Colombia’s powerful Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group forced 23 truck drivers off of the road in southwest Colombia, resulting in a massive oil spill of over 5,000 barrels, Semana news magazine reported early this week.
Secretary of local government, Javier Rosero Pai, said the group of truck drivers were carrying crude oil from the southwestern area of Colombia to Ecuador. At 7:45AM on June 22nd they were ordered to a halt by armed rebels from the FARC’s 48th front, and were forced to spill the oil purposefully at gunpoint.
According to Infobae America, Mining and Energy Minister Amilkar Acosta said, “The priority is to do a scan [of the spill site] in order to prevent the oil spill from running off into the tributaries that eventually lead to the aqueducts where drinking water is sourced.”
The FARC were also said to have attacked a pipeline in the same region earlier this year, the result of which was a threat to local sources of water.
The incident happened a week ago, but video only recently surfaced revealing the disaster. There is currently no further news on the FARC’s actions against the oil truckers and spill, although talks between the government and FARC leadership continue in Cuba.
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