Colombia

Colombia, which hosts some of the largest untouched ecological areas in the world, joined the carbon credits for cash initiative, REDD, in September.

When the trumpet sounded,
everything was prepared on earth,
and Jehovah divided the world
among Coca-Cola Inc., Anaconda,
Ford Motors, and other corporations:
The United Fruit Company Inc.
reserved for itself the juiciest piece,
the central coast of my own land,
the sweet waist of America.
—Pablo Neruda, "The United Fruit Co."

Video from trip up river from El Charco

Carlos Avila Gonzalez and Phillip Robertson, for the Pulitzer Center
El Charco, Colombia

Carlos Avila Gonzalez and Phillip Robertson, for the Pulitzer Center
El Charco, Colombia

Carlos Avila Gonzalez and Phillip Robertson, for the Pulitzer Center
Narino, Colombia

Our route through the southern Colombian Andes to the Rio Tapaje.

We arrived and found a group of campesinos living in an old gymnasium in town. Many of them were from Pueblo Nuevo, a town an hour upriver that was caught in fierce fighting between FARC and the Army a few months ago. They also told us that the guerillas helped them grow coca and they were afraid to return to their town. Their situation has definitely gone from bad to worse. We made a trip the next day to Pueblo Nuevo to see if there was anyone left...

Carlos Avila Gonzalez and Phillip Robertson, for the Pulitzer Center
El Charco, Colombia

El Charco sits on a bend in the Tapaje river, a good sized town that is home to a growing population of displaced people from upriver. It is a violent and unpredictable place, filled with informers for the FARC and a heavy military presence. El Charco is poor and people have little or no civic services. The mayor told us that the city has gone without a supply of fresh water for more than two months.

Carlos Avila Gonzales and Phillip Robertson, for the Pulitzer Center
El Charco, Colombia

Carlos Avila Gonzalez and Phillip Robertson, for the Pulitzer Center
Tumaco, Colombia

Carlos Avila Gonzalez and Phillip Robertson, for the Pulitzer Center
Pasto, Bolivia