The road to Tumaco, 6 July

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

We drove down out of the Andes on a switchback road through small towns that had experienced recent attacks by the FARC. As the mountains gave way to jungle and low hills, it was easy to see how the rebels could kill police officers and government soldiers without being caught. In the foothills of the Andes, thick forests run right up to the road, and fighters can move around the villages without detection. Every few miles, soldiers stopped all cars and questioned the drivers.