We are very pleased to announce the arrival of TerraJusta, quietly launched in April 2020 in the midst of the Covid19 pandemic. Those of you who have followed the work of The Democracy Center will know that TerraJusta evolved out of that, with the members of the team here having spent many years working together as part of The Democracy Center.
Over the last several years that team, spread between Bolivia, Ireland and the UK, developed the Center’s work in Latin America with a closer focus on how extractivism operates in the region, how it impacts on people and ecologies, and the ways that communities are standing up to extractive companies and asserting their rights over territories, resources, health and livelihoods. We have now reached the point where that work can stand alone, and we are excited to claim our new organisational identity as TerraJusta, with the following mission:
Through international campaigns and our research and communications work, TerraJusta accompanies and supports organizations and communities fighting for social, economic and environmental justice, especially those affected by extractive projects in Latin America.
Follow the work of The Democracy CenterAt the time of writing, in May 2020, our work includes international solidarity support to communities around the Cerrejón coalmine in Colombia, including as part of London Mining Network and campaign groups in the UK and Ireland. We have also been working with a range of mining-affected communities and their allies in Peru, supporting them in fundraising, capacity building and networking as well as exchange opportunities. We are further developing that work this year, including with a particular focus on the risks to water in communities impacted by extractive projects. As well as our membership of London Mining Network – which has also seen us contributing to collaborative actions highlighting the damage by mining giants AngloAmerican and BHP – TerraJusta is part of the Global Campaign to Dismantle Corporate Power and the international movement pushing for a binding treaty on human rights for multinational corporations. We made the video ‘Rights for People, Rules for Corporations’, in collaboration with Global Justice Now and London Mining Network, to support the campaign.
At this moment we are also working with allies to see how we can support mining-affected communities in Latin America who are particularly exposed to the impacts of the Covid19 pandemic – due to lack of access to water and sanitation, plus economic, health and other vulnerabilities. We are compiling and sharing information about those impacts, participating in international solidarity calls, and have been involved in two crowdfunding efforts, along with campaigners in Ireland, the UK and the US, to get resources to members of the Wayúu indigenous community in La Guajira, Colombia.
You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Soundcloud – or drop us a line to contact@terra-justa.org. We look forward to sharing our work with you and enjoying your support.