The Government handed over this Thursday 29 properties purchased by the National Land Agency (ANT) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in the framework of the Agrarian Reform. The announcement was made from Costa Azul, one of the 29 properties to be delivered, located in the village of Las Lomas, in Montería (Córdoba), which has an area of 114 hectares.
(Government rejects more than 4 hectares out of 5 offered by ranchers).
This property was purchased in mid-February by the ANT from the Victims Fund, which recovered it as one of the assets of the former commander of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, Salvatore Mancuso, extradited to the United States.
Now, the land will be awarded to landless peasant families in that region, as part of social justice and the contribution to Total Peace of the Government of President Gustavo Petro.
The purchase, for close to $22 billion, represents a total of 3,532 hectares of land that directly benefit 6,195 rural families as follows:
– 169 hectares for peasant communities, of which 93% are rural women in Montería and San Jacinto, Bolívar.
– 127 hectares for people in the reincorporation process in compliance with the Peace Agreement, located in three Territorial Spaces for Training and Reincorporation, ETCR, in Tumaco, Nariño; San Vicente del Caguan, Caquetá, and Icononzo, Tolima.
(Petro assures that peace will be achieved if the agrarian reform is achieved).
– 3,236 hectares for indigenous communities in Sabanas de San Ángel and Santa Marta, Magdalena; Agustin Codazzi, Cesar; Dagua, Valle del Cauca; Toledo and Chitagá, North of Santander; Herd Corozal, Casanare; Purace, Cauca; Balboa, Risaralda; Pijao, Quindío, and Pasto, Nariño.
For his part, the General Director of the National Land Agency, Gerardo Vega, stated that “More than 1 million hectares of land have already been formalized and it is expected to award at least 500,000 more in 2023.”
He added, in turn, that “Between August 2022 and January 2023, 50 properties were purchased with the Agency’s own budget, corresponding to 3,496 hectares, of which 42 have already been physically delivered.”
BRIEFCASE
