Fault Lines

La Guajira peninsula is an unlikely mix of semi-nomadic people, tourism and mining multinationals, writes John Paul Rathbone. Photographs by Diana Bejarano

La Guajira is one of Colombia’s most startling frontiers. More of an afterthought than an extension of the Caribbean coastline, it is a 240km-long, 48km-wide snout that guards the Venezuelan gulf and ends at Punta Gallinas – South America’s northernmost point. Romantic and strange, it is an arid spit, flat as a runway, sparsely dusted with rock and thorn. With its centuries-long tradition of smuggling, more recently drug-running and – more recently still – coalmining, it is one ...

Get The New Colombia now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.