The Impact of Armed Conflict

The impact of the armed conflict on the Bajo Magdalena Region starts from the last years of the 80s. The Colombian Caribean Southern Regionwas not very affected by the bipartisan voilence of 1964  despite of the violence that had the country.  it was on 1982 that the FARC  Guerrilla execute the Seventh Conference where the decision was took of creating a war economy funded by the extortion, kidnapping and narcotrafic as with the territorial expansion thorugh the splitting fronts  to assure the presence in the national territory.

 

It was at the latest 80s after the interventionof the M19 movement for urbanizing the conflict, the FARC guerrilla and the ELN guerrilla with  Pizarro Leongomez looked for the occupation of the regions taking approach of the lack of institutionality and the serious agricultural problems in the area to grow and drown this urban centers. The guerrillas get to the regions with economical means and with the objective of look for the direct control and the explotation of natural resources  or the extorion of the producers. The ELN of Ejercito de Liberación Popular was on the South of the Bolivar department and in the region of the Montes de Maria  operating with the front Jaime Bateman Cayón. Instep the FARC guerrillas arrive to Bolivar at the mid 80s after the Seventh Conference with the 24th front and after with the front 37th which installed in the Montes de María in the Departament of Sucre where they became stronger  creating the 35th front  and that untill the 90s they deployed actions on municipalities as Calamar, El Guamo, Zambrano, Córdoba, Magangué and Pinillos.  The guerrillas have presence in 9 municipalities of the south with strong presence and movibility  to the regions of the mid and south magdalena.. Different to Bolívar, in Magdalena the FARC guerrillas incurtionated frist that the ELN. After the first half of the 80s, after the Seventh Conference the create the 19th front in the Department of Magdalena installing themselves in the region of the (Norte de Santander), norte del César and nearby areas as the  Sierra Nevada and Ciénega Grande de Santa Marta with groups to control the banana zones.  The fronts 35th and 37th with the 19th deployed jontly together actions with presence in the riversides of the Magdalena River and the Montes de María. In 2006 the started the campaign Libertadores which operated inPivijay, Tenerife and Plato which bring what developed in the creation of the Force Tarea Plato  by the Second Brigade of the National Army.  In what concerns to the ELN at Magdalena, it was thorugh the premanent presence of the fornt Francisco Javier Castaño in Ciénaga and Fundación where they moved in small cores to the nearby municipalities as Pivijay, Remolino, Sitio Nuevo and Cerro de San Antonio.

 

The roots of the paramilitary groups the started on both of the departments at the 70s, thorugh the conformation of death squads that operate in favor of the instrests while in the Magdalena Region conformed part of the narcotraffic with the marihuana cultures known as the "bonanza marimbera" and hte wave of violence that was brought with this to the country. In Bolivar the were at the landownders service and thestockbreeders repealed the actions of farmer movements  that for then invade the private plots with the intention of recovering the lands for pleasintry brutally exploted and without access to the lad which birng as consecuence high levels of concentration of rural properties that they had on the caribean of Colombia. Sin embargo el paramilitarimso contemporaneo o autodefensas se desarrollaron en el pais y en los departamentos de Bolivar y Magdalena a mediados de los 90s,  En 1997 se da el surgimiento de las Autodefensas de Colombia (AUC) con el fin de recuperar el territorio bajo presion de la guerrilla mediante el enfrentamiento directo con los grupos subersivos y extender su presencia a las zonas influenciadas por estos buscando el apoyo además de las actividades rurales más dinámicas y captando el apoyo de los sectores sociales.  Tal como citado por el informe oficial de Presidencia de 1997, Carlos Castaño, Salvatores Mancuso, Ernesto Baes y Óscar Restrepo establecen una alianza para ignresar al sur de Bolívar. La estrategia se demoro 4 años en consolidarse pero para el 98 ya comenzaban a asentarse grupos en Magangué y Pinillos. A partir de 1999 se producen una serie de asesinatos, masacres, desapariciones, desplazamiento y toruras asi como enfrentamientos en las zonas rurales. Mientras que el Bloque Montes de Maria hacía presión desde el centro de Bolívar hacia el sur, El Bloque Central Bolívar lo hacian de sur a norte desatando graves efectos sobre la población civil. Los paramilitares realizaron injerencia con cuatro frentes de las AUC en todo el departamento con exepción de la elevada Sierra Nevada el cual lo convirtieron en el principal lugar de combate entre paramilitares y guerrilla. Así actuaba el frente norte de las AUC  al mando de alias Jorge 40; el frente la resistencia Tayrona (Lo s Chamizos); que hacían presencia en el César y la Guajira y el Grupo de Chepe Barrera.

 

However after the government of the president Alvaro Uribe Velez, there was a process of negotiations between the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia and the government, launched in january 2003 in the zone of Santa Fe de Ralito (Tierralta - Córdoba).  This was a demobolization plan with the paramilitar groups where the Law 975 of 2005 or Justice and Peace Law was established beginning the transitional process of penalties which are currently on course.  The first group of high  influence  demobilized was the Autodefensas of the South of Magdalena and the ones of the island of San Fernando on December  2004 in charge of Chepe Barrera  who´s illegal prescence was  mainly on the minicipalities of el Banco, Pijiño del Carmen and Mompóx. After the block of the Montes de María with presence  on Pinillos and Magangué demobilized. On january 2006, the Northern block demobilized  which had presence on Pivijay, Tenerife and Plato.  Finally the  Bloque Central Bolívar- Sur whos rate of action covered the municipality of Pinillos and Peñón as well. The alliance of the paramilitary groups with the druglords let that some  individuals crashed into these processes to enter to the negotiations of San José de Ralito with political members obtainning the benefits of this law.  Personalities as Julián Bolivar, Pablo Sevillano and alias Macaco of the Central Block of Bolivar recieved these benefits who belonged and had strong relationship with narcotraffic. A very important aspect is that both of the departments, Bolívar as Magdalena count with the prescense of illicit crops. Also of all of the water  bodies that cross the region and that they have lots of importance for the narcotrafic connected to this area being fundamental for the international drug makets.