“The anniversary of my brother’s death is on the 26 of July. He was killed 27 years ago,” says Robinson Salas. Robinson is one of the millions of people who had been displaced from their homes and their lands by the armed conflict between the Government of Colombia and the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) rebel group. This 52-year conflict left 220,000 Colombians dead and uprooted the lives of over eight million people.
“The situation continued to get worse with more violence each day until we had to abandon the land. I decided to leave because I was married and had two children. I was always very afraid with the presence of those people (the FARC).”
Robinson and his family resisted giving up their land, but at one point, it became too dangerous to stay. They moved to the nearby town of Corozal about 10 kilometers away.
“My dad continued traveling back and forth to work on his land until he died of a heart attack in 2003. He would work during the day, but leave at night because it wasn’t safe. Then one of my brothers took over caring for our land until he was killed (by armed men) in 2006. Another brother was killed in 2007. After this, we abandoned the land completely,” explains Robinson. Robinson lost his family, livelihood and even his ancestral land to the fighting.
In the city, Robinson worked in a police station, assisting the Inspector with proceedings. Though he worked full-time, he was only paid for working part-time. He found himself missing everything about his old way of life: his village, his farm, his land. Robinson is almost completely blind, but back in his village of Pertenencia, this wasn’t an issue. There was always something to do on the farm and someone from the community to help him if he needed it. “No time to be idle,” explains Robinson.
Robinson represents a sound lesson of building peace. Yes, he has poor eyesight but a great vision indeed: a vision of community development within the territory, renewing the lands of Montes de María. - Rafael Zavala, FAOR Colombia
50 years of conflict had deeply affected the Colombian countryside. Only 7 of the 22 million hectares of Colombia’s arable land were being used. Much of this land lay abandoned because of the fighting.
It wasn’t until July 2017 that the conflict finally came to an end: members of the FARC rebel group handed over their weapons as part of the peace deal brokered in the years before. Yet, the questions about land control and livelihoods remained.