Experiences from "La Guajira"

The Spanish conquistadors showed little interest in the conquest, submission, and exploitation of this hot and gusty landscape in the northern-most part of South America. On the peninsula of Guajira it is becoming drier and in the far north, there is a true desert whose sand dunes reach up to the Caribbean Sea. The cacti and thorn bushes of the region make someone think of the deserts of Arabia, rather than of the Caribbean Tropics. During the 1930s, Henri Charrière, the hero of the world-wide known literary work “Papillon,” landed in Guajira after fleeing by boat from Guayana, where he had been sentenced to death. There, he had supposedly lived for seven months amongst the Wayuu tribe fishing for pearls.

The Wayuu tribe is the indigenous population of Guajira, that administers large parts of the region and is separated into many clans.  The city Uribia proudly considers itself the “indigenous capital of Columbia.” About 500,000 Wayuu members are said to live in Columbia and Venezuela.  Dressed in colorful, traditional costumes, they sometimes teach interested visitors a few words in Wayuunaiki, their own language. In one of the traditional Rancherias, it is possible to get to know more about the life and the living conditions of the Wayuu tribe, as well as to taste one of their traditional dishes, the “Friche.”

In the way to the “Alta Guajira”, the northern part of the Guajira region, children stop the visitors and ask for a toll.  A few sweets and a bottle of water satisfy them and allow a continuation of the journey on sandy routes.  It is easy to get lost in the vastness of the desert without a guide who is familiar with the region, partly because of the frequently occurring so-called Fata Morganas, making any orientation even harder.  The 150 km long railroad line, leading to the biggest coal mine of the world, is an impressive artefact in the barren country-side.  Day and night, endless lines of railroad cars move towards the harbor Puerto Bolivar from where the fossil fuels are exported to the whole world.

About 60% of the GDP of the region La Guajira comes from the coal export; 10,000 locals are employed in this work area which produces a huge dependency. When El Cerrejon stops its production, drastic changes are going to be noticed in the region.  It is rather poor in comparison to other parts of the country. In Puerto Gallinas, the northern-most location of South America, I spoke with one dentist who said, "Many children of Guajira are not in a good physical condition which becomes obvious by looking at their teeth.” I saw children whose hair showed lightly colored ends which could be a sign for an imbalanced nutrition. It’s said that within the last 30 years, about 600 tons of coal have passed the harbor Puerto Bolivar.

What remains unclear is how much of the financial revenue gets back to the local regions. Who profits from the large turn-out? Which are the positive effects of “sustainable tourism”? Can it improve the living conditions of the region’s inhabitants? The population has encountered other attractive economic areas: the booming but illegal trade with Venezuelan gas serves as an additional way of income for the local population. The gas is brought across the border on more than 200 traditional smuggling routes, in improvised fuel tankers. Along the way, the goods are sold; from time to time, an old gas station is seen and the leaking gas seeping into the ground in many places seems to be normal. All the official gas stations are closed; however, the shadow economy is widely tolerated.

 

On the coast, one can see fifteen gigantic wind turbines from far away which produce renewable energy for the Guajira region. The constantly noticeable trade wind turns Guajira into a perfect place for this kind of energy production. Colorful plastic bags are flying around. It almost seems like the creative work of an artist.

La Guajira, another extremely interesting face of Colombia. Unfortunately a few days in the Guajira is a rather short time to get a deep insight of the living of its people.