Life is land and life is impossible without land
Domingo 3 de octubre de 2010, por Fundación Rostros y Huellas <
http://civis.se/Fundacion-Rostros-y-Huellas>
FACT SHEET BUENAVENTURA - What is Buenaventura like? How many people live there? Why does Colombia's biggest port have the highest concentration of socio-political violence? Why does forced recruitment of minors by paramilitary groups exist? How many megaprojects are present in Buenaventura? Find the answers to these questions in our short
A detailed and comprehensive perspective is required in order to understand the complex reality of the city of Buenaventura, on Colombia's Pacific coast. The ignored humanitarian crisis in this city, which has the largest port in the country, is due to the escalation of an almost 50-year-old armed conflict and persistent political violence. This is related to various economic interests over the vast territories, which create negative impacts on its inhabitants on a daily basis. This urgent situation requires a clear political will to enforce and to obey the basic principles of a Welfare State, human rights and international humanitarian law, as well as international solidarity and support.
Buenaventura is a city inhabited mostly by Afro-descendants and indigenous people who have been living on their land for more than 470 years. It is a relatively large city with 324,207 inhabitants, according to the latest census of 2005. This real number may, however, be much higher since a complete census of the whole population has never been undertaken, due the complexity of the urban and rural areas as well as the territorial control by illegal armed groups.
The city is made up of an island and an area on the mainland, joined by a two hundred yard (200 meters) long bridge called "El Pinal". The urban area has 12 districts with 157 quarters (barrios); the rural areas are made up 19 districts, 35 community councils and 22 indigenous settlements.
- The increasing intensity of the armed conflict in Colombia has turned the Pacific region into a war zone, where different armed groups fight to gain control and to impose their ideology, at any price. This has resulted in the displacement of many rural communities towards the municipalities of the Pacific region and Colombia's main cities, where they become part of the country's large existing population of forced internally displaced people. Also, many of the displaced people and their leaders are faced with death threats, especially those who try to claim and defend their fundamental rights.
Forced Displacement: Buenaventura receives and also internally displaces people. Since 2000, it has had a registered population of 12,320 displaced families (a total of 68,873 people) in Acción Social (the governmental institution in charge of attending to the forcibly displaced population). There has been internal displacement since the nineties in Buenaventura, with a particular increase in September 1998 due to fighting between the marines and the FARC guerrilla in the Tiger River Raposo. To date, none of the displaced families have received financial compensation, despite the demands of the 1997 law 387.
Forced disappearance: During the past five years, there has been an average of 500 violent deaths per year. According to the municipal ombudsman´s office, 357 individuals have been forcibly disappeared in the past three years. From 2007 to date, there has been an increase in forced disappearances in the municipalities as the armed groups take on new strategies in which they aim to gain social and political control. Assassinations and disappearances are closely linked to the socio-political violence and armed conflict. They are backed by financial interests within the territory, including the promotion and undertaking of megaprojects and drug trafficking.
Violence against women: Although some women have managed to enter the political sphere, most depend upon jobs in which they are exploited both economically and sexually. The result is many single mothers and households are trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty, and most women have to endure circumstances in which they are neither valued nor respected. During the second half of 2009, there were particularly brutal assassinations of women; non-governmental organizations registered the killing of eleven (11) women aged between 30-48 years old. There were 29 female homicides during 2007, this figure has already been surpassed in 2010.
Poverty: Buenaventura's richness in terms of biodiversity, natural resources and cultural wealth can be contrasted by a persistent humanitarian crisis where 80.6% of the population lives in poverty, and 43.5% suffers extreme poverty. The unemployment rate is 29% and 35% are underemployment. Drinking water is rationed and only 55% of the population has access to drinking water in their homes, despite the fact that Buenaventura has nine river basins (Calima, San Juan, Dagua, Anchicayá, Raposo, Mayorquin, Cajambre, Yurumangui and Naya). Sixty-five per cent of the population does not have access to basic sewage or sanitation systems.
The port of "good - adventure" (translation of "Buen - aventura") is attractive to foreign investors, which has the opposite impact on the indigenous and the native habitants. While different multinational companies make financial investments; on a daily basis, the population fight forced displacement, sexual abuse of girls and women, forced disappearances and assassinations of children. In addition, many people are subject to forced recruitment by illegal armed groups, largely paramilitaries, and intensive propaganda from the state military forces; all with the goal of involving the civil population in the conflict in the face of International Humanitarian Law.
In Buenaventura, war strategies and human rights violations have merged, including bombs, mining, an ineffective justice system, crimes against humanity, megaprojects, militarization and vote buying, which all jostle in this fertile land, which is rich in biodiversity, minerals and culture.
Financial Interests
The geo-strategic location of Buenaventura makes the port city a hot spot for megaprojects and local and regional development plans, promoted by economic and political influences, the public and private sector, legal and illegal groups, and domestic and foreign interests. This has resulted in a worsening of the armed conflict in the region over the past 15 years.
The situation of systematic human rights violations in Buenaventura is a daunting reality that threatens the survival of Afro-Colombian communities, as well as challenging the law. Companies are legally bound to undertake a so-called "prior consultation" with the concerned population before embarking on the implementation of any megaprojects in the city and region. This has not been carried out in every case, although not doing so means committing a human rights violation. Some of the projects present in the region are the following:
* Industrial Port ("Puerto Industrial de Aguadulce")
* Expansion of the Port "Puerto de la Sociedad Portuaria Regional de Buenaventura"
* Productivity Centre for Fisheries ("Centro de productividad de la Pesca")
* Industrial Port "Puerto Industrial Delta del Río Dagua"
* Productivity Centre of Wood ("Centro de Productividad de la Madera")
* Port and Industrial Complex ("Complejo Industrial y Portuario")
* Center of Economic Activities-CAE ("Centro de Actividades Económicas- CAE")
* Industrial Expansion Area
* International Airport Cargo
* "Perimeter Way"
* "Buenaventura Container Terminal" ("Terminal de Contenedores de Buenaventura (TCBUEN)")
* "Macro-Social Housing and National Interest" ("Macroproyecto de Vivienda de Interés Social y Nacional")
These projects and others are part of a large port project, "Port Expansion", with the main purpose of restructuring the city and strengthening the economic base of Buenaventura. This reveals a will to enforce a certain type of development as well as a "re-colonization" of ancestral lands, which has had negative consequences such as:
* outbreaks of mosquitoes that transmit malaria and hemorrhagic dengue fever, especially affecting children and the elderly. It is caused by the removal of soil and debris without safety procedures
* the replacement of traditional, recreational and entertainment centers, in favor of new buildings and constructions
* increased unemployment among fishermen, "piangüeras" and lumber jacks, as the port construction restricts the access of streams to the ocean. There has also been a loss of crops, including banana, coconut, avocado and peach, affecting food sovereignty.
Goldfever
Moreover, large-scale illegal mining violates territorial and environmental rights as has happened in Zaragoza, on the Cali-Buenaventura road, in the rural area of Buenaventura. In 2009, mining companies began indiscriminate exploration and exploitation of gold holdings, mainly employing people from other big cities like Medellin, Cali and Bogotá, and even foreign countries. This has provoked the following consequences:
* Socio-environmental damage to the Community Councils of the Upper and Middle Dagua, San Cipriano and San Marcos, and an impact on identity and ethnic/cultural practices, social dynamics and incomes connected to land and territory.
* An increase of violence due to the increased intensity of the armed conflict and increased presence of paramilitaries in the area, destabilizing and disrupting community life and limiting free movement across the territory, hampering the ability of the population to exercise their full and free use of their Community Councils.
* Noise pollution caused by the operation of machinery such as bulldozers and explosions.
* Cultural practices, important for organizing the communities, being weakened and fractured, affecting participation and autonomy.
* Changes to the Rio Dagua, resulting in the destruction of traditional crops. Some houses were destroyed by machinery and many people were murdered for daring to defend their land rights.
All this constitutes a serious violation of the ethno-territorial, economic, social and cultural rights of black communities. The communities demand that immediate and relevant measures are taken, to protect the people and the organizations that are filing a complaint to protect their environment and constitutional rights in the event of possible retaliation.
Foundation Rostros y Huellas - Garifuna, Buenaventura
"Our responsibility is to show faces and print traces"
Buenaventura, September 23, 2010
Gimena Sanchez-Garzoli
Senior Associate for Colombia and the Andes
Washington Office on Latin America
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