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.
