade, BP's Cupiagua and Cusiana oilfields were at the forefront of Colombia's oil boom (Pearce, 2004). In 2002, a consortium of BHP Billiton, Anglo-American, and Glencore acquired total ownership of the Cerrejón coal mine in La Guajira (Chomsky, Leech, and Striffler, 2007). At this time, it was the world's largest open-pit coal mine producing half of Colombia's total coal output, and coal represented Colombia's largest export only after petroleum (Ibid.). British state intervention began in 1989 within the context of the drug war (HO534-28: 1989) and, by 2003, Britain was Colombia's second largest donor of military and police assistance. This project will examine how the intersection of British foreign policy and extractive interests impacted communities within two vital British enclave economies in Casanare and La Guajira.