In the 13 years since the enactment of the Victims and Land Restitution Law (Law 1448 of 2011), Córdoba has managed to restore around 18,000 hectares to people who were dispossessed or forced to abandon their property due to the armed conflict.
This significant advance in the restitution process was announced by Ana Cristina Muñoz, territorial director of the Land Restitution Unit (URT) for Córdoba and Bajo Cauca.
According to Muñoz, Córdoba has been one of the departments most affected by violence, with a number of victims exceeding 50,000 people. “Córdoba, as you know, has been the victim of a conflict, of significant violence, provoked initially at the hands of guerrillas, then at the hands of paramilitary groups, which has left a considerable number of victims.”he pointed.
Land restitution has been concentrated mainly in the municipalities hardest hit by the conflict, such as Valencia, Tierralta and San José de Uré. In addition, the URT also has jurisdiction over the municipalities of Bajo Cauca, Antioquia, where nearly 3,000 additional hectares have been restored.
The restitution process involves not only the physical return of the properties to their legitimate owners, but also support in the implementation of productive projects that allow the returned families to generate income and rebuild their lives. In this sense, the URT has invested around $29,000 million in productive projects in Córdoba and Bajo Cauca, benefiting more than 1,024 families.
Despite the progress made, Muñoz recognizes that there are still challenges to overcome, especially in terms of security and access to certain areas of the territory. “There are areas that are disabled by the public force, that is, we cannot enter due to security alarm issues. In that understanding, if we had the possibility of entering the territory with peace of mind, we would carry out the cadastral test.”he explained.
