With snow-capped peaks tumbling toward the Caribbean, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and adjacent Tayrona National Park have become a symbol of Colombia’s post-peace tourism boom. Since the 2016 deal with the FARC opened the area, thousands of visitors have been trekking through jungle to white-sand beaches and the archeological site known as the Lost City. Yet behind those picture-postcard views, armed groups are using violence and extortion to exert control.
Many tourists scarcely notice men in camouflage watching from a distance. Those fighters belong to the Self-Defence Forces of the Sierra Nevada (ACSN), a group of former paramilitaries nicknamed the “Conquistadores” that now profits from cocaine routes and illegal gold mining across the region. Extortion has become a major revenue stream: hotels, tour operators and Indigenous artisans who sell hand-woven hammocks and bags report regular demands for money.
“We are afraid and anxious about the future,” said Atanasio Moscote, governor of the Kogui people, who revere the Sierra Nevada as “the heart of the world.” Indigenous communities, many of whom do not speak Spanish and survive on traditional crops and ancestral knowledge, find themselves squeezed between rival armed groups and state security operations, Arhuaco governor Luis Salcedo says.
Tensions erupted earlier this year when Tayrona National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site overlooking the Caribbean, was closed for more than two weeks after alleged threats against park rangers by the ACSN. Authorities also say the group pressured Wayuu residents in the park to resist crackdowns on illegal logging.
Tayrona and Sierra Nevada parks together welcomed more than 873,000 visitors last year, a dramatic reversal from the 1980s and 1990s when the area was a battleground between paramilitaries and the FARC. In the decade since the FARC demobilised, the ACSN—reportedly founded by a former paramilitary leader later extradited to the United States—has entrenched itself across much of the Santa Marta area.
The situation has become more volatile as other criminal outfits try to expand. In recent months Colombia’s largest drug cartel, the Gulf Clan, has tried to move into the region, leading to clashes with the ACSN and raising the risks for residents and visitors alike.
President Gustavo Petro included the ACSN in his “Paz Total” initiative to negotiate disarmament, but four years on the group still exerts control over parts of Santa Marta, researcher Norma Vera says. Extortion has also become a prominent issue in the presidential campaign that begins on May 31; the Ministry of Defence reports it has received more than 46,000 extortion complaints since 2022.
Local business leaders warn the violence threatens Colombia’s fragile tourism recovery. “Any news affecting the image [of a destination] and visitor safety makes tourists think twice,” said Omar Garcia, president of the Santa Marta hotel association. For Indigenous leaders and small entrepreneurs who depend on visitors, the stakes are high: the region’s natural beauty draws travelers, but insecurity now casts a long shadow over livelihoods and cultural heritage.