Peace Timeline: 2002

U.S. Military and Police Aid - Focus on Arauca and Putumayo:Timeline of Current Events Putumayo:
May 2003

May 23, 2003

Heavy combat between the Armed Forces and FARC guerrillas killed more than 29 in Putumayo.

May 22, 2003

Speaking at the University of Caldas, Human Rights Ombudsman Eduardo Cifuentes discussed the crisis in Colombia's coffee-growing region, as well as the consequences of the fumigation program being carried out in Putumayo. Cifuentes alluded to the possibility of carrying out an aerial fumigation campaign in Caldas department, where coca is emerging for the first time, and highlighted the dramatic environmental, economic and cultural effects that would follow.

May 19, 2003

A report published by USAID, the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF), the Ministry of Defense and the Human Rights Ombusdman's office found that the areas where illegal armed groups carry out the heaviest recruitment of minors are: Putumayo, southern Caquetá, Meta, Guaviare, Urabá, southern Bolívar and Medellín.

[Caminos recorridos, OIM-ICBF-Save the Children-USAID, 2002; Guerreros sin sombra, Miguel Álvarez y Julián Aguirre, Procuraduría-ICBF, 2002; Defensoría del Pueblo, Ministerio de Defensa. El Tiempo.com]

May 14, 2003

According to a Plan Colombia report issued by the presidency of Colombia, 3,466 families in Putumayo have joined the Uribe government's "forest protector family" alternative development program. The president's office is currently conducting education forums in other municipalities of Cauca, Nariño, northeastern Antioquia, southern Bolívar, and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta to expand the program. [Édgar Omar Bustos A. El Tiempo]

Colombia's navy seized a ton of explosives in the municipality of Puerto Leguízamo.Marine Colonel Nelson Troncoso, stated that the explosives were to be "used against civil society and the troops patrolling the area." According to military authorities, members of the FARC's 48th front were going to use the explosives to bomb public buildings, police stations and military units as well as Putumayo's energy and communication infrastructure. [ElTiempo.com]
A member of the FARC guerrillas, of Ecuadorian nationality, was reportedly detained in the town of Orito. Authorities seize Ecuadorian hand grenades and projectiles. [ElTiempo.com]

USAID mission chief Ken Ellis and AID representatives from Bolivia and Peru participated in an event to evaluate the status of alternative development programs in lower Putumayo. Officials believe that the changes made to the program have brought a 400% advance in coverage over the last six months.

The governor of Putumayo, Iván Gerardo Guerrero, said he hopes that the positive results will strenghten AID's commitment to the region; and asked the United States for an additional $40 million dollars to allow the voluntary eradication of 12,000 additional hectares of coca. [Diario del Sur]

Threats by illegal armed actors forced an estimated 20,000 people from the rural areas of the municipalities of Puerto Leguízamo, Puerto Guzmán, Villagarzón y Puerto Asís. [Sigue Latina]

May 8, 2003

The Governmentof Ecuador is pushing for an agreement with Colombia that would limit the scope of aerial fumigation campaign carried out by the Colombian Government in Ecuador. The agreement would prohibit Colombian fumigations within 10 kilometers of the border. According to Ecuador's foreign minister, Nina Pacari, a verbal agreement between the two governments to respect the border "fringe" has not been fulfilled.

According to Pacari, Ecuadorians living close to the border areas have been affected by the fumigation campaign carried out in Colombia. [AFP]

May 1, 2003

In figures released by the White House Office of Drug Control Policy, all but 1,500 of Putumayo's 39,000 hectares of coca fields have been eradicated.