Presenters:
Isabel Zuleta (Rios Vivos - Colombia)
Anthony Prior (Red Metropolitana No Alto Maipo - Chile)

Isabel Zuleta, activist and sociologist, founded Rios Vivos in 2008 to oppose the Ituango Dam project on the Cauca River, Antioquia, Colombia. Construction of the dam has displaced communities and causing significant environmental impacts on the health of the river and challenging people's livelihoods downstream. As a result of their activism, Zuleta and other members of Rios Vivos have faced violence and threats on their lives.

The Alto Maipo Hydroelectric Project is described as a run-of-the-river project that requires the diversion of three tributary rivers and 67km of bored tunnels, dramatically reshaping the flow of the Maipo River. A broad sector of Chilean civil society has called for the project to be halted, citing serious flaws in the environmental assessment process and its emerging ecological impacts. Anthony Prior is the spokesperson for Red Metropolitana Alto Maipo, a community-based organization focused on halting mining and extraction industries on the Upper-Maipo river.

Both presenters will examine the environmental and social impacts of these controversial hydroelectric projects and make connections to ongoing political violence in their countries.

Isabel Zuleta is on a Canada-wide tour supported by several organizations. Anthony Priort will be joining via video.