More than 3,000 people took to the streets on Thursday to protest against their inability to work due to the FARC-imposed transport blockade around the municipality of Algeciras, in the south-west Colombian Huila department, El Tiempo reports.
The march, which took place two days after the FARC burned a vehicle from the town, was “not a protest against anyone or in favor of anyone else,” but was simply to express their desire to return to work, according to residents of the town.
The eleven days without transportation services have cost the town about $15 million due to spoiled agricultural processes, claimed an official from the Department of Lands and Environment.
The FARC, who issued the threats on June 22 in response to the election of Juan Manuel Santos as president, have said the the transport blockade will be indefinite, and threatened to set fire to any vehicles that attempt to leave the municipality.
The army and the police are patrolling the highways in the area, while two armed helicopters patrol aerially. However, Algeciras Ombudsman Marly Yaneth Losada Romero said locals are to scared to leave their homes for fear of reprisals.
The department of Huila has been one of the areas of Colombia hardest hit by FARC guerrillas.