Mariana is an anthropologist who has devoted her life to working alongside indigenous communities and peasant farmers to strengthen their cultural practices and ecological knowledge. Gaia first met Mariana in 2013, helping to facilitate a solidarity exchange between her childhood community of Doima and other communities facing mining threats. This encounter played a major part in the founding of the Yes to Life, No to Mining solidarity network. Mariana plays an active role in the network as Regional Coordinator for Latin America, connecting mining affected communities in solidarity so they can exchange tactics for defending their territories. Working with Gaia’s Colombian sister organisation, Gaia Amazonas, Mariana is also championing the Path of the Anacondas an ambitious initiative that seeks to establish a vast eco-cultural ‘mosiac’ from the Andes to the Amazon to the Atlantic.