Peasants in Catatumbo, Colombia, are
staging mass
protests demanding government protection so they can keep their
land.
In some parts of Colombia, the "paramilitaries", essential gangs of
thieves connected to the army and supported by the state, have invaded
villages and killed lots of peasants to scare the survivors into
selling their land very cheap. I suspect that the "land that
communities were forced to abandon", which "fell into the hands of
businesses", was the subject of this practice. If so, the subsequent
owners would have been involved with the paramilitaries.
The previous president, Alvaro Horrible (officially "Uribe"), was
found to have connections with the paramilitaries. I don't know of
any evidence against the current president, Nonsantos; but since he
was previously the minister in charge of the army, I would not be
surprised if he had such connections.