Appendix Three Magdalena Medio Region: Santander Department

The river Magdalena cuts down the centre of , flowing out to sea at the north coast. Its river valley divides two of the country’s three principal An- dean mountain ranges, the Cordillera Central (the central mountain range atop which Medellín sits) and the Cordillera Oriental (the eastern mountain range where is located). The river has long been a main artery of trade in the country. The Magdalena Medio (Middle Magdalena) region (see Map 4 over- leaf) comprises the flatlands on either side of the middle section of the river Magdalena up to the point where they reach the foothills of the mountains.1 Administratively, the region consists of a confluence of the ‘tail-ends’ of seven departments that mostly have their administrative centres in the mountains above.2 In spite of its campesino populations, the rural lands of the Magdalena Me- dio are concentrated in the hands of rich landowners and dedicated princi- pally to extensive cattle-farming, although regional development projects in the form of African palm plantations also exist. There is a long history of legal and illegal repression of the campesinos by these established interests. These processes of property concentration and violence pushed the campesino pop- ulation to colonise increasingly remote jungle zones and even the islands in the river Magdalena itself. Traditionally, the region was Liberal and amenable to socialism.3 In the 1950s, a Liberal guerrilla group operated in the jungles of the Carare zone and its ex-members allied themselves with the Communist Party that established a strong influence in Puerto Boyacá from the end of that decade. After the II (Second) Conference of April 1966, two FARC commissions were sent to the Magdalena Medio and later fused to become the 4th Front. This op-

1 It is generally understood to start at the rapids around Honda, and end around the entry to the coastal plains around the start of Bolívar and Cesar depart- ments. 2 These departments are Tolima, Caldas, Cundinamarca, Antioquia, Boyacá, Antioquia and Santander. 3 Patricia Madariaga V., ‘Región, actors y conflicto: Los episodios [Region, Actors and Con- flict: The Episodes]’ in Mauricio Archila N. and others, Conflictos, poderes e identidades en el Magdalena Medio 1990-2001 [Conflicts, Powers and Identities in the Middle Magdalena Region 1990-2001] (Colciencias/CINEP, Bogotá 2006) 48. 430 appendix 3

Map 4 Magdalena Medio region

Bucaramanga

Ciénaga del Opón River Magdalena ANTIOQUIAAntioquia River OpónOpón

Puerto Berrio SANTANDER River Carare La India La Pedregosa

Puerto Boyacá

Tunja BOYACÁ

CUNDINAMARCACundinamarca

10 0 50 100 Km

Major road City Settlement mentioned in text Boundary between departments