Tumaco, in Colombia’s far south-east, is no stranger to the violence surrounding the cultivation of coca, a raw material for making cocaine.
For decades, the local area has been a key source of the plant – and consequently a battleground in intense struggles for control of Colombian drugtrafficking.
On October 5, at least six coca growers were shot dead and 21 wounded while protesting against a coca eradication operation carried out by the Colombian army. A FRANCE 24 team went to report on this.
Contradictory versions of events
An official in a farmers’ organisation, who declined to give his identity for security reasons, told FRANCE 24 that 500 rural workers had gathered to form a “human shield” to protect coca fields that the armed forces were getting ready to tear up and burn.
Another witness said that his “brother died when a policeman shot him at point blank range”. A third source told FRANCE 24 that “it was a peaceful demonstration, because – as everyone knows – we all depend on coca farming to make a living here. But they [the soldiers and the police] attacked us.”
Some organisations go further in their allegations. Coccam, a coca growers’ association, said “these weren’t just clashes: it was slaughter.” Another such group, the Asominuma association, said the army “responded disproportionately to a peaceful demonstration”.
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