Bolívar: State absence leaves south of department to suffer due to the prevalence of illegal economi

The footprint of illegal mining in the south of Bolívar

Bolivar department is located in the center of Colombia, and its southern part offers easy access to many areas of the country. In the same way it also offers passways to two frontiers that are strategic for the drug trafficking routes: Venezuela and Panama. On the other hand, Bolivar is a strategic area for Colombia, because the country depends on its oil, agricultural and ecological resources. Its geography has been a determining factor in the economic development of this region; the fertility of soil and geographical features (mountains, rivers or swamps) are also attractive for illegal groups. For this reason, this area has extensive coca crops and facility to transport drugs along the Magdalena River.

Bolivar has been immersed in a constant conflict over the possession of land and the Colombian government lacks social policies focused on alternatives to illicit crops for the community’s subsistence.  These are the reasons why it has many illegal groups, multiple Human Right violations and high levels of inequality. 

Bolivar has been an area of ​​riches and has seen the extraction of wood, gold, and also the cultivation of marijuana and coca; initiatives characterized by an environment of waste, informality and illegality. These riches have been ephemeral and have brought negative consequences that far exceed the few benefits obtained. According to Viloria (2009) “The municipalities of southern Bolivar have 73% of their territory in forest reserve area, which prevents their people from farming in a legal way”. These situations make farmers more vulnerable and increase inequality, but they also contribute to illegal oversights. Viloria (2009) affirms “This implies that the population settled within the reserve continues to be outside of institutional projects, which exacerbates their situation of poverty and misery. These circumstances may be contributing to the growth of the illegal economy of coca, logging, and gold extraction, controlled by illegal armed groups such as drug traffickers, guerrillas, and paramilitaries”. These areas are under the control of armed groups such as: the ELN, FARC dissidents,  and various paramilitary groups. These are groups outside the law, which arise in order to restore order but use inadequate means. In addition, these groups have clashed historically and in recent times over control of the region’s riches through the collection of extortion taxes for the production of coca, marijuana, gold extraction and contracts through the budgets of some municipalities. Furthermore, Viloria (2009) emphasizes “these illegal armed groups are nourished and strengthened by the same resources such as illicit crops, corruption and extortion, even if they have different ideological motivations”. This way, the department is submerged in decreased economic activity due to illegal groups and  state neglect; two factors which explain the high levels of coca cultivation in the region.

Colombia is positioned as the country with the highest number of coca crops in the world. Despite the efforts of the government to mitigate production, it’s only contributing to the increase in poverty in the population that remains in this type of illegal economy. According to the monitoring report of territories affected by illicit crops in Colombia (2018), “Bolivar is one the departments with increases in coca growing, estimated to be (39%)” On the other hand, Chica (2019) says: “Bolivar is one of the departments where the war with the ELN maintains an increase in the violence and systematic murders that has led the population to confinement and forced displacement”. For this reason, disputes over the territory make the government’s ineffectiveness clear in terms of the restoration of peace in that territory and the eradication of these types of crop for the transition to the legal economy.  According to Trejos (2019) “the South of Bolivar is one of the most inaccessible territories of the Caribbean (it does not even have adequate access roads from the north of the region), the war is still suffered, especially due to ELN guerrillas, basically due to the presence of illegal income such as coca crops and illegal gold mining”. Therefore, the neglect of the State, poverty and illicit economies  have been the main factors driving violence in this region. The main fuel of the war in this region has been drug trafficking. Despite, the demobilization of the paramilitaries and that of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), the conflict continues and has been most keenly felt by the most vulnerable sectors of the population, so it’s clear that the violation of human rights and the state’s inadequate response to resolving the crisis remain the same. 

As previously stated, the inhabitants of southern Bolívar are being made victims of a massive violation of their human rights. According to The Universal (2019), organized criminal groups have taken advantage of the absence of the State, to promote drug trafficking, since this is their main source of financing, and as a result of this, peasants are being pressured to enter this practice to maintain their safety and economy. In recent years (2016-2019), there has been a large number of murders, kidnappings, and forced displacement among this population, due to the fact that armed actors use force to banish peasants from their lands and thus use them for the cultivation and distribution of illicit drugs.

The Ombudsman’s Office is concerned about how vulnerable the people of this territory are due to the armed conflict, because they are in the vicinity of the drug trafficking route, so they are being displaced from their homes since these territories  are being used for illegal cultivation and to produce and distribute drugs and weapons. The public ministry requested the intervention of the state, to guarantee the fundamental rights of the population. However, this aid has not been rapid, and this has allowed  the problem to spread and continue to affect the life and development of the communities who reside there.

In summary, Bolivar suffers from the consequences of living under  an illegal economy. On the other hand, the government and the community has no agreement to restore order in the territory. Despite this, it seems the points dealt with in this article are key to consolidating peace, but the absence of key policies only strengthens illegal groups. Violence has become the daily life for many communities in Bolivar and the department has had  a significant increase in homicides and forced displacement, demonstrating either the State’s lack of interest in the resolution of the crisis and establishing dialogues for the restoration of peace. 

In addition, as has been said previously, the inhabitants of the south of the Bolivar are being seriously harmed, because they are being direct victims of a large number of violations of their human rights, and despite the fact that this situation is nationally and internationally recognized, and despite the fact that the public ministry has asked the state for help to end this problem, its response has not been effective. The state has taken a long time to take drastic measures to ensure the rights of all the people who live in this territory. The south of Bolivar is a place with difficult access, making it easier for it to be used for illegal activities that hurt the community. The state must strengthen their institutions, so that they reach these remote places and thus avoid the continued violation of the rights of all these people who are victims of violence.