The recent spike in Colombia’s cocaine production, along with the associated escalation in violence linked to illegal armed groups was responsible for a sharp uptick in the number of civilians displaced during 2021. According to the UN, at least 74,000 Colombiansduring that year, which is more than double 2020. The volume of direct attacks against civilians during 2021 also trended higher, rising by 37% year over year to total of more than 2,400 occurrences.
It is the marked increase in cocaine production and associated violence from various illegal armed groups engaged in the manufacture of the narcotic that poses the greatest threat to the Colombian state, civil society and the economy. This becomes particularly apparent when the regions where coca is grown and much of the related violence occurs are also those rich in hydrocarbons.
Colombia’s southern Putumayo department is listed by UNDOC as being the fourth largest zone for coca cultivation. The region, which borders northern Ecuador, has long had significant presence of the now demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia . Since the 2016 peace agreement between Bogota and the FARC a series of smaller illegal armed groups, mainly dissident FARC elements, and criminal organizations have sprung up in Putumayo.