A stillness hung over the muddy waters of the Caguán River, on the fringes of the Colombian Amazon.
In the town of Cartagena del Chairá, boats rested against the riverbank, and silence had swallowed the rumble of engines that would ordinarily sputter along the dirt roads.
But despite the apparent calm, there was no sense of peace.
“People are scared. We are in a very difficult situation. We can’t move for food, supplies or anything. Many children can’t even go to school,” said resident David Rincon, who asked to use a pseudonym.
Days earlier, on May 12, community members received an audio message banning any movement by road or river.
The message had come from the Carolina Ramirez Front of the Estado Mayor Central (EMC), one of the many groups fighting in a long-simmering conflict that has gripped Colombia since the 1960s.
The restrictions had effectively cut off parts of the department of Caqueta. Defying orders was not an option. “If you don’t comply, they threaten you — or worse,” Rincon told Al Jazeera.
But an end to the decades-old conflict has proven elusive for the government of Colombia's outgoing president, Gustavo Petro. And that could weaken his left-wing coalition ahead of the country's presidential election on May 31.
“There is no peace or calm for anyone,” Rincon said. “You don’t know what will happen next. You just don’t know what to do.”
