Colombia Calling - The English Voice in Colombia19 Aug 2025

580: Truth Demands: Murder, Oil Wars, and Climate Justice

This week, Emily Hart speaks to Abby Reyes – human rights lawyer, environmental activist and author, as well as Director of Community Resilience Projects at the University of California.

Abby was inextricably drawn into Colombian history in 1999 by the murder of her partner, Terence Freitas. Terence was kidnapped and killed by the FARC guerrilla, alongside two other indigenous rights activists - killings which sent shockwaves through political and activist circles both here and in the United States.

The three had been working with the U'wa indigenous community in the northeast of the country, where Occidental Petroleum - a US-based corporation - was threatening to start operations in ancestral U'wa territory.

In the years following, as well as grappling with grief, Abby joined in activism with the U'wa from the United States, facing Occidental on Capitol Hill: she later even testified as an accredited victim at the Colombian peace tribunal, the JEP.

The dense interweaving of the personal, political, and historical, make for a moving and unique set of experiences which Abby narrates in her extraordinary new book: 'Truth Demands: A Memoir of Murder, Oil Wars, and the Rise of Climate Justice.'

The Colombia Briefing will be subscriber only this week – so those of you who have already signed up will be getting it through WhatsApp and email as usual - but if you're missing your hit of news and want to be sure you never skip an update, you can head to the Colombia Calling Patreon or to Emily's Substack – harte.substack.com.

Check out Colombia Calling, the longest-running English-language podcast about Colombia. Richard McColl's latest book The Mompos Project: A Tale of Love, Hotels and Madness in Colombia Richard McColl's book on Colombian history and politics Colombia at a Crossroads: a Historical and Social Biography La Casa Amarilla, Mompos
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