WORLD BRIDGE BLOG

The town of Sanchez, Colombia, lies right on the banks of the River Patia. The river, a major narco-trafficking highway, cuts through the Andes and leads out to the Pacific Ocean. It has historically been an epicenter of political violence. Controlled by the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) until recently, the River Patia area has seen intense fighting between illegal armed groups since 2003, with a major massacre in 2006. To date, over 1,000 people are estimated to have been murdered along the river.

A group of 59 families from Cocal, an hour’s walk away, arrived in Sanchez on May 8, 2008. “We were gold-panners and farmers. We had no clue there would be an offensive” shared one woman, “We didn’t have time to take anything except our papers.” Another woman from Cocal shared her experience: “the fighting was non-stop. We heard bullets from helicopters hitting the roofs of our houses. Our homes are made of wood, and we were terrified that we would be hit.”

Sanchez itself was once a thriving town, but it experienced the displacement of its citizens in 2003 when fighting intensified between the FARC and paramilitaries. The residents from Cocal now live in Sanchez with villagers from four other locations. An elderly woman from La Roja, a forty minute walk away, explained “we are able to stay in the empty houses that have been abandoned, but we don’t have any money for electricity or food. We have no jobs or opportunities for work”.

One man showed a hand with a brutal injury to his fingers. He explained “I cut myself with my machete while we were running through the woods from the fighting. We had to leave immediately or we would have been killed. I don’t have money to travel to get my hand treated, and there are no medical services here.”

The inhabitants of Sanchez have received emergency assistance from international agencies, yet they remain in a desperate state. According to the community leader “Some people have chosen to go back to their villages, but we don’t want to. No one can guarantee our security, it’s not safe – how can we go back?”