Oriente Antioqueño Region: Antioquia Department
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Appendix Five Oriente Antioqueño Region: Antioquia Department The Oriente Antioqueño (the Antioquian east), a region of the department of Antioquia (see Map 6 overleaf), stretches east from the hills of the Cordillera Central (central mountain range) that overshadow the departmental capital of Medellín (el oriente cercano – the near east) down towards the flatlands of the river Magdalena (el oriente lejano – the far east). It comprises four distinct sub- regions, which become increasingly isolated and less developed the further they are from the economic dynamics of Medellín. The closest of these sub-regions to Medellín, the Altiplano (High Andean plateau) of the west, is thus dominated by heavy industry.1 Towards the north, and bordering on the conflictive nordeste (northeast) region of Antioquia, is the Embalses (Reservoirs) sub-region, de- fijined by reservoirs and electricity stations.2 Further afijield is the humidBosques (Jungles) sub-region, located in the foothills of the east and bordering on the low-lying Magdalena Medio region.3 The last and most inaccessible of all the sub-regions is the Páramo (High Moorlands), located in the south-eastern cor- ner of Antioquia, bordering on Caldas department and the river Magdalena.4 During the 1950s, the Oriente Antioqueño had been a stronghold of the Lib- eral guerrilla groups and had experienced high levels of violence as a result of incursions against the Liberals. In the 1960s and 1970s, the national govern- ment, with the support of power groups in Antioquia, imposed two megapro- jects in the Oriente Antioqueño: a huge hydro-electric complex in the Embalses sub-region, which currently provides 35% of the national electricity, and the autopista (highway) Medellín to Bogotá, which cut through the Altiplano and Bosques sub-regions and facilitated an expansion of industry from Medellín to the Altiplano. As a reaction, a civic movement with a strong regional identity appeared in the Oriente Antioqueño.5 This was facilitated by the strong cul- 1 This comprises the nine municipalities of Carmen de Viboral, El Retiro, Santuario, Guarne, La Ceja, La Unión, Marinilla, Rionegro and San Vicente. 2 This comprises the seven municipalities of Alejandría, Concepción, El Peñol, Granada, Guatapé, San Carlos and San Rafael. 3 This comprises the three municipalities of Cocorná, San Luis and San Francisco. 4 This comprises the four municipalities of Abejorral, Argelia, Nariño and Sonsón. 5 Clara Inés García, ‘Conflicto, discursos y reconfijiguración regional: el oriente antioqueño: de la Violencia de los cincuenta a Laboratorio de Paz [Conflict, Discourses and Regional Reconfijiguration: The Antioquian East: From The Violence of the Fifties to Laboratory of Peace]’ (2007) 189 Controversía 129, 135-140; Observatorio de Paz y Reconciliación del Ori- 466 appendix 5 map 6 Oriente Antioqueño region ANTIOQUIA Puerto Berrio River Magdalena Medellín River Granada San Santa Ana El Prodigio Juan San Luis Puerto Boyacá San Francisco Puerto Triunfo Aquitania BOYACÁ Argelia Nariño CUNDINAMARCA CALDAS Puerto Salgar 10 0 50 100 Km Major road City Settlement mentioned in text Boundary between departments.