Colombian farmers risk death to reclaim lost land
Colombian farmers risk death to reclaim lost land
The government wants to correct decades of 'land reform in reverse'. But powerful criminal, armed and business interests are ranged against the country's displaced peasants
Sibylla Brodzinsky in Valledupar
theguardian.com, Wednesday 16 October 2013 11.17 EDT
The threats against Sifredy Culma's life come in many forms: suspicious men on motorcycles circling his neighbourhood; a flyer slipped under the door declaring him a "military target"; a menacing phone call warning that he will be killed if he tries to reclaim the plot of land he abandoned when rightwing paramilitary militiamen stormed into his town in Colombia.
The intimidation started in 2010, when Culma began collecting signatures from other farmers who had fled the village of Santafe and been forced to sell their land under threat from the paramilitaries. Culma is reclaiming that property as part of an ambitious government programme to return abandoned or stolen land to millions displaced by the country's half-century-old conflict.
Two hours after he filed the first claim, gunmen from the Rastrojos – a paramilitary-style criminal band that operates in the region – went looking for Culma to kill him. He had already left town. Since then, the threats of violence have not let up. In 2011 a warning came through on his mobile. "I was told that if I kept insisting on claiming our land, I would end up like other land claimants in the country," he said. Culma understood the message: by that time at least a dozen people leading land claims had been killed.
The struggle for land has been a cause and consequence of five decades of conflict in Colombia, where 52% of rural property lies in the hands of just 1.15% of landowners, according to the United Nations Development Programme.
More:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/16/colombian-farmers-death-reclaim-lost-land