CALI, COLOMBIA – After over 50 years of civil war, the Colombian government and the FARC guerrillas are closer than ever to signing a final peace deal.
But some people in the country support the peace process more than others, mainly the countrys black and indigenous populations Those who have been the most affected by the decades of fighting.
“The war more than 60 years in war, us, the only thing we know is violence. And its time for these new generations to know peace, to live peacefully, to not have fear,” said local resident Darly Possu Diaz.
The violence has been particularly strong on the Pacific Coast, where Afro-Colombians have been systematically displaced or killed through the ongoing violence.
This includes not only fighting between the government and the FARC, but also paramilitary groups, narco traffickers and local gangs.
The town of Puerto Tejada like most other towns that surround the city of Cali has long been in the middle of this fighting.
“Look, Ill tell you something, on the theme of the armed conflict in Puerto Tejada, the paramilitaries arrived here in January of 2002. And between January of 2002 and June of 2006, they killed in over 1,112 youth. Thats a genocide,” said Weimar Possu Diaz, Darly’s brother.
Kimberley (Michelle) Brown 