Photo Credit: Refugees International/
01/26/2005

Colombians have established neutral "peace settlements", like this one in Cacarica, in order to return home and live in peace and safety. Unfortunately, different armed groups, including the national army, are attempting to break their nonviolent resistance in order to enhance their military strategy and the communities are losing confidence in the capacity of the Colombian government to provide them with the necessary protection.

In these peace settlements, every single family agrees to maintain a rigid stance of not interacting with any armed actor, whether members of the FARC (the main guerrilla force), the national army, or the right-wing paramilitary. Their strategy is non-violent resistance to involvement in the conflict. They aim to protec themselves by building houses close to one another, fencing the settlement and cultivating collective fields within its perimeter.