The triathlon left Medellin, Colombia, on June 14th and will arrive to the border with Panama on June 25th. The cyclists, who had to walk and ride canoes as well to travel across tens of communities, met with local authorities and talked with the communities.

River Cacarica basin, in Choco Department, Colombia, will be affected by the building of the highway. This is the area where North American, Central American and South American biodiversity meets.

The area is also part of the Choco-Darien rainforests, one of the richest areas in terms of species in the world, including plants, birds, amphibians and butterflies.

The highway will cross Colombian Los Katios National Park, declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1994, and the Darien natural park in Panama, declared World Heritage Site in 1982. In 2009, Los Katios National Park was included by the UNESCO in the list of the World Heritage Sites in Danger.

The promoters of the project are disregarding national and international regulations: inhabitants of the area, several indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, who depend on ecosystems and who are the rightful inhabitants of the territories, haven´t been even officially informed or consulted.

The development of this megaproject was preceded by the “Genesis” operation by the Brigade 17 in February, 1997.

This military operation was led by General Rito Alejo del Rio Rojas and resulted in the forced displacement of Cacarica communities and in the death of Afro-Colombian Marino Lopez Mena, who was decapitated and whose head was used as a football by military officers, according to a horrifying video which was circulated in Colombia. The community has been suffering from militarization for 13 years, resulting in over 70 murders and forced disappearances.

Photo: Contagio Radio