Colombia's Civil War: a long-running conflict in this South American nation has forced 3 million people from their homes.

Standing shyly next to her mother in Bogota's southern slums, 10-year-old Bella Lucero explains why she had to flee her village. One night last October, armed men arrived at her home in Tolima Province, about 130 miles southwest of Bogota, Colombia's capital. The men, who are engaged in a fight against the government, accused Bella's family of helping the enemies and threatened to kill them if they didn't leave. "I left very sad," Bella says. "We left everything--including our friends."

A decade ago, Bella's father was killed in the same cycle of violence. Bella now lives with her mother, two sisters, and another family in a three-room shack. Her mother has not found work in Bogota, so Bella cannot afford the supplies needed to attend school.

But Bella is happy just to be safe. Her plight is similar to that of about 3 million other Colombians, many of them children, who were forced to flee from their homes because of the threat of violence. These "internally displaced people" are the human face of a 41-year civil war that has pitted groups of right-wing fighters, known as paramilitaries, and the government against leftwing rebels.

According to the United Nations, Colombia ranks third (behind the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan) in the number of internally displaced people. Worldwide, there are an estimated 25 million people who have left their homes, but not their countries, as a result of war.

The Drug Trade

Colombia has a long history of internal strife. The latest phase of civil conflict began in 1964. That year, leftist rebel groups, such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC, for its Spanish initials), staged a Communist-inspired revolt against the government. The FARC was fighting for social justice and a more equal distribution of wealth. But many poor people in rural areas, like Bella's family, have fallen victim to the group. "The FARC was an organization that evolved from farmers resisting aggression from landowners," said Fernando Giraldo, a political science professor at Bogota's Javeriana University. "But the FARC has now changed direction, and it's not at all clear whose interests they're defending--the farmers' or their own."

In the 1980s, Colombia's wealthy landowners formed the paramilitaries. They said that the government had failed to protect them against the FARC and other rebel groups. At times, the paramilitaries have been allied with the government.

In the 1990s, both the paramilitaries and the FARC got involved in the drug trade by taxing, processing, and exporting cocaine, made from the coca plants grown here. Colombia is the largest exporter of cocaine in the world, distributing about 90 percent of the world's supply, much of it to the United States.

The alliance of the armed groups with the drug trade has caused violence to skyrocket, as the two groups fight over drug routes, territory in which to grow coca, and huge sums of money. Some observers now argue that the FARC and paramilitaries are more drug-trafficking organizations than political groups. The millions of dollars they get from drugs makes them more difficult to defeat.

After his election two-and-a-half years ago, President Alvaro Uribe (AHL-vah-roe ooh-REE-bay) launched a military offensive against the rebel groups, and made Colombia a bit safer. Now, there are fewer murders, terrorist attacks, and kidnappings.

Uribe is also negotiating for a peace settlement with the paramilitaries. Some of the paramilitary squads have disbanded.

Life in the Shantytowns

Meanwhile, displaced rural families like Bella's struggle to survive in Bogota. They are forced to live in shantytowns (slums) on the city's outskirts, which, as the name implies, consist mostly of shanties. These dwellings are made with whatever scrap is available, including cardboard and aluminum siding. Most have no running water and only improvised electricity. Roads are generally unpaved, and they often flood.

In Soacha (so-AH-sha), Bella's neighborhood in the foothills of the Andes Mountains, more than 4,100 displaced persons arrived in 2004 alone, according to the Bogota-based Consultancy for Human Rights. Children point to the mountains above as the paramilitaries' turf. Many armed groups attempt to recruit (enlist) poor children with promises of money.

Twelve-year-old Diana Patricia Rojas (ROE-hahs) has been displaced twice--first from her home in the central province of Caldas and then from Medellin (meh-deh-YEEN), Colombia's second-largest city. "The [FARC] guerrillas came to my village," she says. "They killed a lot of people."

Diana, who wants to be a nurse when she grows up, is one of the lucky few in Soacha who attend school. Her favorite subject is Spanish, and she enjoys playing soccer.

Diana has money for schoolbooks and costume jewelry because her father works. But she is still vulnerable to the dangers of the neighborhood, including thieves who roam the streets. She says that she has seen the paramilitaries sitting right outside her home.

"Around here, there is almost nothing to do," she says. "Everywhere, there is danger, and one can't live in peace."

The Other Side of Town

Like much of Colombia, Bogota is a city of extremes. The northern section is home to affluent (rich) Colombians whose children wear designer clothes, attend private schools, and ride in fancy cars. Although they know little about their displaced peers in the south, these wealthy kids are also victims of the war. Many have relatives who were kidnapped by one of the armed groups.

Jason, 17, a college student who is majoring in forestry, knows a lot about the war's impact on displaced persons. But, he says, standing outside a video arcade in the upscale Atlantis shopping mall, "there is very little we can do. The only way to fix the problem is education."

Like Diana, 13-year-old Barbara enjoys studying Spanish. She carries a purple cell phone and says that she likes lasagna and pizza. Barbara blames the war on the FARC. She believes that peace in Colombia is possible, but it is not the responsibility of young people. "The adults are the ones who should do their jobs," she says. "If we sit down and talk about it, total peace will come. Colombia is a country very intent on moving forward."

COLOMBIA

Colombia, named after Christopher Columbus, was a Spanish colony for 300 years (see pp. 18-19). Today, Colombia has the second-largest population of all the countries in South America. The unequal distribution of wealth is a major problem. A small minority holds most of the wealth, while large numbers of people suffer from poverty. Many poor farmers have resorted to growing coca for income.

FACTS TO KNOW

AREA: 439,734 square miles, not quite three times the size of Montana.

POPULATION: 45,300,000.

GOVERNMENT: Presidential-legislative democracy; President Alvaro Uribe is the head of government.

ECONOMY: The economy has suffered because of the civil war, but has shown growth in the past two years. Coffee and oil are two of Colombia's main exports.

PER-CAPITA (PER PERSON) GDP *: $6,300.

LANGUAGE: Spanish.

LITERACY: Males, 92%; females, 93%.

RELIGION: 90% Roman Catholic.

LIFE EXPECTANCY: Males, 69 years; females, 75 years.

QUESTIONS

1. Which city is the capital of Colombia? --

2. Colombia borders how many countries? --

3. The Cordillera Occidental (west), Central, and Oriental (east) are part of which larger mountain chain? --

4. Which crop is illegally grown along much of Colombia's southern border? --

5. Which canal would you need to traverse to reach Buenaventura from the Caribbean Sea? --

6. In which country is 0[degrees], 60[degrees]W? --

7. What is the distance in miles between Pasto and Cartagena? --

8. Which country is on Colombia's northeastern border? --

9. Colombia borders both a sea and an ocean. Name them. --

10. The Putumayo River flows into which larger river? --

ANSWERS

1. Bogota

2. five: Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, and Panama

3. Andes

4. coca, which is used to make cocaine

5. Panama Canal

6. Brazil

7. about 600 miles

B. Venezuela

9. Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean

10. Amazon River

Words to Know

* Communist: a political system that ends private ownership in an effort to creat a more equal distribution of wealth.

* paramilitary: a supplementary or private military force.

* plight: a terrible, even dangerous situation.

Your Turn

WORD MATCH

1. plight       A. rich
2. Communist    B. slum
3. shantytown   C. enlist
4. recruit      D. political
                   system
5. affluent     E. terrible
                   situation

ANSWERS

1. E;

2. D;

3. B;

4. C;

5. A

THINK ABOUT IT

1. How did Colombia's civil war begin?

2. Describe life in a typical shantytown on the outskirts of Bogota.

* OBJECTIVE

Students should understand

* About 3 million Colombians have been displaced by their country's ongoing civil war, a conflict that involves official and unofficial armies, rebels, and drug traffickers.

* WORDS TO KNOW

guerrillas: troops engaged in irregular warfare (such as ambushes and sabotage).

* TEACHING STRATEGY

Ask students to define the term civil war, then discuss the impact this kind of conflict can have on noncombatants. How is civil war likely to affect where and how people survive?

* BACKGROUND

In 1964, a Communist-inspired guerrilla group (known as the FARC) attempted a coup in Colombia. The coup flailed, but the group kept up its attacks. Complicating the pattern of violence are the paramilitaries that were formed to protect wealthy Colombians. Neither force has gained the upper hand, but since both sides now have lots of drug money, they are harder to defeat. Millions of Colombians have been displaced by the fighting.

* CRITICAL THINKING

NOTING DETAILS: Which of Colombia's clashing groups rebelled against the government in 1964? (the FARC) Which were formed to protect wealthy landowners from rebel groups? (the paramilitaries) Which group or groups are involved in drug trafficking? (both)

MAKING INFERENCES: How do combatant groups' drug-traffic earnings make it harder for authorities to defeat them? (With huge sums of money, combatants can bribe officials, recruit members, and keep troops armed.)

* ACTIVITY

WHO'S IN CHARGE? Have students research Colombia's president, Alvaro Uribe. Then discuss: What efforts has he made to end the fighting? What difficulties does he face?

STANDARDS

SOCIAL STUDIES, GRADES 5-8

* Power, authority, and governance: How competition for power among multiple armed forces has fueled Colombia's civil war.

* Time, continuity, and change: How the lives of Colombians are being affected by conflicts with deep historical roots.

RESOURCES

PRINT

* Lopata, Peg, Colomhia (Thomson Gale, 2004). Grades 6-8.

* UNICEF Publications, Out of War: True Stories From the Frontlines of the Children's Movement (Scholastic Inc., 2001). Grades 6-8.

WED SITES

* Country Profile: Colombia/ BBC News news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world /americas/country_profiles /1212798.stm

* Colombia: The Pipeline War pbs,org/frontlineworld/stories /colombia

QUICK QUIZ

* Match the person or phrase in the left column with the correct description in the right column.

--16. Bogota           A. formed by wealthy landowners
--17. FARC             B. Colombia's second-largest city
--18. Medellin         C. Colombia's capital
--19. paramilitaries   D. slum
--20. shantytown       E. leftist rebels

ANSWERS

16. C

17. E

18. B

19. A

20. D