A chance to clean up
For all its imperfections and complexities, the agreement between the government and the FARC can transform a country that has been at war for 52 years
A FEW decades ago, Tumaco must have been a kind of paradise. Built on two small islands in the glaucous shallows of a large bay on the Pacific, its beaches are watched over by frigate birds and pelicans. Now its population of 115,000, most of whom are Afro-Colombians, live in some of the most deprived conditions in Colombia. Yet bottles of Royal Salute 21-year-old whisky, priced at 500,000 pesos ($172), “sell like water”, says a sales assistant in one of the port’s liquor stores.
The reason why can be found an hour’s drive east and a further hour’s ride in a fast launch up the Mira river. El Playón is a clutch of huts and bars blasting out vallenato folk music. The ensign of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)—the national flag with an image of two AK-47 rifles crossed over a map of Colombia superimposed on it—flies from a tall pole at the waterside.
This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline "A chance to clean up"
From the October 1st 2016 edition
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