Peace Timeline: 2002

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

November 29, 2003

Minister of Defense, Ramirez, greets "Peasant Soldiers".

It has been a year since the "Peasant Soldiers" program was set in motion by the Uribe administration, and so far it has recived mixed reviews. In an article published by Colombia's daily El Tiempo, Éder Sánchez of the National Association of Peasants of Putumayo believes that in some cases the program is not going well. "We had warned about this. The program is a failure and should not go on."

The biggest complaint in places like Puerto Guzmán and Puerto Asís, in Putumayo; Tame and Puerto Rondón, in Arauca; and Doncello and Montañita, in Caquetá; is that a number of the peasant soldiers' families have had to leave the areas due to threats from FARC and ELN. [Wilson Fernando Vega, EL TIEMPO Suratá (Santander) http://eltiempo.terra.com.co/coar/noticias/ARTICULO-WEB-_NOTA_INTERIOR-1439282.html]

FARC guerrillas detained 20 technicians who were working to repair the pipeline. The workers were intercepted by the FARC as they drove between the municipalities of La Hormiga and San Miguel, close to the border with Ecuador. According to reports, the insurgents forced the workers out of their cars and proceeded to burn the cars. [AFP]

November 28, 2003

The FARC ignited a small bomb near Orito, leaving three dead and 3 more injured. Simultaneously, in rural La Hormiga the FARC launched gas cylinder bombs leading to mass panic among the population.

The Transandino pipeline was attacked and 34 of its wells were set on fire. This has meant 150,000 dollars in daily losses for Ecopetrol.

Additionally, the bridge over the Guamuez River, on the main road, is still down after a guerrilla bombing. Eighty-five of its ninety-eight meters have not been repaired due to the high costs and technicians' fears of another attack.

November 25, 2003
In Villa Garzón, Luz Marina Benavides, president of the Comité de los Derechos del Pueblo, was shot to death in her home. Her death occurred on the morning of the day in which thousands of Colombian women were scheduled to arrive in Villa Garzón in a march commemorating the Day Against Violence Towards Women.

November 24, 2003

On November 25, marking the Day Against Violence Towards Women, more than 3,000 women, belonging to the peace movement known as "la Ruta Pacífica de las Mujeres", will march to Putumayo. The march seeks to highlight the consequences of war, the impact of aerial fumigation, and violations against women in southern Colombia; and will call on the armed actors to respect human rights and international humanitarian law and demand that the Colombian state seek a negotiated solution to the conflict and reassess the current anti-narcotics strategy. [Actualidad Colombiana http://www.actualidadcolombiana.org/boletines/372.htm#a]

El Diario del Sur reported that alternative-development programs carried out in Putumayo by Chemonics, with the funding of USAID, have led to the manual eradication of 14,750 hectares of illegal crops, the development of 14,836 hectares of legal crops and have benefited 12,703 families in the area. This work has been carried out in the municipalities of Mocoa, Puerto Guzmán, Villagarzón, Puerto Caicedo, Puerto Asís, Puerto Leguízamo, Orito, Valle del Guamuez and San Miguel and in more than 132 indigenous areas. [El Diario del Sur (Pasto, Colombia) http://www.diariodelsur.com.co/noviembre/24/putumayo.php]

November 21, 2003

President Alvaro Uribe publicly reprimanded the security forces for failing to protect oil pipelines from guerrilla attacks, and ordered the army to hunt down the guerrillas responsible. Additionally, he ordered army and police forces to "massively capture the terrorists in Putumayo."

Putumayo Governor-elect Armando Diaz said he was "deeply worried" about the economic and environmental impact of the attacks and called an emergency security meeting to assess the damage to the oil installations and the environment. [Carlos Gonzalez, Associated Press Yahoo! http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031120/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/colombia_pipeline_attacks_1]

November 20, 2003

Rebels often attack the oil pipeline in Putumayo
Photo: Garry Leech

Leftist rebels launched 30 attacks against the Transandino pipeline in southern Putumayo, forcing a halt to production.

The Colombian Minister of Mines and Energy, Luis Ernesto Mejía, confirmed the 30 attacks on the Transandino pipeline, 18 attacks on wells, and other attacks on production infrastructure. He added that the government will begin repairs as soon as the Armed Forces clear the areas, but warned that "repairing 30 areas of the pipeline in addition to the other areas attacked is going to 'take some time.'"

So far the environmental effects include a kilometer-long oil spill that is affecting population and wildlife in the area. [CNE, Presidencia de Colombia http://www.presidencia.gov.co/cne/2003/noviembre/20/10202003.htm]

The President's Office reported that more than 1,200 families in the municipalities of Colón, San Francisco, Santiago and Sibundoy in Upper Putumayo have decided to eradicate their illegal crops and become a part of the Forest Ranger Program financed by Plan Colombia.

Next week indigenous representatives from the area will arrive in Bogotá to learn the details and commitments involved when they sign collective contracts. The new "Forest Rangers" will add to the 2,400 families in Orito already part of this program.

So far, 6,468 families throughout the country have signed on to the program. The government's goal for 2003 is to have 12,000 families signed on and an additional 50,000 in 2004. [CNE, Presidencia de Colombia http://www.presidencia.gov.co/cne/2003/noviembre/19/11192003.htm]

November 18, 2003

Residents of a small town in Putumayo have begun to charge a toll in order to pave their local highway. The move came after president Uribe told them there was no money in the budget to carry out the project.

For the last three months residents of Santa Ana, a small township in Puerto Asís municipality, have set up a toll charging all vehicles $2,000 pesos (less than a dollar) in hopes of paving the road that leads to Puerto Asís, Orito and Caicedo.

While they know this is illegal they refuse to do away with the toll. Initially, the mayor of Puerto Asís did not agree with the idea; after witnessing the strict control over the funds and the progress of the work, however, he now supports them with technical assistance and machinery. The goal is to finish the local roads in three years. [PATRICIA ALEY, EL TIEMPO]
In a massive crackdown against corruption, President Alvaro Uribe fired an army general, Jorge Pineda Carvajal, for the misuse of state funds. Prior to being relieved from duty he commanded an elite anti-guerrilla brigade in Putumayo. A Presidential Palace statement blamed the firing of Pineda Carvajal on the "misuse of secret state funds in 2001" at that time he was the head of the army intelligence. [Reuters http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N17378655.htm]

November 10, 2003

Bridge connecting Putumayo with Ecuador

The launching of a rocket in a failed assassination attempt against the President of the Colombian Cattle Ranchers Federation, Jorge Visbal, in Bogotá has led to a huge controversy between Colombia and Ecuador. News sources reported that the rocket used in the attack-allegedly by the FARC-was purchased from Ecuador's military, leading to a tense exchange between the presidents of both countries. An article published by the weekly magazine Semana highlighted that "this controversy has brought to light the reality that arms and weapons trafficking from Ecuador by Colombian illegal armed actors is not new. It is not a secret that the Amazon border is a strategic corridor through which Colombia's insurgent groups acquire weapons."

"Three months ago an investigation carried out by the Ecuadorian Attorney Generals office and the Judicial Police revealed that two active-duty and one retired military personnel were the alleged liaisons for FARC weapons acquisitions."

According to a former guerrilla, "Ecuador has become the center for weapons black market for the insurgent groups that operate out of southeastern Colombia. The arms industry's best customer is the FARC".[Semana magazine, ¿Cortina de humo? ]