Public life returned to normal in the west of Colombia Thursday after rebel group FARC announced an end to a five-day economic shutdown of the region.
The FARC circulated a statement in the Choco department late Wednesday saying it is ”lifting the ban on movement within the area”.
The first bus to leave Choco en route to Colombia’s second largest city, Medellin, left Thursday morning at 7AM followed by one at 9.30AM and another scheduled at 2.30PM.
The Colombian army offers protection to buses and trucks driving in groups, a local army official told Caracol Radio. This claim was denied by bus operators.
The imposed “armed strike” is the second in Choco this year. The north of Colombia was hit by a similar shut-down in January when neo-paramilitary group “Los Urabeños” avenged the death of one of their leaders by imposing an armed strike along the Caribbean coast.
