The El Cerrejon train, one of the world's largest open-pit coal mines, and its 110 carriages loaded with black ore tear through the ochre desert of Guajira, in Colombia. "They call it either the monster or the boa. Two members of my family have already been killed by the train, goats and sheep by the dozens!" said Denise Velasquez, an Indigenous Wayuu tribe leader. Her isolated home lies just a few dozen meters from the tracks near Cap de la Vela, in Colombia's far North.

Despite significant natural resources, the Guajira peninsula remains poor and ignored. The Colombian state has always neglected the department, inhabited almost exclusively by the Wayuu, the country's main Indigenous community (380,460 people, according to a 2018 census). Historically, these Indigenous people have always resisted Spanish conquest.

Dolores Epieyuu, leader of the Siwolu clan, also lives near the El Cerrejon train tracks, a few dozen kilometers from Uribia, the most important town in the north of the department. She is worried and weary. "It passes every four hours or so, all year round, night and day. The wind covers us with coal dust escaping from the open carriages," she said, her traditional vermilion tunic fluttering in the wind.

The El Cerrejon open-pit mine, from which the coal is extracted, is located 100 kilometers further south in the center of the Guajira department. Nicknamed la bestia ("the beast"), it is once again operating at full capacity after having been forced to reduce production in 2019 due to the fall in global demand for coal, a consequence of international agreements to combat global warming and later the Covid-19 pandemic.

Early closure was even considered despite a contract with the Colombian state running until 2034. Hope was short-lived for the Wayuu and Afro-Colombian communities of Guajira. Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 reshuffled the global energy cards. European Union countries became the main buyers of Colombian coal to compensate for the halt in Russian gas imports. Exports to Europe have surged by 37% since the start of the conflict, and daily convoys from the mine to Puerto Bolivar, the export terminal, have resumed at a brisk pace, reaching 90,000 metric tons a day.

It is a windfall for Swiss mining giant Glencore, which has been the exclusive owner of the mine since 2021 and which has seen its Colombian business return to profitability. The profits have even sparked interest in expanding the operation, which already covers 690 square kilometers, much to the displeasure of Colombian President Gustavo Petro.

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