2003 Photo Contest, Spot News, 3rd prize
Photographer

Hector Emanuel

Grazia Neri

01 March, 2002

As fighting intensifies, people run for cover in tall grass nearby. Civilians held at a guerilla roadblock are caught in crossfire when government troops arrive on the scene. The guerillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) form the main left-wing rebel group in the country's 39-year-old civil war. In February, Colombian president Andres Pastrana had ended three years of peace talks with FARC, and government troops had moved to retake the former safe haven, an area officially given over to the FARC during the peace process. The FARC retaliated by launching attacks against urban targets and disrupting infrastructure. Roadblocks such as this one, on the main highway out of the de facto FARC capital San Vicente del Caguán, continued.

About the photographer

Hector Emanuel

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