Last Friday came the day that Consuelo Manyoma had longed for. A line of six chivas arrived at the El Cristal Coliseum, a sports center located in the city of Buenaventura, Colombia’s main port. More than 200 families began their journey back to their lands, from which they had been displaced more than two years ago. Hundreds of people came and went between the coliseum and the buses early in the morning, collecting quilts, suitcases and cardboard boxes with the few belongings they managed to rescue when they left San Isidro, a town in the large jungle territory that surrounds Buenaventura. Around nine in the morning, with their belongings packed and a lunch in hand, the elderly murmured on the bus benches, while dozens of young people harangued from the roofs: “Not for the most, not for the least, We won’t even back down for the sake of it!”
Manyoma, a 39-year-old woman, had been awake since two in the morning in anticipation of the return. She had reason to be cheerful. In April 2022, she fled the rural community located about 20 kilometers north of Buenaventura Bay. She, her four children, her two parents and some 200 other families had suffered a growing wave of clashes between the so-called Clan del Golfo and the guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN), who were fighting for control of the drug trafficking routes to port. San Isidro has the difficult privilege of being located right on one of them, the one that runs down the Calima River.
![On the return there was a military presence to guarantee the safety of the citizens.](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/v2/OY5UUV74LFD2JG5CAJDSI7VE7E.jpg?auth=fcabb9a45ce77aeaa340f82c88e902a4d5c74b3cf40fd3f5856d22ca13ad3131&width=414)
After the 2016 peace agreement between the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Government, there was a period of peace. But the ELN arrived first and then, in 2021, the Gulf Clan. During the worst episodes of violence, several residents were murdered, children had to take refuge under their beds from patrols of armed men, and groups attempted to recruit local youth. San Isidro became unlivable. Its inhabitants had to move, something that happened in total to some 20,300 families in Colombia that year alone, according to the Ombudsman’s Office.
![Women celebrate on a goat because they are returning to San Isidro, in the Bajo Calima area, on June 14, 2024.](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/v2/WO5EJDSGY5FJNAMTIVU73DNSOQ.jpg?auth=5dbefce9d9870d1f3d1a92d3ad14db118b0d06ec8b0011dcba572538aacac284&width=414)
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When they arrived in the city, they took refuge in the sports center in the El Cristal neighborhood. They assumed it was a matter of weeks or months to return home. The last time they had been displaced in 2014, they had spent six months outside the territory before returning. But the months dragged on and, by the second year in the temporary shelter, Manyoma had already lost faith in returning to his territory. He imagined another year sleeping with his children and his parents on thin mattresses lying on the cold floor, while his family went hungry. Without a stable financial source or anywhere else to go, the coliseum had become a prison with no release date for her and hundreds of others.
![The arrival of families.](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/v2/A5NEMQQYWBETNOBPSIXAKYKAA4.jpg?auth=e741c8dea62b844b72e901ebb896032dc4b6d02933e5315e7de684ab277f3e6d&width=414)
Therefore, Manyoma exhaled with relief when he saw the Calima River again, and even more so when he saw the smiling young people, including his children, jump into the waters and swim without seeming to get tired. “This is freedom,” she declared, her face lit up by a giant smile. Her neighbors and fellow commuters seem to agree. They have just returned and a currulao, a traditional rhythm of the Colombian Pacific, begins to play from a sound system, which resonates throughout the town, even to the most remote wooden houses. The rest of Friday was a day of celebrations, with dancing and viche, the distilled drink of the region.
![The first women to return begin the usual tasks of living on the river.](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/v2/NAK7UG643NFE7FZIERMIJYF6BM.jpg?auth=9cd0fc956ada79b7b0dc68443a4f74314d024a61446e8ca198910cce97900ecb&width=414)
The return was possible because, according to the Government, security in Bajo Calima has improved in the last year. Dennis Huffington, researcher in the Pacific region for the Peace and Reconciliation Foundation, assures that this is because the Gulf Clan has won the dispute with the ELN and has taken control of the region, which has reduced the fighting. .
Ricardo Alberto Visbal Heilbut, colonel of the Marine infantry and who leads the brigade that covers the rural area of Buenaventura, has another explanation. He assures that last year the armed forces had significant results that led to the demobilization of the Gulf Clan structure that operated in the area. “We brought three members of that structure to justice. Because of this, tranquility is generated in this sector of Bajo Calima,” says Visbal, who adds that his units will be monitoring San Isidro especially for the next two months.
![People returning from the community unload their belongings from the trucks.](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/v2/OKRZVAVKARAM7JZQH524P4P4TM.jpg?auth=b6b20f53aed1f84306a7da1f307f2349668d3a52578d3bb3c93f8a18360f27f1&width=414)
The military presence is visible: from eight in the morning, soldiers park themselves in each corner of the town. Its visibility has provided some peace of mind to the inhabitants who, despite the joy of returning to their territory, cannot help but remember the terror of the conflict. Pedro Evangelista Valois, who has lived by extracting wood from the generous jungle like most of the inhabitants of San Isidro, returned penniless and assures that he will soon have to return to the jungle to work. From his stilt house located on the edge of the town, he explains that this eventuality worries him. “We are afraid to go out into the mountains because no one knows if one might encounter a group of those,” he says, his gaze fixed on the extensive greenery that covers the banks of the river.
![A soldier is present to guarantee the safety of the inhabitants in front of a graffiti by the AGC group.](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/v2/Z3DZMDKXHJCQFO5JM7C74NPY5I.jpg?auth=01115620dafba1f5c6e6c1d37148cc25073f3976f561c318f17bca064bde1ba9&width=414)
Valois’ concerns echo the mixed feelings of other returnees. The precarious conditions in the coliseum prompted the return. Entire families lived for two years in every corner of the coliseum, creating homes in closets and bathrooms, sleeping on the floor. As a result of the limited humanitarian aid, many did not get basic food. The uncertainty of not knowing when they would return increased their daily stresses. According to community leaders, five people, most of them elderly, died in the 26 months they lived in the coliseum. They wanted to return.
![Suitcases and belongings at the entrance of a house in San Isidro, on June 14, 2024.](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/v2/4SBZ6P2OLFHMVMVOETAH32QIZQ.jpg?auth=c5e94a46e9e7a3023a779bec4f19437b36c86f7735926b2fa6e7390f16fd1361&width=414)
But they didn’t want to go back to the old life, but to a better one. Many return without resources and have found that their farms are ruined. Some houses have deteriorated, to the point of falling down. The road through which they take the wood to Buenaventura is full of holes, which means that a 40-kilometer journey takes about four hours. This has made it difficult for the economy and sales to grow.
![Pedro Bautista and his family at the entrance of his house, on June 16, 2024.](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/v2/PRMNEXLYHRDATLVGYJD4NY2KS4.jpg?auth=31db70e525e72102363c2d1e559ca0f070bad9c93a0ad356e8c0f442db7cdb6d&width=414)
To address these problems there are already state plans, says Claudio González, community leader. The program has not yet been announced, but González maintains that in meetings with officials from the Fund for Special Programs for Peace (FondoPaz), of the Presidency, a draft has been presented with investments of more than 240,000 million pesos (about 60 million dollars) to build homes, install clean energy, pave roads, provide basic sanitation systems and aqueducts, and improve education and health in Bajo Calima. These investments, which would come from different government ministries, would be part of a social development project called Maqueta de Paz, which arose within the framework of negotiations between the ELN and the government. The leader hopes that with these investments the timber industry can be strengthened and thus reduce poverty in San Isidro.
![During the early morning several people celebrate having been able to return to the territory.](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/v2/V5H33MRI3JAI3PPOPMSZBA65XE.jpg?auth=d363b07d5c48ae6701ba6a4ef981ca7b00053c6b030fb1d5c0d8e2f561698cef&width=414)
It is also hoped that these measures can prevent further displacement by creating economic opportunities and better living conditions. The possibility of providing a better future for her children encourages Manyoma. Her dream is to see her three remaining children finish high school. To achieve this, they need to evade war and conscription. She also longs for a quiet life for herself and her parents, living off the land as her ancestors did.
![Sunset in the community of San Isidro, June 15, 2024.](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/v2/R2GFBVPCP5C7BDSKG4QFTQ7HUI.jpg?auth=fe38194b07cfaa9a9b287152074ce6e4f424c2fd9fdb60aee62a8ad8a94bc97b&width=414)
Behind his house is a garden where papachina, yam, avocado, banana, lulo, lemon and coconut palm grow, crops that survived two years without anyone taking care of them. “I thought I was going to see nothing. But, thank God, she did not die,” she explains with relief. The land has given him hope to continue resisting in the territory, in her territory. The homes promised by the Government are still missing, she says, and the road that would help her market her products. But she maintains that she hopes to continue living in San Isidro for many more years.
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