The people of Buenaventura have been experiencing an escalation of the conflict since 2020. Today, all eyes are on the port city, because since last December 30, the lives of 170,500 people are at risk due to clashes between “Los Shotas” and “Los Espartanos”, two factions of “La Local”, a group inherited from paramilitarism. So far in 2021, according to the Pacific Regional Ombudsman’s Office, due to more than 38 confrontations that have taken place in the urban area of Buenaventura in January, 907 families – around 2186 people – have had to be forcibly displaced from their neighborhoods and 22 people have been killed, mostly young people between 16 and 35 years old who have refused to be recruited by these groups.
Tag Archives: Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission
A born leader
The vastness of green and the majestic Putumayo River are the first things you notice when you leave Jani Silva’s farm. One breathes tranquillity and fresh air, hears the birds and sees the cows running in the fields of the Perla Amazónica Peasant Reserve Zone (ZRCPA). Continue reading A born leader
Waters of Hope Amid War
It is water that receives us in the Bajo Atrato region for our first trip to the area after five months. We had just spent three days in Dabeiba and that was just the beginning of our journey. Continue reading Waters of Hope Amid War
Back in the field, in the footprints of memory
After a five month quarantine, PBI Colombia returned to the field accompanying the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission. Continue reading Back in the field, in the footprints of memory
The Pichimá Quebrada Wounaan Community Asks to Return to its Territory
There is abundance in the Pichimá Quebrada reservation, located on the shores of the Bajo San Juan River. There are medicinal plants to cure the sick, fruits and crops to Continue reading The Pichimá Quebrada Wounaan Community Asks to Return to its Territory