the parties did not contest this, that, in the southwestern part of the municipality of Riosucio, the illegal armed groups are cutting down native species extensively, in order to plant coca, oil palms and bananas. 90. With regard to the illegal armed groups that were active in the region, the evidence presented by the Prosecutor General’s Office indicates that the guerrilla appeared during the 1960s with the entry of the FARC, the People’s Liberation Army (hereinafter also “EPL”113) and the National Liberation Army (hereinafter “ELN”). Meanwhile, the paramilitary groups entered the area starting in 1988 and their presence was “reinforced” after 1994 by the Peasant SelfDefense Forces of Córdoba and Urabá (hereinafter “ACCU”).114 The evidence indicates that the Self-Defense Forces present in the region were composed of former members of the EPL.115 These groups “have fought to maintain their presence, expanding or contracting according to the rhythm and circumstances of the armed conflict, as well as to the alliances and rivalries based on the illegal activities and strategic advantages.”116 91. In 1996 and 1997, the illegal armed groups that were involved in criminal activities in the Urabá were self-defense groups (or paramilitaries); in other words, “blocs” or “groups”117 of the ACCU118 and members of the guerrilla, especially the FARC 57th Front.119 It was also around 113 The evidence indicates that the EPL decided to demobilize in 1991, although not all the organization followed this procedure; rather, one sector of this guerrilla movement broke away from the rest of the organization and withdrew from the peace process. The latter formed the EPL dissident faction, while the rest of their former companions, that is those that signed the peace agreement and demobilized, formed the political movement “Hope, Peace and Liberty” which began an important electoral campaign against another leftist party, the Patriotic Union, in the Urabá region. 114 Cf. Prosecutor General’s Office, Justice and Peace Unit, Dossier on the Elmer Cárdenas Bloc, Genesis (evidence file, folio 44473). See also. Testimony of Colonel Germán Castro, witness proposed by the State, before the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights during the public hearing on February 11, 2013. 115 The Prosecutor General’s Office indicated in the dossier on the Elmer Cárdenas bloc that, following this, given the new scenario, the FARC and its Bolivarian militia, as well as the EPL dissidents, began to attack and murder those who had reintegrated and the grass-roots supporters of the new political movement, as a way of undermining its electoral potential (according to the Prosecutor General’s Office, 632 trade unionists were murdered between 1991 and 2003 and 66% of those murders are attributed to the FARC), because the “Hope” political group was competing for leftist votes with the Patriotic Union. Later, the former EPL fighters decided to form the so-called “Comandos Populares”, an armed structure composed mainly of those who had reintegrated, and they began to openly combat the guerrilla who continued to be active in the area. Subsequently, in 1995, according to the witness Colonel Germán Castro, some members of the Comandos Populares demobilized, while others “ended up joining another illegal armed group such as the illegal self-defense forces.” The witness added that they joined “the ranks of these illegal self-defense forces and they knew […] this whole area, […] and they also knew the territory of the inhabitants who were there amid this conflict.” Cf. Prosecutor General’s Office, Justice and Peace Unit, Dossier on the Elmer Cárdenas Bloc, Genesis (evidence file, folios 44489 and 44490). See also, Testimony of Colonel Germán Castro, witness proposed by the State, before the Inter-American Court during the public hearing on February 11, 2013. 116 Cf. Prosecutor General’s Office, Justice and Peace Unit, Dossier on the Elmer Cárdenas Bloc, Genesis (evidence file, folio 44475). 117 Cf. According to the information presented by the Prosecutor General’s Office, the same bloc had different names over time, and a different composition and alliances. For example, from May to September 1995, the paramilitary groups that were active in the region were called the “Guelengues”; from October 1995 to December 1996, they were “the No. 70 self-defense group”; from December 1996 to December 1997, they were the “Chocó Bloc,” and then, following the death of Elmer Cárdenas in December 1997, they began to call themselves the “Elmer Cárdenas Bloc of the Peasant Self-Defense Forces.” See, Prosecutor General’s Office, Justice and Peace Unit, Dossier on the Elmer Cárdenas Bloc, Military Evolution 01 and Genesis (evidence file, folios 45250 to 45267, and 44508 to 44529). Also, Eighth Criminal Court of the Bogota Special Circuit, file 2009-063, Defendant: Rito Alejo del Río, judgment of August 23, 2012 (evidence file, folios 14804, 14805 and 14808). 118 Cf. Ombudsman’s Office. Decision No. 025 of the Ombudsman on the massive human rights violations and forced displacement in the Bajo Atrato region of Chocó, October 2002 (evidence file, folio 230). See also: “Battle orders,” “Public report of the 17th Brigade on the situation of human rights in the Urabá Antioqueño dated July 31, 1997,” and “Operation Genesis Report” cited in the affidavit dated January 31, 2013, prepared by María Paulina Leguizamón Zarate, expert witness proposed by the State (evidence file, folios 15407, 15408 and 15414); Prosecutor General’s Office, National Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Unit. Indictment in proceeding No. 2332 against retired General Rito Alejo del Río of December 26, 2008 (evidence file, folios, 8861 and 8862), and Prosecutor General’s Office, Justice and Peace Unit, Dossier on the Elmer Cárdenas Bloc, Genesis (evidence file, folio 44478). Also, 32