Impacts of Environmental Crimes on Human Security and Territorial Peace in Río Quito and Quibdó, Colombia

Imagine two towns in Colombia, Río Quito and Quibdó, as if they were two houses in a neighborhood that's been under siege for decades. For years, these houses were caught in a violent tug-of-war between the government and rebel groups. But recently, a new, invisible monster moved in: illegal gold mining. This isn't just digging in the dirt; it's a chaotic, high-tech scavenger hunt that is tearing the neighborhood apart, poisoning the water, and making it impossible for the families living there to feel safe or build a future.

This paper is like a detective story that tries to figure out why the "Peace Agreement" signed in 2016 hasn't fully worked in these specific towns. The authors suggest that you can't just stop the fighting and call it a day if the ground itself is sick and the water is toxic. They argue that to fix the peace, you have to fix the environment first.

The Monster in the River: Illegal Mining

Think of the Atrato River, which flows through these towns, as the lifeblood of the community. Before the big trouble started, the people here lived like careful gardeners. They took just enough gold and food to survive, respecting the river's rhythm.

But then, a new kind of "gardener" arrived: illegal armed groups (like the ELN and the Clan del Golfo) and their massive, noisy machines. These aren't small shovels; they are giant backhoes and draglines (some so big they need explosives to destroy, which the police can't always use because it might hurt the neighbors). These machines are like hungry vacuum cleaners that suck up the riverbed, strip the forest, and dump a toxic chemical called mercury into the water.

The paper reveals a scary trade-off:

• The Money Trap: These machines are incredibly profitable. A single large machine (a dragline) can make about 250 million Colombian pesos (roughly 70 thousand dollars) in a single day. That's way faster than growing coca leaves, which takes months.
• The Survival Trap: Because the government has been absent and poverty is high, many locals feel they have no choice but to work for these machines or sell their land to the machine owners. They say, "If we don't do this, how do we feed our families?"
• The Poison: The mercury doesn't just stay in the water. It gets into the fish people eat and the crops they try to grow. The soil becomes so infertile that people are literally going hungry because they can't plant anything.

The "Peace" That Isn't Peace

The authors point out a big problem with how the country is trying to fix this. The government's main strategy so far has been like a firefighter trying to put out a blaze by smashing the arsonist's tools with a sledgehammer. They send the military to blow up the mining machines.

But here's the twist the paper highlights: This isn't working.

• When the military destroys a machine, the criminals just buy a new one and come back within one or two months.
• Sometimes, the explosives used to destroy the machines spill fuel and debris right into the water, making the pollution worse.
• The armed groups use the mining money to buy more weapons and control the territory, keeping the violence going.

The paper argues that treating this only as a military problem is like trying to fix a broken leg by just yelling at the person to walk faster. The authors explicitly reject the idea that military force alone can solve this. They say that without fixing the environment and giving people other ways to make a living, the peace agreement is just a piece of paper.

The Real Solution: Listening to the Neighbors

The most exciting part of the paper is what the local communities say they need. Instead of waiting for the government to tell them what to do, the people in Río Quito and Quibdó held workshops and came up with a six-point plan for real peace:

1. Real Jobs: Give them legal ways to make money that aren't mining, so they don't have to choose between starving or working for the criminals.
2. Healing the River: Fix the Atrato River and the land so they can farm and fish again.
3. Follow the Rules: Actually implement the "Comprehensive Rural Reform" parts of the peace deal that were promised.
4. Teach the Peace: Explain the peace agreement in a way that makes sense to the locals, connecting it to their love for the land.
5. Safety First: Make sure their basic rights are protected so they aren't forced to move away (displaced) because of the violence or the pollution.
6. Hope for Kids: Give teenagers schools and jobs so they don't get recruited by the armed groups.

The Big Idea: The River is a Person

The paper suggests a radical new way of thinking. In the past, we thought of nature as just a resource to use (like a tool). But the authors, along with a famous Colombian court ruling (Judgment T-622/2016), suggest we should treat the Atrato River as a living being with rights, just like a person.

They call this a "biocentric" approach. Imagine if the river could speak up in court and say, "I am being hurt, and I have a right to be healthy." The paper suggests that if we treat the environment as a victim of the war, just like the people are, we might finally find a way to stop the cycle of violence.

What We Know and What We Don't

The authors are very careful about what they claim. They admit they didn't do a scientific test to measure exactly how much mercury is in the water right now (that would be a different study). Instead, they listened to 11 interviews and 3 focus groups with 45 people from the area, including community leaders and even some soldiers.

They also note that because it's so dangerous, they couldn't always visit the towns directly; sometimes they had to meet people in the city of Quibdó, which might have changed how vivid the stories were. They suggest that their findings are a deep look at these specific towns and might look different in other places, but the pattern of "mining fuels war, war hurts the land, and the land hurts the people" seems very clear here.

The Takeaway

The paper concludes that you can't have peace in these towns without healing the land. The military can smash machines, but they can't plant trees or clean the water. The authors suggest that true peace will only come when the government stops acting like a boss and starts acting like a partner, working with the communities to heal the river and build a future where people don't have to choose between their safety and their survival.

In short: No healthy river, no peace. The solution isn't just in the hands of the soldiers; it's in the hands of the gardeners, the fishers, and the families who know how to care for their home.