Over the course of no more than two months, environmentalists and public opinion in Colombia have furiously erupted due to the announcement of the government regarding possible oil extractions close to a natural reserve, in which one of the most beautiful rivers in the world is located. Cano Cristales River is well known worldwide as the river of the five colors, due to aquatic plants resting on the bottom of its course. The yellow, red, black, and green algae move calmly and rhythmically by the flowing of the river, showing beauty as a feature of simplicity and elegance. Such natural treasure could be threatened by something so common and current as oil. This situation is a real example of how the legend of "El Dorado" is still alive in Latin America.  It is clear that even in modern times, the unscrupulous extraction of minerals goes even further to more remote places due to global demand.

Although The Environmental Protection Agency of Colombia (ANLA) proclaimed that the oil extraction plant won't be located inside of the natural reserve, people are afraid that such operations can affect the balance of La Macarena, the name of the natural reserve. It is not a secret that the concession gained by HUPECOL, a US company,  allowed the plant to start operations near to the three most important river tributaries of Cano Cristales: Guayabero, Duda, and Lozada. The public reaction in the media was  so energetic on social media that the campaign using the hashtag "#LaMacarenaNOseToca" (Do not touch La Macarena in English) forced the Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos, to stop the license of oil drilling until further studies confirm there will be not signs of natural degradation, in Cano Cristales.

Colombia is not the only country experiencing the mining boom, the rest of the Latin America countries also suffer from the same situation. The World Bank and the CEPAL have proclaimed that mining industry is one of the most important sectors of the Latin America economy, showing a significant growth during the last two decades.   The Mining Conflict Observatory of Latin American (OCMAL) says that the 27 % of the world mining extractions are placed in the region surpassing the rate of production of other important continents as Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Multinational companies keep looking for new and more remote places for placing their investments. Snowy tundra, Amazon rainforest, Caribbean corals, high-altitude wetland ecosystem, and even complete towns like Marmato have had the announcement from part of the government of possible mining titles, endangering the balance of such fragile ecosystems and the well-being of their inhabitants. The situation is so serious that OMCAL has detected 2100 cases of social conflict related to this practice in the continent. The social conflict associated with the loss of autonomy inside of their own territories and the pollution and environmental degradation affecting agriculture, fishing, and polluted water supply.   

Although globalization is a reality almost unstoppable, it is true that our daily activities need more of those raw materials, and there is a need to increase access to electronic devices like computers, smartphones, and cars to the whole humanity.  It doesn’t mean that we cannot start to be aware of the crisis that we are living and, promptly we must face. Natural resources are becoming less available every day and the human race is affronting one of the most difficult decisions to make. Stopping environmental degradation is not a decision taken by a single nation or by a sovereign government; this is a decision that concerns every single human being.