Marina Hinestrona is a leader of the community La Esperanza in the municipality of Buenaventura.  

 

La Esperanza is a primarily Afro-Colombian community that was displaced in 2004 due to the conflict between paramilitaries and guerrillas. In 2008, they won a collective title to their land under Colombia’s Law 70, a mechanism for Afro-Colombian communities to claim collective land titles based on cultural and ethnic histories. However, paramilitaries continue to invade their land and sell it out from under them.

 

Community members are concerned not only with maintaining their land but also preventing environmental degradation. Their lands are rich in gold and minerals, and have been targeted for illegal mining projects that result in deforestation, erosion and pollution.