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Barrancabermeja
KNOWLEDGE OF Barrancabermeja
Barrancabermeja (also known simply as Barranca) is a city in the department of Santander, on the Magdalena River in Colombia. It is known as the "petroleum capital" of the country and is home to the country's largest oil refinery. It has seen extensive fighting between the various armed groups in Colombia's ongoing civil war and is currently controlled by the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), the main paramilitary group. (The Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) the largest guerrilla group, is still active in the surrounding countryside.) Because of the oil refinery, the city is also home to various gasoline cartels and illegal tapping of the oil pipelines and sale of stolen gasoline is a common occurrence.
Although there is evidence of a small settlement in the area dating back to the 16th century, the city wasn't incorporated until 1922 not long after the discovery of oil and the foundation of the first extraction wells by the Tropical Oil Company (aka Standard Oil Company). The name Barrancabermeja comes explorer Gonzalo Jiménez de Quezada who wrote that that area of the river was characterized by some "reddish ravines" "unos Barrancas Bermejas" [ibid]. The state owned oil company Ecopetrol took over the refinery in 196 and since then Barranca has grown into a city of 214,192 inhabitants and become a major industrial base for the country, providing most of Colombia's oil.
The city has a long history of labour activism and leftist organisations and until recently was controlled by the insurgent guerrillas. The ELN began moving into Barranca in the late 70's and early 80's. The FARC arrived in the early 1990s. During the time when it was contested territory between the guerrilla groups and the Colombian military and paramilitaries, the city was essentially a warzone. The military would only cross the bridge over the railroad into the southeast area of the city in armored personnel carriers.
Then on May 16, 1998 a large group of paramilitaries swept through the city killing eleven people and kidnapping a further 25 who were later killed (Amnesty International, 1999). This massacre signaled the beginning of the AUC takeover of the city which would culminate in 2001. During the final year of the invasion 539 people were killed and the takeover was complete.
Since 2001, human rights organizations have documented wide spread killings of activists and intimidation by paramilitaries, with whom the Colombian military is known to collaborate. Those human rights groups that continue to operate have done so partly with support from members of Peace Brigades International who provide international volunteers to accompany human rights workers in their work. In the rural regions surrounding the city, a number of the small fishing and farming communities along the river were displaced by the armed groups. Per request of the Colombian Mennonite Church in Bogota, Christian Peacemaker Teams has maintained an international violence reduction team in the region. With their presence, the communities have returned home and remain there in the face of threats and assassinations of community leaders by both the paramilitaries and the FARC Guerrillas.
Partly due to its history as an oil boom town, Barrancabermeja has a reputation as an open and vibrant city. However, its history of violence, proximity to ongoing clashes between paramilitaries and guerrillas, as well as an extremely high murder rate has given the city a reputation as a very hot and dangerous town. Nonetheless, in defiance of the city's notoriety, night life flourishes. Salsa and merengue dance clubs abound and the port area especially is extremely loud as bars compete for patrons. The drink of choice is Aguila, a Colombian beer whose yellow logo is painted on walls and bill boards throughout the town. Despite paramilitary rule, the city has several local and national political organizations including unions, women's organizations and human rights groups and marches and rallies are quite common.
Although there is evidence of a small settlement in the area dating back to the 16th century, the city wasn't incorporated until 1922 not long after the discovery of oil and the foundation of the first extraction wells by the Tropical Oil Company (aka Standard Oil Company). The name Barrancabermeja comes explorer Gonzalo Jiménez de Quezada who wrote that that area of the river was characterized by some "reddish ravines" "unos Barrancas Bermejas" [ibid]. The state owned oil company Ecopetrol took over the refinery in 196 and since then Barranca has grown into a city of 214,192 inhabitants and become a major industrial base for the country, providing most of Colombia's oil.
The city has a long history of labour activism and leftist organisations and until recently was controlled by the insurgent guerrillas. The ELN began moving into Barranca in the late 70's and early 80's. The FARC arrived in the early 1990s. During the time when it was contested territory between the guerrilla groups and the Colombian military and paramilitaries, the city was essentially a warzone. The military would only cross the bridge over the railroad into the southeast area of the city in armored personnel carriers.
Then on May 16, 1998 a large group of paramilitaries swept through the city killing eleven people and kidnapping a further 25 who were later killed (Amnesty International, 1999). This massacre signaled the beginning of the AUC takeover of the city which would culminate in 2001. During the final year of the invasion 539 people were killed and the takeover was complete.
Since 2001, human rights organizations have documented wide spread killings of activists and intimidation by paramilitaries, with whom the Colombian military is known to collaborate. Those human rights groups that continue to operate have done so partly with support from members of Peace Brigades International who provide international volunteers to accompany human rights workers in their work. In the rural regions surrounding the city, a number of the small fishing and farming communities along the river were displaced by the armed groups. Per request of the Colombian Mennonite Church in Bogota, Christian Peacemaker Teams has maintained an international violence reduction team in the region. With their presence, the communities have returned home and remain there in the face of threats and assassinations of community leaders by both the paramilitaries and the FARC Guerrillas.
Partly due to its history as an oil boom town, Barrancabermeja has a reputation as an open and vibrant city. However, its history of violence, proximity to ongoing clashes between paramilitaries and guerrillas, as well as an extremely high murder rate has given the city a reputation as a very hot and dangerous town. Nonetheless, in defiance of the city's notoriety, night life flourishes. Salsa and merengue dance clubs abound and the port area especially is extremely loud as bars compete for patrons. The drink of choice is Aguila, a Colombian beer whose yellow logo is painted on walls and bill boards throughout the town. Despite paramilitary rule, the city has several local and national political organizations including unions, women's organizations and human rights groups and marches and rallies are quite common.
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