Tumaco bets on resurfacing after years of ravaging 6i6y6y

Just walking through the streets of this humble location is enough to perceive the harsh daily life and the candor of its Afro-descendant people who, neglected by many, are betting on resurfacing with what they have in common: nature, culture, and hard work.

It would also be enough to walk along the grey and black sand beaches and enjoy the sunset over the Pacific Ocean, visit the villages called ‘veredas’, go fishing, or visit the cocoa, coconut, and sugarcane plantations, and delve into the mangroves to experience firsthand the hard work and humility of a people who need to move forward.

There are several community and agricultural organizations that, in one way or another, are working to improve the economy, counteract the stigma of the region, and somehow improve the standard of living.

This is the case of Conociendo.co, which, in addition to organizing adventure tours, is an organization led by women from Tumaco that gathers strength and spreads the good news of hope.

“It's the result of more than 20 years of community work with organizations, with women, with young people. We travel along the entire Colombian Pacific coast, visiting both Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities, to learn about what they're doing and coordinate how we can help each other,” Lidia Grueso, manager of the agrotourism agency, told DIARIO LAS AMÉRICAS.

Grueso noted, “Everyone is a professional in their field,” from the fishermen and farmers to the merchants of land and sea products, the female cooks who carefully guard centuries-old recipes, and the heroines who each morning delve into the mangroves in search of the poorly paid delicacy piangua in the mud, which is not just a mollusk but a way of life.

"We meet with everyone: cocoa farmers, piangüera farmers, fishermen, coconut farmers, banana farmers, sugarcane and sugarcane derivatives producers. Anyone who does something good, positive, and legal," she emphasized.

The idea is “to contribute to improving the stigmatized image we still have. To show all the good things we do because we are cacao farmers, piangua farmers, fishermen, coconut farmers, banana farmers, sugarcane producers, and great cooks,” she emphasized.

The manager of Conociendo.co recalled how the region lived in relative peace and was self-sufficient in agricultural and meat products— “plantains, rice, vegetables, fish”—until “people from Colombia's Putumayo arrived in the 1980s with those deadly crops. Illicit crops like coca leaves,” turning Tumaco and its surrounding areas into a haven for drug trafficking.

This situation led to "the bad image we have today. We were named the first coca producers. And that led to drug trafficking, that led to violence, to armed conflict. There are many families here in Tumaco who lost nothing but a son, a husband, a father," she noted, visibly distressed.

In the absence of men, "women took the lead because they were the ones who stayed at home. Many men died in the armed conflict" between drug traffickers and guerrillas from the Marxist-Leninist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and the paramilitary Los Rastrojos, who were fighting for control of the area.

Furthermore, the region was also a refuge and center of action for the National Liberation Army (ELN), another allegedly leftist guerrilla group.

“Coca, the control of coca, is what led to the whole armed conflict. That's the result of having grown coca. Abundant money for some, but cursed money,” she remarked.

Terror

Let's call him Mario to protect his name. “Drug traffickers and guerrillas hit us extremely hard. Some of them practically forced us to grow coca, and others took our animals, crops, and even our women,” he recalled.

“If they liked the wife or daughter of one of us, they would take her with a machine gun in their hand. They would abuse them and then return them whenever they wanted. We were like that for a long time. And thank God, things have changed,” he asserted.

Regarding drug trafficking, Mario recalled how coca cultivation took over the area.

“We farmers weren't getting a good return; we barely got paid anything. They had big profits, but we didn't, and we still had to grow it for them. That set us back quite a bit, and today we're paying the consequences,” he emphasized.

Mario proudly emphasized that around 70% of the coca plantations have been eradicated.

“Thank God, it's gone down a lot,” he insisted.

Indeed, 14 years ago, the Spanish online newspaper El Confidencial reported that Tumaco was the Colombian municipality with the highest crime rate, with more than 300 murders a year. But, as Mario said, things have changed in this town home to nearly 270,000 people, around 90% of whom are Afro descendants, according to the National istrative Department of Statistics (DANE).

“It will take a lot to clean up the image of the damage done to us, but we will succeed. Today we celebrate our culture, our cultural heritage, and the work we do every day, and Tumaco will return to what it once was,” emphasized Lidia Grueso, manager of the agrotourism agency who leads the gastronomic festival celebrating Tumaco's culinary heritage.

Tourism

Certainly, in addition to fishing and agricultural production, Tumaco is committed to adventure tourism, which, combined with the slender nature and rich gastronomy that characterizes the area, promises a significant future.

Therefore, the national government institution PROCOLOMBIA, which is responsible for promoting tourism, foreign investment, non-mining and energy exports, and the country's image, is ing forces with community organizations in Tumaco to bring the growth project forward.

"Those who visit us feel very well served," emphasized Margot Fabiola Suárez, Director of Tourism for Tumaco.

"But we cannot hide the problems we have, such as the need to supply more drinking water and a new aqueduct that began construction more than five years ago and has not been completed," she concluded.

Another situation affecting the town "is the collection of solid waste" (garbage) because the population has grown significantly and we don't have enough funds to provide a better service," she explained.

Investments, both from the Colombian national government and from large tourism-generating companies, are what Tumaco needs to generate profits and jobs.

We must stop looking the other way because "Tumaco is a destination with great development potential thanks to its people and its rich biodiversity," she emphasized. A kind of natural gemstone that needs to shine.