Colombia’s Choco: From a tropical paradise to a jungle hell

Colombia’s Choco: From a tropical paradise to a jungle hell

written by Holly Eustance August 22, 2016



Inhabitants of Colombia’s western Choco province have been on strike for days to demand improvement of their unbearable living conditions. Here is why.

For decades, if not centuries, the province has been among the poorest and least developed of the country with only two roads that are more often than not closed for traffic.

Additionally, abysmal healthcare, limited access to clean water, unbridled mining activities and extreme violence caused by the country’s armed conflict and drug trafficking have pushed the “chocoanos” over the limit.

Poverty

The region situated on Colombia’s Pacific coast has by far the highest poverty rate of the country.
In 2015, 65.9% of the population lives below the poverty line and 37,1% live in extreme poverty, according to Colombia’s statistics agency. To compare, the poverty level in the capital Bogota lies around 10%. Choco is also the most unequal region in Colombia with a GINI coefficient of 0.598 in 2015.

. . .

With 70.40 child deaths per thousand, Choco’s child mortality rate is almost ten times higher than that of the United States. An astonishing 42% of babies die before reaching their first birthday. This is double that of Colombia’s national average.

More:
http://colombiareports.com/colombias-choco-tropical-paradise-jungle-hell/