The dangerous search for emeralds in Colombia: after taking over a major mine, a U.S. company has been met with violence - Washington Post

The chopper touched down on the hillside helipad and Charles Burgess, a cigar-chomping former U.S. government employee, stepped out to survey the full sweep of his Andean domain.

DANIA MAXWELL

Since before the conquistadors, men have dug for emeralds in the soil of this steep-walled jungle valley. The gemstone bounty found here fueled the empire of Victor Carranza, the feared billionaire “emerald czar” who vanquished his rivals in bloody battles that left some 6,000 dead. Now all that Burgess could see — from the green peaks where the vultures circled to the valley floor where grimy campesinos shoveled dirt in the black river — belongs to his American mining company, which has taken control of the world’s largest and most valuable emerald mine.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Burgess said.

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It may not look like it, but a Colombia peace agreement could be within reach - Washington Post

The process of ending Colombia’s half-century war with leftist guerrillas has been its own multiyear struggle of halting talks, aborted cease-fires, frustration and distrust.

Deadly attacks by both sides and escalating rhetoric threw the process into doubt earlier this year, but experts say recent moves signal that a settlement between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, could be within reach.

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As peace talks advance, Colombia struggles to find its missing - Reuters

Swinging a pickaxe high above his head, the sweating former Marxist guerrilla brings it down sharply, breaking up hard-packed earth on a wooded hillside in central Colombia.

REUTERS/JOSE MIGUEL GOMEZ

"I know the grave was here," says the ex-combatant, Andres Martinez, wiping his brow as a forensic expert starts in with a shovel near the rural town of Chaguani.

Though it's only mid-morning, the motley team of forensic staff, prison guards and ex-rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have already dug one trench in heavy rain, hoping to find the bones of a victim of the 50-year conflict.

The missing man, who the FARC says was a member of a rival group shot in battle, is one of at least 52,000 Colombians who have disappeared during a long war between Marxist rebels, government troops and right-wing paramilitaries. 

Most were killed and buried in unmarked graves across the country.

As the government wades through complex peace talks with the FARC, rights advocates and families of the disappeared hope the rebels will reveal grave locations as part of a deal for them to avoid long prison terms and be allowed to enter politics. 

Victims' groups warn that unless more bodies are exhumed, identified and returned to their families, Colombia risks handicapping its post-conflict development.

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Video: Unidentified bodies languish in Colombia - Reuters

With at least 50,000 people missing in Colombia's war with rebel and paramilitary groups, the country is struggling to trace the victims. Watch Reuters TV coverage here.

Colombia's Magdalena River project dredges up economic promise - Reuters

The hulking backhoe dredges up rocks and silt from the shallows of the muddy Magdalena River in the first laborious step to transform the waterway into an engine of economic growth.

REUTERS/JULIA SYMMES COBB

The excavation along a verdant stretch near Barrancabermeja, an inland oil and coal hub, is part of a $600 million government bid to reclaim the river, once Colombia's primary transport route.

By clearing logjams, the aim is to allow big cargo barges to steam up 900 km (560 miles) from the Caribbean coast to Puerto Salgar, close to the capital Bogota. Currently only smaller barges can navigate as far as Barrancabermeja, 250 km (155 miles) from Puerto Salgar.

The project, due to be completed in six years, could spur potential investment by manufacturers and raw material producers keen to reap the benefits of new river transport after enduring decades of costly, inefficient and dangerous roadways. 

President Juan Manuel Santos's bid to ease travel and reduce freight costs comes as he tries to shift reliance in the slowing economy away from oil, coal and other traditional exports hit by price plunges.

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