Fire in San Onofre originated in the properties that Argos returned in restitution

On the left, the fire that consumes several farms in the Palmira sector, in San Onofre (Sucre). On the right, José Ignacio Martínez, representative of the families returned by court order by Argos.

Photo: El Espectador Archive

Since last Wednesday, a fierce forest fire has been affecting up to 1,200 hectares of the rural area of ​​the municipality of San Onofre, Sucre, in the region known as Palmira. The incident, which has the Sucre authorities and the Disaster Risk Management Unit (Ungrd) on tenterhooks, has a particular tone, since several of the properties that a month ago returned by court order to the Argos business group are on fire. victims of war.

In context: Argos is forced to return properties purchased during the paramilitary boom in Sucre

Ignacio Martínez, representative of the restored families, who recovered rights to 21 dispossessed properties, can barely believe what is happening to him. A month ago a restitution judge had been there, officially handing them the lands they had to leave in the middle of the paramilitary race to control the northwest of the country in 2005. And which, in the end, were purchased and included by the reforestation company. Tekia, a subsidiary of Argos, which set up a teak-type wood business in the middle of the war zone.

“The families are in shock because we have been waiting for restitution for many years. And in this month when we were organizing the land, planning, we just burned the product that we had ready to sell. You will understand how we feel emotionally. And we can only thank God because we are alive,” Ignacio Martínez told this newspaper.

The restitution sentence that benefited the Martínezes gave the opportunity to more than 20 family groups to return to San Onofre. However, only three of these groups wanted to return due to the public order characteristics of an area that, even today, is feared by criminals, but from the Gulf Clan. The fire, as Martínez explains, is destroying the entire La Divisa and Providencia farms, where two family groups returned.

Read: Forest fire in San Onofre, Sucre, has affected more than 1,200 hectares

“The fire remains uncontrollable. It burned everything, everything, everything. The only thing that did not burn were the houses because we managed to put it out with people from the community,” Martínez explained. However, he announced that it was a human error and that, for now, the participation of other forces is ruled out. “It was learned that it was a man who was doing a cleaning to cultivate. The candle, like he missed it or he wasn’t careful,” he told this newspaper.

A month ago, the material delivery of the properties that were occupied by Tekia for more than two decades became effective, in a large wood production project. The restitution ruling, from the Superior Court of Cartagena, shows that the Argos subsidiary took advantage of the context of lack of protection of the farmers and ranchers in that area, just when the paramilitaries of Rodrigo Mercado Pelufo, alias Cadena, had won the fight. to the guerrilla for territorial control.

In this video you can see details of the restitution process known to El Espectador:

Multiple authorities have joined the community’s call to put out the flames, which started last Wednesday. Fire departments from other municipalities, such as Tolú, Tolú Viejo and Ovejas, have joined the efforts, as well as members of the Air Force and the same Ungrd technical personnel who, at this time, remain in the territory. In fact, and according to that office, there are 11 machines carrying out work to mitigate the fire.

To learn more about justice, security and human rights, visit the Judicial section of El Espectador.