Probable Colombia farms bring a promise and pain for the indigenous group

When Jose Luis Iguaran goes beyond his home in La Godzhir, North Colombia, he is met with a line of 10 rising wind turbines that stretch through the cactus area to the Caribbean.

The indigenous group of Wayuu, which belongs to Mr. Iguaran, lives on the dry region of the peninsula over the centuries, shepherd goats, which seek crop, mining of salt and fishing.

With some of the most powerful winds of Colombia, La Goodzhir became the epicenter of the country’s transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

But this green ambition faced resistance, and reflections from the locals whose territory is deeply connected with the culture, tradition and deep communication with nature.

“You wake up and suddenly you no longer see the trees. Instead, you see and hear the turbines,” says Mr. Iguaran.

Now his community shares his land with Goodba 1 – one of the two operatives of Colombia. Another 15 wind farms are now being built in La -Guodzhir, and there are dozens more plans.

“At night, the noise from the turbines violates our dreams. For us dreams are holy,” Mr. iguaran adds.

In Wayuu, which has about 380,000 in Colombia and extends to Venezuela, there are different traditions and beliefs. Dreams are a bridge into the spiritual world where they receive messages from their ancestors interpreted in the family.

Despite its cultural interruptions, Mr. Iguaran says his community was used by Gadzhir 1. The energy company behind it, the Colombian firm Isagen, paid for their access to clean drinking water, the best roads and durable brick houses that replaced some dirt and cacti.

Isgen owned by Canada in Brookfield also pays three local communities for the annual wind farm, which is there, the percentage of annual electricity revenue and 20% of carbon loans. They are purchased by companies wishing to compensate for carbon emissions.

Mr. Iguaran believes that such energy projects can help bring vital development to the region of the second disorder in Colombia. But not everyone shares their enthusiasm.

“Windy farms produce pure energy, but they create a division in the Way communities,” explains Aaron Laguna, Fisherman Wayu, who lives in the coastal village of Kaba -de -Vela.

Currently, his community is in the process of consulting through the wind -farm, which should be built nearby. He saw others affected by the projects complain of lack of transparency, poor compensation, disrespect for cultural norms and corruption.

“Bad negotiations are held, and the locals (for us) are not well -managed,” he adds.

These problems have led to disputes with energy companies and even a UEU community conflict. Some oppose projects and others feel excluded from the negotiations that can bring them advantages.

“There is still an idea that if it is green, it is automatically good,” says Joanna Barney, director of environmental issues, energy and communities at the Colombian Indepaz Analytical Center. It has widely researched the energy transition and its impact on Wayuu.

“In Colombia … there is no solid legal framework for the correct assessment of environmental impact – and social consequences are immeasurable.”

In December 2024, the Spanish company Edp Renováveis ​​postponed plans for two winds in La -Guodzhir, saying that the projects were no longer economically viable.

One of the factors was the doubling of the local indigenous communities, which said they would affect them and therefore requires compensation from 56 to 113.

The EDP’s decision came after leaving the Italian multinational Eneel from another planned wind farm in the region. Annel attributed his departure “permanent protest”, which stopped the construction of more than half of the working days between 2021 and 2023.

Gadzhir 1 was also clouded by the blocks, in the usual way of protest in La -Guodzhir, when the locals feel unprecedented.

And the Indepaz analytical tank recorded cases of attacks on energy firms, including armed robberies and abductions. And in some areas, he revealed cases of resettlement and violence between local communities that disagree with neighboring wind farms.

“We call it a” wind “,” says Mrs. Barney.

For the Colombian anthropologist Aldler Guhrero, there is a clear gap between Wayuu and Wind Farm.

“There are two worlds that speak, and they failed to understand each other,” he says.

This gap extends to how they perceive the wind – the element of the main one in these projects.

“For Wayuu the wind is people. It’s not wind, but wind. There are eight different winds, mythological and ancestors with different temperaments that form the environment and must be respected.”

On the contrary, companies and the Colombian government perceive the wind as a resource for use for environmental progress, profit and to meet the country’s energy needs.

While Colombia has a relatively pure internal electrical matrix, almost two -thirds come from hydroelectricity, the country remains vulnerable to the low level of the tank, which creates the risk of energy deficiency. Currently, wind energy brings only 0.1% energy mixture.

For the energy companies that invest in the region, the risk of conflicts with the locals is an alarming prospect.

One of these firms, AES Colombia, is developing the largest wind energy in La -Guodzhir, with six wind farms.

The company insists that it supports an open dialogue with communities, offering fair compensation and ensures that benefits such as pure drinking water and shares in carbon loans.

But it states that there is not enough good relationships in society.

“We cannot do these projects alone,” says Federico Echa, CEO of AES Colombia. “The government should help resolve conflicts between communities.”

On the beach of the wind in Kabo -a -Vela, Laguna says that La -Gadzhir is historically neglected by the state.

Education and healthcare is poor, and most rural settlements do not have running water.

Some people still go hours every day to collect water from jagüys – a reservoir filled with rain water.

In his community there is a small cleansing institution of salt water, which produces fresh water, and it wants the company that plans to build a nearby wind farm to expand it, so more locals benefit.

Despite the progress conversations, it indicates a long paradox. “The worst thing is that we will not get a single kilowatt of the electricity produced here,” he complains.

The plan is to make the wind electricity be sent to another place, and that the village will continue to rely on generators, at least in the medium term.

Although the future may look bright for pure energy, many Wayuu is still concerned, they will remain in the dark.