Massive displacement in Algeria, Cauca: nearly 200 people have had to flee illegal armed groups

Harry Sánchez, director of the Victims Unit of Cauca, said after the Transitional Justice Council, the massive displacement of nearly 200 people, approximately one hundred families from the Santa Clara district located in the municipality of Algeria, Southern Cauca. People fleeing the constant fighting between the FARC dissidents and the National Army.

Sánchez said, “According to the alert launched by the Office of the Ombudsman, there are another 50 families who begin to move from the Lomitas village, because they are at risk to their lives.”

Another fact that affects Algeria's tranquility is an audio that is circulating in which alleged members of the Second Marquetalia threaten armed harassment in the areas of Hueco Lindo, La Cacharra, Los Pinos, Sinai and Puerto Rico, if they find the presence of any other armed group.

The situation in Cauca is complex. Precisely in previous days, a multinational had to announce that it had ceased activities in a municipality in that department due to the hostilities of FARC dissidents.

In a press release, Colombia's multinational Smurfit Kappa Cartón reported that it cancels all operations in the municipality of El Tambo located in the department of Cauca. This is due to the constant intimidation that Carlos Patiño has received from the criminal structure of the FARC dissidents.

As reported since June last year, they have been victims of hostilities by this residual organized armed group, even having to suspend activities for three months. But the most recent hostility led to the decision to indefinitely cancel activities in the municipality of Cauca.

“In October 2021, operations were restarted; however, the constant threats to contractors, workers and company assets have not stopped, triggering the burning of the house of Finca Altamira, owned by Reforestadora Andina S.A., a subsidiary of Cartón de Colombia S.A., on March 29,” they said in the statement .

Another aspect highlighted by the multinational is the loss of livelihood of several families in the sector due to the decision taken to safeguard the integrity of the company's employees: “Given this fact, and in order to safeguard the lives of workers, we are again forced to suspend jobs, leaving more than 150 forestry workers who had decent and quality employment for the well - being of their families”.

Another aspect pointed out by the multinational Smurfit Kappa Cartón of Colombia, was that due to this type of violent actions and decisions taken, social investment projects that were being carried out in the Tambo municipality and that benefited many people in Cauca are canceled.

“We reiterate the call for an end to these aggressions against private enterprise that violate the right to life, work, free mobility and that prevent the development of the municipality of El Tambo and that this is a territory where we can all live in peace and harmony based on respect for legal and constitutional rights”, concluded in their communiqué.

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