Lets Defend Our Land

Only united can we assert our right to life, peace and permanence in our territory.

A poem about the entrance of mining company Kedahda, affilliate of Anglo Gold Ashanti, to the Serrania de San Lucas of Sur de Bolivar department. Author - resident of Mina Caracol.

If they ask me where I come from
Im going to tell them
I'm of peasant origin
But now I find myself here

I have no bacheloriat
Nor have I a diploma to defend myself with
But what I tell you now
Concerns you as much as me

I am an artisanal miner
That works day and night
One who risks his life
To earn bread for himself and his family

But what will become of us and our children
If this soon all changes?
What will be of this people
Without their mining customs?
If our Government, in search of self gain
Displaces us from our land.

So people lets defend out land
It belongs to us like the light from the sun
This violence is of our Governments making
You have nothing to lose by saying no

You hear them saying that they want to put an end
To the nature reserves of the small scale miners
With heavy machineries they call multinationals
Without thinking of the needs of our children.

That is why the world is as it is
With its one future and one tomorrow
Turned into nothing
By everyone seeking their own benefit

From the city I have seen many people
With expensive diplomas they have earned themselves
They come to the mines in search of work
Because there they dont serve for nothing

So what will become of us in the cities
The people who dont know shit
We sure havent got a hope in hell
Because for society we will just be beggars

So people lets defend out land
It belongs to us like the light from the sun
This violence is of our Governments making
You have nothing to lose by saying no

The miners of the San Lucas mountain range go on resisting and we will not tire for the love of our territory