Buenaventura, the largest port on Colombia’s Pacific coast, has been the site of some of the country’s most brutal violence in recent memory. Mass displacement of Afro-Colombian communities, gruesome dismemberment of civilians, and the denial of basic human and labor rights protections have come to define the city. In response to growing national and international concern, in March Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced social investment measures in Buenaventura and sent several hundred members of the security forces to the city to address the growing crisis. What effect will this militarization have, and what else can be done, on both national and international levels, to protect Buenaventura’s population from this humanitarian crisis?
