Bogota, Colombia – Colombia’s National Park Service announced the temporary closure of Tayrona National Park on Tuesday, February 17, due to threats against park staff by armed groups.
Tayrona, located on the country’s northern Caribbean coast, is one of the country’s most visited national parks, attracting 750,000 visitors from around the world each year.
The closure comes amid an ongoing war between two criminal gangs fighting for control of territory in the area and strategic drug trafficking routes.
“The national government has announced the temporary closure of Tayrona National Natural Park as a precautionary measure to protect the lives and safety of visitors, the community and public officials and ensure security,” the government said in a statement on Tuesday.
The dispute began on February 11 with the demolition of ‘unauthorized structures within a protected area’ within the park. The National Park Service director explained that this includes homes, restrooms and hiking trails built without state permits.
According to the government, the demolition sparked online threats against park staff. The situation worsened on Monday 16 February when locals blocked park staff from entering Tayrona. They have also reportedly taken over government functions, including charging admission fees to tourists and allowing people to enter without official registration.
“This has led to a situation where the minimum level of security is not guaranteed within the protected area,” authorities said.
Increased activity by armed groups in the region
The government did not specify who was behind the incident, but the closure comes amid an intensifying turf war between the Self-Defense Forces of the Conqueror of the Sierra Nevada (ACSN) and the Colombian Gaitanist Forces (EGC), or Clan del Golfo, which was designated a terrorist organization by the United States last December.
“The latest escalation in Tayrona is another chapter in a very unfortunate territorial contest that has been going on for several years,” said Elizabeth Dickinson, deputy director for Latin America at the International Crisis Group.
For decades, ACSN has controlled the Sierra Nevada, Tayrona, and Santa Marta cities through a web of powerful families under various names. However, in recent years the EGC has been pushing east along the coast from its stronghold in the Gulf of Urabá to replace the ACSN.
EGC’s long-term goal is to reach the border with Venezuela and surround Catatumbo, a major coca-producing region, Dickinson says.
“(The Sierra Nevada) is kind of a route to the goal, and… the impact on civilians on both sides has been quite devastating,” said the analyst, who pointed to an increase in forced confinement, recruitment and targeted killings.
Tourists tend to be insulated from criminal violence in the area, with armed groups preferring to profit from drugs and prostitution, but the closure of Tayrona could signal change.
But local tour operators tell a different story. They say the closure has nothing to do with the security situation. Instead, community members say the problem is that the government, which collects revenue from ticket sales, is not reinvesting that money into the park.
“The community was tired, the indigenous people were tired of not getting the money, and that money was taken to Bogotá,” said local leader Luis Eduardo Muñoz.
He explained that community members had taken steps to renovate the park’s critical tourism infrastructure due to lack of investment from the central government. They protested when the state demolished it.
“Why take extreme measures and close parks if it’s necessary for people’s livelihood?” said Muñoz, who called for dialogue between the government and local leaders.
Although the cause of the closure remains controversial, security analysts say it nonetheless highlights the growing insecurity in the Sierra Nevada region around Tayrona.
This also marked another setback for President Gustavo Petro’s peace process, with the government actively involved in negotiations with ACSN and EGC.
Petro said ACSN had agreed to ensure the safety of civilians and stop attacks on state security forces after Tayrona was closed.
However, prospects for a peace agreement remain uncertain as the group faces increasing threats from the EGC.
“I think the basic problem remains the tactical situation on the ground, because of course you can’t negotiate if you’re under immediate threat from another power,” Dickinson said.
Featured image caption: Tayrona National Park
Featured image credit: National Natural Park of Colombia.
This article originally appeared on The Bogotá Post and is republished with permission.
