Yuvelis Morales Blanco

The Heart of Colombia—and its Oil Industry

The Magdalena River, running nearly 1,000 miles from the Andes to the Caribbean, is one of Colombia’s longest rivers and a major lifeline. The river has long served as the backbone of the country’s economy and as its cultural heart, in addition to supporting many ecosystems and wildlife habitats. Along the central portion of the river lies the Magdalena Medio region, home to many fishing communities with strong cultural ties to the river. The region is also recognized as the hub of Colombia’s petroleum industry—ever since the first commercial well was developed there in 1918.

Today, Magdalena Medio’s principal city—Barrancabermeja—is the headquarters of Ecopetrol, a majority state-owned oil company that is the largest in the country. The company, which drives Colombia’s status as the fourth-largest oil producer in Latin America, maintains the country’s largest oil refinery in Barrancabermeja, in a sprawling facility with more than 300 storage tanks extending for more than one mile along the Magdalena River.

While the region’s oil production has long powered the country’s economy, it has also come with significant environmental and social costs. Magdalena Medio was one of the hardest hit regions in Colombia’s decades-long armed conflict, with frequent attacks on the area’s oil pipelines and jockeying for control of these resources. In 2025, the Colombian Special Jurisdiction for Peace recognized the Magdalena River as an official victim of the country’s armed conflict. According to recent leaked data and investigations, Ecopetrol has long underreported its carbon emissions, actively hid oil spill data, and monitored environmental activists. From 2015 to 2022, 40% of Ecopetrol’s more than 2,000 oil spills occurred in Magdalena Medio.

Facing declining production in the 2010s, Colombia began to explore the extraction of natural gas and oil through hydraulic fracturing—or “fracking.” While fracking is widespread in some parts of the United States, it is relatively rare in Latin America, with only Mexico and Argentina currently running large-scale commercial operations. This highly water-intensive form of extraction poses significant water contamination risk for the Magdalena River. Amidst a push by then-President Ivan Duque, Colombia’s highest administrative court implemented a country-wide moratorium on fracking in 2018. This ruling was appealed, opening a key loophole to allow for “pilot” fracking projects. In 2019, President Duque announced two Ecopetrol-led “pilot” fracking projects, called Kalé and Platero, to be developed near the town of Puerto Wilches in Magdalena Medio.

Growing up on the Magdalena

Yuvelis Morales Blanco, 24, grew up along on the banks of the Magdalena River in the Afro-Colombian community of Puerto Wilches in a family of subsistence fishermen. As a child, Yuvelis recalls, “we had nothing but the river—she was like a mother who took care of me.” Growing up, she watched her father’s fishing catch—and her family’s livelihood—diminish due to frequent oil spills on the river. Remembering the oil spills, Yuvelis notes that “dark spots on the river meant that we were not going to eat.”

As a teenager, Yuvelis was deeply affected by the Well 158 oil spill, in 2018, from Ecopetrol’s Lizama oil field into two tributaries of the Magdalena River near Puerto Wilches. The impacts—nearly 100 families relocated, thousands of animals killed, and massive fish die-offs—were devastating. Yuvelis saw the incident as a turning point for herself—realizing the true cost of the ever-present oil industry along the Magdalena River. After beginning an environmental engineering degree in college, she interrupted her studies to focus on the anti-fracking campaign in Puerto Wilches.

Going against a Giant

About a year after the Well 158 oil spill, Yuvelis started to see signs promoting fracking along roadways as she traveled to college. At the time, she did not know what fracking was, but began attend meetings organized by the Alianza Colombia Libre de Fracking (Colombia Free from Fracking Alliance). Once informed about the risks fracking posed to the Magdalena River, Yuvelis felt compelled to act. Alongside fellow students, she began by going door-to-door in the community of 30,000 people to inform residents about the risks of fracking. Yuvelis recalled that, during this first foray into activism, a resident told her she would “end up getting herself killed.” Their work led to meetings with government officials and, eventually, the mayor.

The resistance movement grew, with protests popping up at the Ecopetrol refinery an hour south of Puerto Wilches. In December 2020, a carnival-style protest march in Puerto Wilches drew thousands of people. A month later, Yuvelis was invited to speak at a public hearing on fracking. Her powerful testimony was widely shared and helped mark a turning point. It helped establish Yuvelis as an effective spokesperson and leader on the dangers of fracking, which also made her a target for harassment and intimidation. Following various security incidents, in 2021 Yuvelis temporarily relocated outside of Puerto Wilches, but continued to support the local campaign and raise national awareness through the Alianza.

Hard-won Local Wins

Despite the local opposition, the fracking projects moved through the environmental permit process, inching toward full approval. In January 2022, dates were set for community consultations regarding the approvals. Yuvelis played a key role in organizing a peaceful sit-in at one of the permit hearings. Following the hearing, armed men appeared at her home, forcing her to leave Puerto Wilches. Through her support network, an immediate asylum request was made to the French government, which accepted her request and recognized her with the Marianne Initiative for Human Rights Defenders Award. Yuvelis left Colombia for France in February 2022.

Yuvelis’ high-profile exile and continued activism elevated fracking as an issue in Colombia’s 2022 presidential elections, turning the country’s attention toward the opposition in Puerto Wilches. In April 2022, a court order suspended the environmental permitting processes for both fracking projects in Puerto Wilches until community consultations were completed. Following the suspension, newly elected Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced that he would not allow any fracking projects during his administration (2022-2026). As a result, in September 2022, Ecopetrol asked the government to suspend the project contracts.

Continued Activism and Opposition

From France, Yuvelis elevated the fracking issue and her role as an environmental defender to the international stage. She shared her story directly with President Emmanuel Macron. Joining the International Rights of Nature Tribunal, she visited communities affected by fracking in Argentina and Mexico. Taking advantage of the international opportunities, Yuvelis is now widely recognized as one of the most important voices in Colombia’s anti-fracking movement.

Now back in Colombia, Yuvelis has continued to be a leader within the movement, as she continues to organize with the Alianza for a healthy environment and strong communities in Magdalena Medio. As of today, no fracking projects have advanced in Puerto Wilches—or anywhere else in Colombia. Additionally, in August 2024, the Colombian Constitutional Court—in response to a lawsuit by a local organization—ruled that the pilot projects had violated the right of the Afro-Colombian community in Puerto Wilches to free, prior, and informed consent.

Today, after multiple failed attempts to pass a national fracking ban in Colombia’s congress, the fate of the pilot project is at a critical juncture. The Colombian presidential elections, set for May 2026, will likely determine the future of fracking in Colombia.