Bojayá () is a municipality in the

Chocó Department Choco Department is a department of Western Colombia known for its large Afro-Colombian population. It is in the west of the country, and is the only Colombian department to have coastlines on both the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. It ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, its municipal centre is the town Bellavista Nuevo. The

Bojayá massacre The Bojayá massacre ( es, La Masacre de Bojayá) was a massacre that occurred on May 2, 2002 in the town of Bellavista, Bojayá Municipality, Chocó Department, Colombia. Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas attacked the tow ...

occurred in the original Bellavista on May 2, 2002. An essentially new town was constructed, on a hill to avoid flooding, one kilometer upriver from the original Bellavista in 2003, and inaugurated in 2007. Whereby the original Bellavista was renamed to Bellavista Viejo (Old Bellavista in Spanish), and the new town Bellavista Nuevo (New Bellavista). Bellavista Viejo is currently completely abandoned.

Bojaya municipality

The Bojaya municipality, according to a 2005 census, has 9941 inhabitants. 58.4% of the population of the municipality is

afro-Colombian Afro-Colombians or African-Colombians ( es, afrocolombianos, links=no) are Colombians of full or partial sub-Saharan African descent (Blacks, Mulattoes, Pardos, and Zambos). History Africans were enslaved in the early 16th Century in Colombi ...

, and 41.4% and indigenous Embera. 95.86% of the population do not have their basic needs met. The municipality contains part of the

Utría National Natural Park The Utría National Natural Park ( es, Parque Nacional Natural Ensenada de Utría) is a national park in the Chocó Department, Colombia. It contains diverse flora and fauna in a lush, mountainous rainforest environment with some of the highest rai ...

. There is still paramilitary and presence of the ELN in the region, tensions and violence between the groups are still threatening the population in the region.

Bellavista Nuevo

Half of the inhabitants of the Bojayá region live in the municipal centre, Bellavista. After the massacre, only a part of the population remained or returned to the region. The remains of the victims of the massacre are buried in the new town, a mausoleum has also been built in their memory.

Relocation

The new town one kilometer south of the original position. was built after the Bojayá massacre by the Colombian government. The ''relocation'' of Bellavista was announced on May 7, 2002, 5 days after the massacre by president

Andrés Pastrana Andres or Andrés may refer to: *Andres, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois, US *Andres, Pas-de-Calais, a commune in Pas-de-Calais, France *Andres (name) *Hurricane Andres * "Andres" (song), a 1994 song by L7 See also ...

who visited the region after the massacre. The main reason for the relocation, namely the frequent flooding of the town, is a reality not exclusive to Bellavista, but rather common to the region. The majority of the town was in favour of a relocation, but the town was torn on the issue. The university Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá was put in charge of the design of the new town. The 265 houses were built of concrete, exceptional in the region, and provided with, among other services, a water installation and electricity.

Bellavista Viejo

The old town, Bellavista Viejo, is currently completely abandoned. The old San Pablo Apóstol church has been restored after the massacre in 2002, and is being maintained in memory of the tragic event. Every year, on the second of May, a memorial is held in the church. During this service, the statue of Christ mutilated in the massacre, el Christo Mutilado de Bojaya, is brought in a procession by river, from the new church in Bellavista Nuevo to Bellavista Viejo.

Climate

Bellavista Nuevo, the capital of Bojayá has a very wet

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southea ...

(Af).

References

External links

Revista Semana: Un Pueblo a la Espera
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bojaya Municipalities of Chocó Department