Insurgency groups scramble for Colombia’s riches: New York Times

New York Times reports that high commodity prices are escalating decades-old conflict in Colombia. Vestiges of former insurgency groups, like the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia as well as right-wing paramilitary groups, are looking to mining as a new source of income:

The result is a gold rush unlike any now under way in South America, both feeding off Colombia’s evolving conflict and keeping it alive. Up and down the sweltering river basins around Medellín, miners from across Colombia are flocking to sites where backhoes are tearing up forest and tree canopies, leaving behind lunaresque landscapes.