War and Peace: the case of Apartado

Apartado used to be a violent town, very violent, with a lot of paramilitarism and guerrilla, involved in war for land, drugs business control and influence about population. Apartado have been always a prosper land, with many fertile hectares for multiple products as pineapple, yucca, cocoa, avocado, oil palm, chili, passion fruit, paprika, cotton and exotic flowers; but also, a coveted land for narcotraffic production, especially cocaine. There are the principal reasons for the war, that is why many illegal groups want to have area control, groups as The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—People's Army (FARC by its acronym in Spanish) and The United Self-Defenses of Colombia (AUC by its acronym in Spanish), among others.

This whole war happened with the entire civilian population in the middle enduring massacres, disappearances and murders day by day. Explosions downtown, massacres, shootings in the streets, road kidnappings, insecurity all the time, political persecution, and the worst, total impunity. As happened in the San Jose de Apartado massacre where 3 children and 5 adults between men and women were murdered, carried out by members of the military forces and the AUC. Or the Chinita massacre where the FARC murdered thirty-five persons. Nobody is clean, the war is in everywhere, and for every reason.

This gave rise a strong desire for peace in the population, who started ask to the government for political changes, related to land, drugs war and the conversation with illegal groups. That took a long time, time in which the population had to wait, wait and wait, for the changes that would give them back the tranquillity of living in their land.

 

Later on, with successful and not so successful peace process, ambient changed, allowing a moving economy, with new business all around, with a changing infrastructure, with new buildings as apartments, hotels, shopping malls, and factories; leaving an agrarian economy aside to become a diversified economy. It was a long process, which went hand in hand with the growth of the population and foreign investment, after the years of violence. Things have changed, that is what is remarkable and important, but still too much to do, nowadays there are more job opportunities in different areas, but still being inequality, poverty and insecurity, still being land trouble and the narcotraffic war, because the business still with different actors, one is over, one begins, that is a problem the government has to fix.

But also depends on people mind, who have to wake up, realize they have power in their own hands to change the whole situation around them, who have to push and press politicians. Are the people who are in charge of revival history, never forget, but learn how to forgive, how start again, how to heal wounds, how to let go past ghost, how to live again.