El puerto marítimo que amenaza a las comunidades

Abstract

Nuquí is one of the thirty municipalities of Chocó. It is located on the western margin of the department on the Pacific coast. He is completely isolated from the interior of the country by land. The only form of connection is by sea with the port of Buenaventura in Valle del Cauca and the rest of the country through an airport to which flights arrive from Medellín and Quibdó. In Nuquí the economy is based on fishing and agriculture. From the year 2000 onwards, thanks to the annual migration of humpback whales, tourism in the region is boosted thanks to some settlers who created the first hostels to receive travelers from the world in search of witnessing the show starring one of the largest mammals in the world. The humpback whale migration takes place once a year between the months of July and October. The humpback begins its journey from Antarctica looking for warm waters in the Pacific to give birth to their young, teach them to feed themselves and to live together in a group. One of the natural settings in which the yubarta performs these activities is the Gulf of Tribugá, in Nuquí. But not only this place is chosen by the humpbacks to live together during the second half of the year. More than 35 thousand species of plants and 1,400 species of animals live there, which to date have been inventoried. Its inhabitants are Afro and indigenous communities that have subsisted in the midst of ecosystems and their wild dynamics. Some of them have formed sustainable tourism projects in which they show the main wealth of their region in their jungles, beaches and rivers. However, for 35 years, ignoring the natural characteristics of the Gulf of Tribugá, studies have been carried out for the construction of a cargo seaport and a highway that connects the department of Chocó with Risaralda. Although some sectors of the Colombian State have supported the construction of the port, different institutions such as the Attorney General's Office and the National Environmental Licensing Agency (ANLA) have determined that the construction of the maritime port is unfeasible because it would significantly affect the ecosystems that inhabit there since just a few kilometers away is the most important port in Colombia in Buenaventura. The problem that is dealt with in this research article is the project of the maritime port of Tribugá, a sector in the Colombian Pacific region, which affects several aspects that are reflected in this writing, there are four main ideas: in the first place, it is defined the extractivist economy and its implications for communities, secondly the relationship of human and related rights with the development of the project is exposed, thirdly an alternative economy is proposed that is community tourism as a solution and finally the mechanism is described that serves as a tool to safeguard fundamental rights of the community. Throughout the writing, a series of factors and situations that identify the benefits and risks that the idea of a new seaport can bring will be evident and a timely and alternative solution will be proposed, always seeking the benefit of the community.