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BarrancabermejaBarrancabermeja is a city in Santander, Colombia, on the Magdalena River with 194,192http://www.mongabay.com/igapo/2005_world_city_populations/Colombia.html inhabitants. It is known as the "petrol capital" of Colombia and is home to the largest oil refinery in the country. It has also seen extensive fighting between the Ejrcito de Liberacin Nacional (ELN), one of two main guerrilla groups and the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), the main paramilitary groups in Colombia, who currently control the city. History Due to its strong industrial base, Barrancabermeja has a long history of labour activism and leftist organisations. The ELN began moving into Barranca in the late 70's and early 80's. The guerilla controlled areas of Barranca were essentially warzones. The military would only cross the bridge over the railroad into South east area of the city in armored personell carriers. In time the guerillas became the status quo in many of the neighborhoods of the city.Until the late 1990s the city was a base for the ELN. Then on May 16 1998 a large group of paramilitaries swept through the city killing seven people and kidnapping a further 25 who were later killed (Amnesty International, 1999). This massacre signaled the beginning of the AUC take over of the city. By 2001 they had taken over all of the city's neighborhoods. Since 2001, human rights organizations have documented wide spread killings of activists and intimidation by paramilitaries. Those human rights groups that continue to operate have done so partly with support from Peace Brigades International who provide international volunteers who accompany human rights workers in their work (Center for International Policy Studies, 2001). Because of its relative size and location on the Magdalena river, Barrancabermeja has also been the destination for many internally displaced refugees from the region. Culture Partly due to its history as an oil boom town, Barrancabermeja has a reputation as an open and vibrant city. On weekend nights, all the clubs in La Zona Rosa, the center of the cities night life, are filled with loud music and dancing until four in the morning, when clubs most legally close. The drink of choice is Alguila, a Colombian beer whose yellow logo is painted on walls and bill boards throughout the town. The commerical area of the city is adjacent to the river ports, where motor canoes constantly arrive with fish and agricultural prodcuts from farmers along the river including maize, Cassava (or yuca in Spanish), plantain, and cacao. Sources External links
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