For four days, the streets, auditoriums, and parks of Mocoa pulsed with the energy of the 5th Festival of Water, Life, and the Mountain, convened by the Guardians of the Andean Amazon collective. Nestled in the Amazonian foothills where the Amazon lowlands meet the towering Andes, Mocoa is one of the most biodiverse and strategically important places on Earth.
This fifth edition, like those before it, honored the species that share these ecosystems with the communities defending them. Butterflies and primates were this year’s emblems, their presence in the festival carrying a meaning one community leader captured perfectly at the opening:
“They are hosts because butterflies and primates inhabit these territories – these are their homes. And they are guests because we want to bring them into these spaces to highlight and celebrate their presence and the fundamental ecological role they play.”
Days of cultural, artistic, and educational activities filled the festival with photography exhibitions, songs, laughter, joy, and learning – a collective celebration of the extraordinary environmental richness that Mocoa and the entire Andean Amazon hold and fiercely protect.
The wind shifts in favor of Giant Copper
On June 21, 2026, Colombia elected far-right leader Abelardo de la Espriella as president, part of a broader shift to the right across Amazonian countries, including Peru and Ecuador. For Canadian mining firm Giant Copper, his election was good news. The new administration openly promotes mineral extraction, promises legal security for mining companies, and is moving to repeal the resolutions the Petro government issued to protect key ecosystems.
As investigative outlet La Silla Vacía has documented, Giant Copper moved quickly to embed itself at the heart of political power. On August 6 – one day before President Abelardo de la Espriella’s inauguration – the company announced Carlos Suárez, now president of Ecopetrol’s board of directors, as a board member. Two of the president’s partners, Serafino Iacono and Federico Restrepo, also joined the company’s board – placing Giant Copper in a privileged position to advance its projects in Colombia, and in the Amazon in particular.
Pressure strategies
While the Festival of Water was underway, Giant Copper convened an eco-mining summit in Mocoa – one of its regular tactics for overshadowing community events defending the territory. Out of that summit, the government announced the creation of a territorial office of the National Mining Agency in Mocoa – another clear signal of support for the Canadian company’s ambitions.
The city’s Territorial Planning Plan has also become a central battleground. After years of technical work, the plan finally reached Mocoa’s municipal council for approval, but in recent weeks, proposed modifications have sought to strip away protections for the biome and ecosystem, opening the door to mining intervention or, at minimum, handing decisions to national authorities who have made their support for extractive industry clear. Giant Copper is watching closely, attending council sessions and using every available channel to pressure councillors into inaction, keeping the path to mining open.
Mining out of the Amazon
The resistance in Mocoa matters for two reasons. The project would devastate the Amazon downstream of the operation, and its approval would hand a victory to those who want to open the wider Amazon to mining in the name of critical minerals and rare earths for the energy transition. Our Mining out of the Amazon campaign holds that no mining should be allowed in the Amazon. It risks pushing the rainforest past its tipping point, poisons local ecosystems, and exposes communities to threats and violence. That is why we stand with the communities of Mocoa and join their call for a just and popular transition – one that protects their rights, strengthens their sustainable economies, and safeguards the Amazon.
The communities gathered at the festival face real and growing pressure as the new government pushes to open their lands to mining. On the closing day, a Concert for Water and Life brought voices together in song, declaring that the mountain must not be touched and that water is worth more than copper. The official closing took the form of a mountain hike – through landscapes full of magic, surrounded by biodiversity, rivers, and streams that flow through every corner of the territory. It was a chance to walk, breathe, and drink water that still holds the purity of the mountains. Mocoa is determined to keep it that way.
