New law aims to return land to some 4 million Colombians, forced out during nearly 50-year-old conflict involving rebels, paramilitary and government
AYAPEL, Colombia (AlertNet) - Seen from the air, the fertile plains and rivers of the sweeping Las Catas country estate in northern Colombia stretch towards the hazy horizon.
Down below, on these grounds where drug lords once lived, 304 families gathered for the official handing over of land deeds. It has been a long struggle to get titles to the lands they settled on five years ago, after armed groups displaced them.
“This is a day we never thought would come. It’s a very special day for us,” said farmer Victor Galvan.
“With a land title we’re protected. Tomorrow someone can’t just come along and make false claims on what is now our land.”
It was at this 4,225-hectare country estate, which the government expropriated from drug traffickers over six years ago, that Colombia’s President Juan Manual Santos last week marked the start of a land-reform law.
The “Victims’ law”, which came into effect this month, aims to return 3.5 million hectares of land to some 4 million Colombians – people forced from their land during a nearly 50-year-old conflict involving left-wing rebels, paramilitary groups and the government. Officials say the task could take a decade.
“Having a land title means you’re taken seriously and exist,” Galvan said. “Before, no-one would lend us a peso because we didn’t own anything. We can now go to the bank and ask for a loan because we’re landowners.”
Each family on the Las Catas estate has received up to four hectares of arable land and the government has promised technical help and state subsidies to boost agricultural output. Land will also be turned over to grow rubber and raise cattle.
“Getting this land means everything for me and my family. It’s our future. We’ll all work hard to make it productive,” said Luz Diaz, who plans to raise livestock and grow plantain on her small farm.
President Santos hopes the Victims’ law will kick-start agriculture on idle land while providing compensation and justice to the millions of victims of Colombia’s conflict. So far, the Santos government has returned 800,000 hectares to around 30,000 families.
“What we’re doing here is an agrarian revolution. It’s not just about returning land to peasants but giving them the tools they need to cultivate their lands,” Santos told the crowd of farmers and local and foreign dignitaries attending the ceremony.
LAND GRABBING AT HEART OF CONFLICT
Land grabbing lies at the heart of Colombia’s conflict. Left-wing guerrillas, paramilitaries and drug traffickers have snatched swathes of land to gain control of corridors for smuggling drugs and arms.
The government estimates 7 to 10 million hectares of land has been stolen during the last 25 years across Colombia through violent means, extortion and fraud.
Much of the seized land is abandoned or in the hands of front men working for criminal gangs, who have obtained falsified deeds by conspiring with corrupt notaries and judges in a complex legal web judicial officials are only just starting to unravel, the government says.
So far, two of 20 planned regional offices have been opened to offer Colombians help to process claims to land and financial compensation.
Countrywide, dozens of judges and magistrates have been appointed to sift through the hundreds of thousands of land claims already lodged.
“We need this law to work like clockwork,” Santos said. “Much of the success of this law will depend on the judges because they have the final say (on) whether someone is given a title or not.”
The United Nations (U.N.) has welcomed the Victims’ law, while the United States, Britain and other countries have given it financial backing.
“It was a bold move. I think it’s the most significant step, if not the most significant step ever, to address discrimination, poverty and extreme poverty in Colombia,” Bruno Moro, head of the U.N.’s development programme (UNDP) in Colombia, told AlertNet.
Experts see Colombia’s initiative as a model for other countries in Latin America to follow, where land disputes and unequal land redistribution hamper efforts to reduce poverty.
“What’s happening here is so important for Colombia, Central America and the region as a whole,” said Moro.
But experts say the Victims’ law faces challenges, including a notoriously inefficient judicial system and insufficient funds.
While a stepped-up government offensive against the rebels has improved security in some areas of the country, a major hurdle is ensuring conflict-ridden areas –particularly along Colombia’s jungle borders and southern provinces – are safe for the return of displaced families.
And there is a continued threat of violence against community leaders campaigning to reclaim land from armed groups. Local rights groups say at least 30 land campaigners have been murdered in Colombia over the last five years.
“There are a lot of illegal armed groups that have been benefiting from the expropriation of land and they want to keep it that way,” Moro said.
Still, new landowners living at Las Catas are feeling optimistic.
“Thanks to God, we’re hopeful about the future,” said Galvan. “We’ve got the deeds to our land.”
(Editing by Rebekah Curtis)
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