Colombia's future rides on coal train

Colombia's future rides on coal train

Coal is fast becoming king in Colombia, but railway security concerns are reminiscent of the Old West.

BY ANDREW SELSKY

Associated Press

URIBIA, Colombia - On the northernmost tip of South America, a train chugs across the desert past Indians with painted faces while gun-toting guards squint across the barren landscape, on the lookout for outlaws.

This tableau may seem straight out a western, but it is 21st-century life in a remote corner of Colombia, and it paints the nation's economic future: The train carries coal, on track to replace oil as Colombia's No. 1 export.

In a country beset by rebel violence, the coal is moved under super-tight security by rail from Cerrejón, the world's biggest open-pit export coal mine, to Puerto Bolívar, the largest coal terminal in the Americas, where freighters will carry it to Europe and the United States.

Guard towers, many manned by privately hired Wayuu Indians, are perched about every 2/3 mile along the most vulnerable stretch of the 93-mile railway. Guards also ride alongside the track on souped-up motorcycles.

After nightfall, a train car outfitted with a thermal-imaging device scans for saboteurs.

The vigilance underscores the ore's importance to Colombia's economy. Exports -- $1.7 billion in revenues in 2004 -- make Colombia the world's fifth-largest coal exporter, after Australia, China, Indonesia and South Africa.

Cerrejón, which accounts for up to 60 percent of all coal exports from Colombia, is owned by foreign mining giants BHP Billiton, Anglo American and Glencore International. It expects to pay $320.3 million in taxes and $118 million in royalties for 2005, and also finances schools and health clinics and other works.

From Cerrejón's mine, where 24.9 million tons of coal were extracted last year, the railway heads north into the arid Guajira peninsula, which juts into the Caribbean at South America's northern tip. The peninsula has few roads or other infrastructure.

The first 25 miles of the railway cross a verdant landscape. It is the ''red zone,'' where rebel attacks are most likely, said Eliécer Avila, a Cerrejón security official.

''The Venezuelan border is just three hours away on horseback, and there is lots of jungle for cover. This is the riskiest area,'' Avila said, adding that rebels -- who run extortion rackets and attack those who don't pay -- often use neighboring Venezuela as a sanctuary after carrying out raids. The remaining 68 miles of track is safer because the countryside turns into a desert, with little cover available.

Cerrejón hopes to extract a record 25.7 million tons this year. Its locomotives make a half-dozen trips each day from mine to port, transporting 80,000 tons every 24 hours.

''In six months, we move as much earth as was moved in the construction of the Panama Canal,'' said Nancy Murgas, a Cerrejón spokeswoman.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12120033.htm

ColombianoX

'Defensor de la Colombianidad'

By ColombianoX on Jul 13, 2005, 15:48 in Friendly Talkzone.

ColombianoX says on Jul 14, 2005, 10:23:

My pleasure, GingoDeLousian, I hope others see it as well.

Regards,

CX

ColombianoX 'Defensor de la Colombianidad'

0 funny, 0 helpful.

utopiacowboy says on Jul 14, 2005, 14:57:

I noticed the part about the guards being Wayuu Indians. Some of Elmo's family and friends?

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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viewpoint says on Jul 14, 2005, 15:55:

Coal production in Colombia is ramping up as oil production is declining. Inadequate ports are still a bottleneck in Colombia although they have built some infastructure improvements to accomodate coal delivery.

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Hunter says on Jul 15, 2005, 08:23:

Oil production will probably start picking up again in a few years, lets hope so anyway.

Hunter

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viewpoint says on Jul 15, 2005, 14:58:

Funny thing is that coal in Colombia is tranported by truck or by rail but it can be transported by pipeline.

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