Wealthy farmers 'exploit' recipients of Colombia's land restitution program .
Wealthy farmers 'exploit' recipients of Colombia's land restitution program
Tuesday, 11 December 2012 09:45 Zach Edling
Farmland given to displaced farmers in northwest Colombia as part of the government's Victim and Land Restitution Act, is actually under the control of three wealthy businessmen, local media reported Monday.
According to local media, Colombia's anti-corruption unit visited the municipality of Ayapel in the Cordoba department to check on land, which once belonged to William and Gerado Moncada, brothers who worked for Pablo Escobar, and now handed back to rural farmers who had been displaced due to armed conflict.
Upon investigation they found that the farmers were no longer there and the land was instead in the hands of three wealthy local businessmen.
"They had been persuaded to sell (the land to) the three people who exercise economic power in the area," read the anti-corruption unit's report.
Investigators reportedly collected testimonies of local peasants who claimed that the disputed land was delivered to the local businessmen [whose names were not released in order to not compromise the ongoing investigation] by Rafid Janna Marquez, who was gunned down just days after the sale. Authorities are investigating whether a connection exists between the land sale and Mr. Marquez's death.
More:
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/27375-wealthy-farmers-exploit-recipients-of-colombias-land-restitution-program.html
