Buenaventura: escaping from violence

Buenaventura is a port city situated on the Pacific coast and is known to be the most violent in Colombia. A Report of Human Rights Watch in March 2014 threw light on the particularly serious situation of the population: only in 2013, thirteen thousand people were forced to flee their homes and move from one quarter to another because of the ongoing conflict between the various neo- paramilitary organizations, mainly the two groups called “Urabenos” and “Empresa”. These are contending for the control of the port areas and the river, strategic points for the trafficking of drugs and weapons. In addition to profits from these illegal activities, extortion and other acts of intimidation toward traders are among the main sources of revenue for the organizations.

The neo-paramilitaries are the authors of the killing, dismemberment and disappearance of anyone who opposes to their interests. To carry out these acts of brutal violence, they often use chop-up houses (“Casas de pique”). Each district is under the influence of one of the two factions and the daily life on the streets is “regulated” by local armed gangs that work for them.

In March 2014, the government has militarized the city in order to protect the population, which for 80% lives below the poverty threshold and in fear of being involved in violent actions. The poorest areas are fertile ground for recruitment by armed groups and often even very young boys begin soon their “career” inside violence.

From 2010 to today, the missing people (“desaparecidos”) were more than one hundred and fifty, while the data on the displaced is still growing.