By Over Cordoba Renteriateacher and writer from Bagados.
A desperate cry from Chocó, a department that was ready to compete with Antioquia or Valle del Cauca in industrial and economic aspects and today does not have any renowned company of its own and hardly resells products made in other regions. An X-ray of how it could have happened and what would be missing to recover the path.
And to think that the development of the department came in the past and left in the present. Who would believe that this territory came to have sugar companies, its own lottery and even a liquor store.
Our elders yearn for that past of progress, because today only deaths and hopelessness are harvested; This department was one of the largest gold exporters from the San Juan area when the multinationals appropriated the lands of old Andagoya, even murdering their owners to dredge their territories to extract the last gram of that precious metal.
The political leaders of the time of progress in Chocó wanted to see it competing with departments such as Antioquia, Valle del Cauca and those of the Coffee Region in industrial and economic aspects. However, those who inherited power began to do their own thing. So much so that today there is no renowned company belonging to the Chocoanos; We are only resellers of products made in other regions of the country.
El Chocó is the department where the most development offers are made by those who aspire to a popular election, from the presidency to the municipal councils. However, the same promises of more than 50 years ago continue to be repeated because the problems are exactly the same: this town is between hunger and poverty, no work is finished, in the capital city there are more than 7 unfinished works, the also called white elephants; Among them, the health center in the northern area of Quibdó, the soccer stadium that is on the road that communicates with the municipality of Atrato, the Olympic village that today is being eaten by the weeds, educational institutions and not to mention the works of infrastructure that they execute in the municipalities and that never provide any service to the community; that, among many other terminal illnesses that Chocó suffers from.
It is paradoxical that the majority of the Chocoan population does not have drinking water when we are one of the departments with the most water sources in Colombia; health services seem like a death sentence: those of us who do not have the means to pay for private care or prepaid medicine, have to wait for poor quality care every two or three months, ending with a box of acetaminophen for 30 days or , in the worst case, with the death of the bereaved.
The same promises of more than 50 years ago continue to be repeated because the problems are exactly the same: this town is between hunger and poverty”.
This in urban areas, rurality is something else. If there are complex problems in departments of Colombia that have tertiary highways, let us imagine in Chocó, where most of its communities are reached by water: it is more than a painful journey, nurses do not arrive, the towns must throw hand of ancestral knowledge to prepare their medicines; hence, death is more certain, particularly in indigenous peoples; the social investment projects of the governments do not arrive there; to this we add the confrontations between groups outside the law and the public force that make the situation a more complex issue.
Those who have visited the Munguidó River, a tributary of the Atrato, almost opposite the city of Quibdó, will know that there were settlements in more than 30 villages; They can corroborate that, as a result of the conflict, there are more than 15 almost desolate compared to the number of inhabitants they had when they did not know the violence; All this displaced population lives in the city of Quibdó, where unemployment and urban violence is terrifying. every day there is at least one death, people cannot get ahead, there are no real opportunities for young people, which allows them to see as the only way to survive, aligning themselves with a criminal group.
In this territory, it is mistakenly believed that holding an exotic dance contest where they give young cultivators a snack is improving their quality of life, but this is not the case, this is not a definitive solution, hunger continues. Young people need to be paid for their art at least every 15 days, or every month, in this way, they would be generating a positive impact and keeping them away from illegal organizations.
What about tourism? This department is very rich in biodiversity, with municipalities located on the Pacific and Caribbean coasts. And others of fresh water, such as Bagadó, Cértegui, Istmina, Tadó, Condoto, among others, are potential for the development of sustainable tourism, however, this commitment has not been made by the governments, the little trade in this line has been created by the communities themselves.
This region of the country is part of the deep Colombia that is talked about so much these days. Fewer pledges are needed; in exchange we want decisive works that change the development path that they have drawn in the department with some gaps and vices that only serve the usual. The national government, headed by President Gustavo Petro Urrego, must make the investments that it promised to Chocó.
It is important to specify that this territory has excellent leaders, intellectuals and administrators, but to reach a position of high representativeness you need to sell your soul to the devil.
Some say that it is better that the works be carried out from the national level, because people no longer believe in local governments; A lot of money has been lost and the department continues with the same needs of more than 30 years ago; no work is finished, the money is lost and the governments get tired of sending money and not seeing the results. Sadly, they always manage to take advantage of any important project for these lands. It is necessary that we already deserve another fate. That the surveillance and control entities be rigorous, that the Prosecutor’s Office act without mercy against acts of corruption and that Chocoan society defend its institutions, which must always be at the service of the communities.
The Chocoano could not have been born to live in inhumane conditions, while some drive around in high-end trucks and build homes worth billions; the most vulnerable eat once a day, sometimes, particularly in indigenous towns; they spend the day with a cup of salt water; It cannot be fair that the money of an entire town disappears and there are never those responsible; Meanwhile, those who have the means to do so continue to fight for power.
It is important to specify that this territory has excellent leaders, intellectuals and administrators, but to reach a position of high representativeness you need to sell your soul to the devil. The good sons of Chocó are waiting for that historic opportunity to save their people, but those who administer hunger maintain it as a strategy to remain in power in exchange for offering zinc, markets, money, and even jobs every four years. to the always hungry.
And in order not to clash with the tragedies of Chocó, where every year compatriots die on the roads that connect us with the interior of the country, I cannot fail to say that, more than two years ago, a citizen alerted about the effects that the Yuto bridge over the Atrato river, which communicates the capital of the Chocoanos with the department of Risaralda. This river has been undermining the structure and, at this time when all the bridges in Colombia are falling, we call on INVIAS to prevent Chocó from being cut off.
The reality of Chocó is painful and must hurt us as citizens; for this reason, whenever possible, it is necessary to give an opinion; Otherwise, bloody deaths will continue because our youth see no chance of improving their quality of life, deaths due to deficiencies in the health service and malnutrition will continue to grow, unemployment and hopelessness will continue to grow, while some they keep the money of the Chocoanos.
Health care is so fragile that the Chocoan population has begun to suffer from complex mental illnesses, a product of despair at not seeing possibilities of having a dignified life. Something that was not seen in these lands were the street inhabitants; Today, the capital of the Chocoanos has been covering its landscape with this population that falls into the excessive consumption of drugs: we can verify it in the Malecón de Quibdó, which was the safest place to take our children to observe the majesty from the Atrato river and enjoy sunsets, sometimes cultural. These days it is no longer quiet to be there. In this way, it must be said that the debt today is not only the nation’s debt with the Chocoanos, it is also that of its own children with the land where they were born.
The Chocoano stopped being ignorant. That was a fear that Diego Luis Córdoba always had, because he did not want to see his people submerged in servitude; that is why he supported the idea that an educated people would be free. However, today we are slaves to our own people, we go from ignorance to masochism.
Ultimately, we live in a country where the right lies with respect to the left and the latter attributes the role of savior; We cannot continue in that logic, today regions hit like ours must be at the center of public debate”.
Lastly, I want to leave a message: it is time to end the ego debate over the Colombian health reform, that of the former Minister of Health and Education, Alejandro Gaviria, who says that we have a solid and unbeatable system, only he criticizes and does not propose, and that of the Minister of Health, Carolina Corcho, who sees no other way than to finish what does not work before improving it; Those two roads are of no use to Chocó, because definitely, although the system is extremely poor, it has saved many lives and has also left many others to die.
The only second-level hospital in the department is San Francisco de Asís, which today, after surgery, has a higher debt than it did when the surgery occurred. It is heard in the media that Chocó will have its first third-level hospital, but that it will work in Pereira. Is it from Chocó? Ultimately, we live in a country where the right lies with respect to the left and the latter attributes the role of savior; We cannot continue with that logic, today regions hit like ours must be at the center of public debate.
I invite, in agony, the great businessmen of the country to evaluate the possibility of building an industry in Chocó, we have capable people who are willing to work, but there is a need for mega business projects that allow this town to move forward. Come to Chocó, help us build the development of this town.
Chocó will always be first for me, because I live there and I love being here.