Dying fish, polluted water and a terrible stench: the French firm accused of dumping toxic waste in Colombia’s wetlands

Wilson Díaz, president of the Barrancabermeja fishing union, casts his net into the waters of San Silvestre, which he says now give off a foul smell. All photographs by Charlie Cordero/the Guardian Photograph: Charlie Cordero/The Guardian

As a small fishing canoe darts across the still waters of the San Silvestre wetlands in central Colombia, Wilson Díaz leans over and dips his hands overboard. He cups some water and brings a palmful to his face, inhaling deeply. “It smells foul,” he says.

Díaz, president of a fishing union in his home town of Barrancabermeja, knows the waters intimately. He has worked in the San Silvestre wetlands his entire life; the water he now says is foul has long been his family’s sustenance.