Dozens of former FARC fighters abandon ‘reincorporation’ village in Colombia after death threats

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Dozens of former guerrilla fighters and their families were forced to abandon their village in southern Colombia on Tuesday, after receiving death threats by a rebel group that is still fighting the government, authorities said.

The displaced former fighters were members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the guerrilla group that signed a peace deal with Colombia’s government in 2016.

For the past seven years, the former fighters had been living in Miravalle, a village built for them by Colombia’s government, where they worked on farming projects, raised chickens and even organized whitewater rafting trips for tourists.

But in June, the Iván Díaz front, a rebel group that is vying for control of farmland and drug trafficking routes in Colombia’s Caqueta province, accused the residents of Miravalle of aiding another rebel group in the area, and gave them 40 days to leave.

On Tuesday more than 80 people, including former fighters, their children and their spouses, left the Miravalle area for another village — also inhabited by former FARC fighters — 200 km (124 miles) to the south. They carried their animals and their belongings in a caravan that was organized by Colombia’s government.

“We are leaving this place, but we’ll continue to focus on building peace,” Carlos Zamudio, a former FARC fighter who had been living in Miravalle for the past seven years, said in a video published by the ARN, a Colombian government agency that helps former fighters to adapt to civilian life.

Following the 2016 peace deal, in which more than 14,000 FARC fighters laid down their weapons, the Colombian government created 24 villages in rural areas, where the former fighters could launch businesses and rebuild their lives.

These villages are known as Temporary Spaces for Capacity Building and Reincorporation, and were initially home to a majority of former FARC fighters.

But the population of these villages, also known by their Spanish acronym of ETCR, has dwindled significantly due to security problems, and also because many former fighters have struggled to find work there.

Five ETCRs, including Miravalle, have been completely abandoned as former fighters face threats from groups that are still armed, and are vying for control of the territory around these villages.

The Colombian government is holding peace talks with many of the nation’s remaining rebel groups, but ensuring the security of former FARC fighters continues to be a challenge.

A United Nations report published in April said that 416 former FARC fighters had been murdered since the peace deal was signed in 2016.

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