CPTnet
June 13, 2002
COLOMBIA: The blockade of the Cimitarra Valley

The people living in much of the Cimitarra River Valley, where CPT has been
doing part-time zone accompaniment, have been suffering for some time under
an economic blockade enforced by the AUC paramilitary (United Auto-defense
Forces of Colombia).

The paramilitaries believe that if they deprive the entire area of food and
goods, the guerrillas may find it more
difficult to function, and the lack of goods may erode any moral support of
guerrilla from civilians.

However, the blockade of the
Cimitarra Valley, has had almost no effect on the guerrillas, as they are
highly mobile and can force ranchers to give them food, but the effect
on civilian communities is great. Many people from the Cimitarra Valley
believe the AUC uses the blockade to
displace people from the area in order to allow business interests easier
exploitation of its rich oil reserves, uranium, virgin forests, ranchable
land, and some of the richest gold mines in Colombia.

The AUC mandates that a specific person from each family, usually a man,
must be present to make purchases only for their own family. Normally the
driver of a boat traveling down the river would buy for an entire community,
because it saves time and traveling expenses. Additionally, the AUC allows
goods to be purchased only at paramilitary-supervised stores in Yondo, a
community at the entrance to the Cimitarra Valley across the river from the
city of Barrancabermeja. Purchasing or selling goods requires paying a ten
to fifty percent