ConflictBarometer_2015
ConflictBarometer_2015
ConflictBarometer_2015
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THE AMERICAS<br />
incident an ''act of defense'' and stated that the unilateral<br />
ceasefire had been upheld. Subsequently, Santos ordered<br />
the air force to resume airstrikes. On April 18, aerial bombardments<br />
on a FARC explosives production site in Vista<br />
Hermosa, Meta, left at least two FARC members dead. On May<br />
21, air force, army, and the police conducted a joint operation<br />
in Guapí, Cauca, with aerial bombardments followed by a<br />
ground attack, killing 27 FARC members. Due to the combats,<br />
more than 350 civilians were displaced. On May 23, at least<br />
eight FARC members were killed in another joint operation<br />
in Segovia, Antioquia. Two days later, five FARC members,<br />
including the leader of the 18th Front Alfredo Alarcón alias<br />
Román Ruiz, were killed in another airstrike in Riosucio,<br />
Chocó.<br />
After the airstrikes in Guapí, the FARC suspended the unilateral<br />
ceasefire. In the following weeks, the group conducted<br />
various attacks against state forces. Among the regions hardest<br />
hit during the resumption of FARC attacks was Tumaco,<br />
Nariño. Within few weeks, the FARC killed one policeman and<br />
injured at least ten in various attacks on police stations and<br />
military patrols. On June 12, approx. 2,500 people marched<br />
in Tumaco to protest against the violence. On June 22, the<br />
FARC attacked an oil pipeline near Tumaco, spilling more<br />
than 410,000 gallons of oil into the Mira river, thereby causing<br />
significant environmental damage and leaving 160,000<br />
people without water.<br />
The FARC targeted the infrastructure in other parts of the<br />
country as well. For example, on June 10, the FARC blew up<br />
an energy tower in Caquetá, leaving the entire department<br />
and half a million people without power. In Norte de Santander,<br />
an attack on the Caño Limón-Coveñas pipeline on<br />
June 16 left 16,000 people without water and caused the<br />
displacement of 20 families.<br />
In the beginning of June, combats between the FARC and the<br />
military caused the displacement of about 400 civilians in<br />
López de Micay, Cauca. On June 26, 430 indigenous people<br />
were displaced due to ongoing combats and the hazard of<br />
anti-personnel mines in Urrao, Antioquia.<br />
On July 20, the FARC implemented a new unilateral ceasefire,<br />
to which Santos responded by ordering the military to<br />
suspend aerial bombings against the FARC once again. In the<br />
remainder of the year, the number of violent encounters was<br />
sharply reduced. On October 28, during combats in Cartagena<br />
del Chiará, Caquetá, four FARC members were killed<br />
and another one injured. On November 25, FARC members<br />
abducted a soldier in San Vicente del Caguán, Caquetá. He<br />
was released on December 9. cb, kgr<br />
COLOMBIA (INDIGENOUS GROUPS)<br />
Intensity: 3 | Change: | Start: 2005<br />
Conflict parties:<br />
Conflict items:<br />
indigenous groups vs. government<br />
resources<br />
The violent crisis over resources between several indigenous<br />
groups, including the Nasa and Embera Chami communities,<br />
and the government continued.<br />
Violence mostly concentrated in the Cauca department,<br />
where thousands of indigenous activists had been occupying<br />
several haciendas in the municipalities of Corinto and Miranda<br />
since 12/14/14 under the leadership of the Regional<br />
Indigenous Council of the Cauca (CRIC). They demanded<br />
20,000 acres of what they considered their ancestral land<br />
from the government as reparation for massacres committed<br />
against Nasa communities between 1991 and 2001.<br />
The Ministry of Agriculture offered 3,000 acres of land and<br />
a payment of COP 2,000 million for productive agricultural<br />
projects during a negotiation on February 18. However, the<br />
indigenous representatives rejected the proposal.<br />
In the following week, clashes between indigenous activists<br />
and the Mobile Anti-Disturbance Squadron (ESMAD) erupted<br />
in Cauca. On February 24, in Mondomo, a group of protesters<br />
blocked the Panamerican Highway. Two days later, activists<br />
attempted to destroy a bridge on the road between Corinto<br />
and Miranda. In both encounters, protesters, armed with<br />
staves, machetes, and stones, clashed with ESMAD officers<br />
who employed tear gas and a water cannon. At least 60<br />
were injured in total. In spite of the introduction of a temporary<br />
truce, negotiated by the Ombudsman's Office and<br />
OHCHR representative Todd Howland on February 28, violent<br />
encounters resumed in March, with violence extending<br />
to Santander de Quilichao and Caloto.<br />
On April 10, during a violent clash in Corinto, ESMAD fatally<br />
injured an indigenous protester. The largest confrontation<br />
occurred between May 21 and 23, when around 1,000 ES-<br />
MAD officers, reinforced by the military, attempted to evict<br />
3,000 activists from the occupied haciendas. Some sources<br />
reported that ESMAD employed two armored vehicles and<br />
three helicopters, while activists used IEDs, machetes, and<br />
rocks. At least five people were injured in total. Sporadic confrontations<br />
occurred throughout the second half of the year.<br />
For instance, on October 13, indigenous activists blocked the<br />
road to Buenaventura, Valle del Cauca, clashing with ESMAD<br />
officers, who used tear gas to disperse the protest and detained<br />
two people.<br />
Indigenous activists also held peaceful demonstrations<br />
throughout the year. On May 14, around 3,000 protesters<br />
marched from Mandibá to Santander de Quilichao, in order<br />
to demonstrate against the violence in Cauca. The CRIC also<br />
held a protest march between November 22 and 27 from<br />
Cauca to the capital Bogotá, in defense of their Special Indigenous<br />
Jurisdiction, gathering around 2,000 supporters.<br />
After an indigenous was found shot dead in Puracé, Cauca,<br />
on October 19, members of the Cauca Indigenous Guard<br />
retained at least 15 soldiers and handed them over to the<br />
Ombudsman's Office. The military stated that troops had<br />
been responding to gunfire in the area. osv<br />
COLOMBIA (INTER-CARTEL VIOLENCE,<br />
NEO-PARAMILITARY GROUPS, LEFT-WING<br />
MILITANTS)<br />
Intensity: 4 | Change: | Start: 2013<br />
Conflict parties:<br />
Conflict items:<br />
Los Urabeños vs. Los Rastrojos vs.<br />
Libertadores del Vichada vs. Bloque<br />
Meta vs. FIAC vs. La Empresa vs. ELN<br />
vs. FARC<br />
subnational predominance, re-<br />
sources<br />
The limited war over subnational predominance and resources<br />
between several neo-paramilitary organizations,<br />
drug cartels, the Army of National Liberation (ELN), and the<br />
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) continued.<br />
According to the Prosecuting Attorney's Office for Organized<br />
Crime, with its nearly 3,000 members, Los Urabeños, also<br />
called Clan Úsuga or Autodefensas Gaitanistas, surpassed in<br />
107