PBI-Colombia accompanies CREDHOS and ACVC on humanitarian mission in Cerro Azul and Alto San Juan
PBI-Colombia has posted: “We accompanied @Credhos_Paz [Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights] on a humanitarian mission with @ACVCRAN [Small-Scale Farmer Association of the Cimitarra River Valley] and government institutions to listen to the needs and stories of violations of their rights expressed by the community of Cerro Azul, San Pablo, in #South Bolivar.”
CREDHOS has also posted: “We participated in the Humanitarian Mission in the communities of the villages of Cerro Azul and Alto San Juan, municipality of San Pablo, Bolivar. An Action, in which civil society organizations, the international community and State institutions participated in the defence and promotion of Human Rights and respect for International Humanitarian Law.”
Photos from the humanitarian mission.
Current context
On April 29, El Universal explained: “Although in recent days the situation in southern Bolívar has taken on more prominence, the truth is that this population has been living with violence for years. A report carried out in 2023 by the International Institute of Caribbean Studies of the University of Cartagena and the Social Pastoral of the Diocese of Magangué, shows the picture in more detail.”
“The study highlights that this cycle of violence began after the signing of the 2016 Peace Accords, which included the demobilization of the FARC [Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia] Magdalena Medio Bloc. Their withdrawal sparked a dispute between the ELN [National Liberation Army] and the Gulf Clan [paramilitary] for territorial control, leading to increased armed clashes. The situation worsened when in 2022 the Central General Staff (EMC) [founded by former members of the FARC] joined this conflict.”
It then notes: “According to the study, the repositioning of armed groups in southern Bolívar is due to the limited capacity of the security forces to control territory, failures in security policies, and delays in the implementation of the Peace Agreement.”
Reuters has also noted: “The EMC, ELN, Segunda Marqutalia [one of the largest factions of FARC dissidents] and armed groups like the Clan del Golfo [the Gulf Clan] often fight each other for control of illicit income streams like drug trafficking and illegal mining. Violence in many parts of Colombia has continued despite ongoing bilateral government ceasefires with the EMC and the ELN.”
Origins of this situation
In brief, Justice for Colombia has explained:
“The Colombian armed conflict was a direct result of a deep rooted social and political conflict. In spite of huge natural wealth, a large number of Colombians live in poverty. This poverty is particularly concentrated in rural areas.
Guerrilla organisations emerged in response to this situation and the armed conflict was therefore a direct result of an unanswered social and political conflict.
The armed conflict in Colombia officially began in 1964 with the formation of two separate guerrilla groups, the FARC and the ELN. The violence in Colombia however had started long before.
After a number of civil wars between Colombian elites in the second half of the 19th Century, the murder of the anti-establishment Liberal Party presidential candidate, Jorge Gaitan, in 1948 initiated a decade of violence which became known as la Violencia. During this period more than 200,000 Colombians, principally peasant farmers, were killed.
Although it had begun as a popular uprising, la Violencia was being orchestrated by the Liberal and Conservative landowning elite to further their own political and economic interests and in 1958 the two parties came to an agreement to bring an end to the fighting. The agreement ensured the exclusion of all other political parties from the political system.
Whilst paramilitary-type structures were first used by the Conservative Party in the 1950s during La Violencia, the origins of the modern day paramilitaries emerged in the 1980s. These groups saw the coming together of large landholders and business leaders, drug cartels, and the Colombian Army with the objectives of advancing economic interests and combating the threat posed by the different guerrilla groups. From the outset the paramilitary structures enjoyed deep rooted support from the Colombian state and targeted much of their violence against political activists.”
Accompaniment
PBI-Colombia has accompanied CREDHOS since 1994 and ACVC since 2004.
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