Bojayá

The Bojaya municipality, according to a 2005 census, has 9,941 inhabitants. 58.4% of the population of the municipality are Afro-Colombian, and 41.4% are indigenous Embera. 95.86% of the population do not have their basic needs met.{{Citation|last=Vergara-Figueroa|first=Aurora|title=They Kill Us, Therefore We Exist?|date=2018|url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-319-59761-4_3|work=Afrodescendant Resistance to Deracination in Colombia|pages=53–68|publisher=Springer International Publishing|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-59761-4_3|isbn=978-3-319-59760-7|access-date=2020-05-13|url-access=subscription}}

The municipality contains part of the Utría National Natural Park.{{citation|title=Utría|url=http://www.colparques.net/UTRIA|publisher=colparques.net|language=es|ref={{harvid|Utría – colparques.net}}|access-date=2017-06-21}}

There has been a long-enduring presence of paramilitary and National Liberation Army forces in the region, with tensions and violence between the groups still a significant threat to its population.{{Cite web|title=En Bojayá vuelven a sentir temor por grupos ilegales|url=https://www.elcolombiano.com/colombia/en-bojaya-vuelven-a-sentir-temor-por-grupos-ilegales-BC12238292|last=Fernández|first=Richard Aguirre|date=2020-01-03|website=www.elcolombiano.com|language=es-ES|access-date=2020-05-13}}

On May 2, 2002, FARC guerrillas conducted an attack on members of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia present within Bellavista. The FARC had established their presence in the town the previous month, with the attack catalysed by the break-out of fighting in nearby Vigía del Fuerte. Amid the fighting, a gas cylinder bomb fired from a FARC improvised mortar, directed at USDFC forces positioned behind the town's church, missed its target, breaking through the church roof and detonating, with the blast killing 79 of the roughly 300 civilians sheltering inside. In full, the attack resulted in 119 civilian deaths, 49 of which were children, 98 injured citizens, significant physical damage to much of the town and the fleeing of its remaining residents. The attack is since referred to as the Bojayá massacre. Now referred to as Bellavista Viejo (Old Bellavista), the town was abandoned, with its returning citizens having been rehomed in a settlement newly-built nearby.{{cite web |title=Bojayá: La guerra sin límites |url=https://www.centrodememoriahistorica.gov.co/descargas/informes2010/informe_bojaya.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171021174336/http://www.centrodememoriahistorica.gov.co/descargas/informes2010/informe_bojaya.pdf |archive-date=21 October 2017 |access-date=7 May 2017 |publisher=centrodememoriahistorica.gov.co}}

The decision to build a new town for the citizens of Bellavista was announced by president Andrés Pastrana five days after the Boyaja Massacre. The attack had resulted in the deaths of 119 residents, left 98 injured, damaged much of the town, and its remaining population were among the roughly 4,000 citizens who fled Bojayá in its aftermath.{{Cite news |last=Semple |first=Kirk |date=2016-10-10 |title=With Colombia's Peace Deal in Doubt, a Battered Town Fears a Return to War |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/11/world/americas/colombia-peace-deal.html |access-date=2024-02-11 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} The majority of the town was in favour of the intention to relocate, but not unanimously.

The project of this new town was assigned to an interdisciplinary group of graduate students studying urban and regional planning at Universidad Javeriana.{{Cite web |last=Tiempo |first=Casa Editorial El |date=2004-05-01 |title=EN MARCHA REUBICACIÓN DE BELLAVISTA |url=https://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-1525966 |access-date=2024-02-11 |website=El Tiempo |language=spanish}} They selected a site 800 metres from Bellavista, primarily for its lower risk of flooding, a reality not exclusive to Bellavista but rather common to the region. The planned town was to have buildings constructed of concrete, including 265 houses, which were to be connected to a network of utilities and services. Construction began in 2003, and the town was inaugurated in 2007 as Bellavista Nuevo (New Bellavista), and the original town was renamed Bellavista Viejo (Old Bellavista).{{Cite book |title=Bojayá: La Guerra Sin Límites |collaboration=CNRR - Grupo de Memoria Histórica |publisher=Aguilar |year=2010 |isbn=978-958-758-024-2 |location=Bogotá, Colombia |pages=192}}

After the massacre, only a part of the population remained or returned to Bojayá. Half of the inhabitants of the region live in its municipal centre. The remains of the victims of the massacre are buried in the new town and a mausoleum has also been built in their memory.

The old town, Bellavista Viejo, is currently completely abandoned. The church damaged in the bombing, San Pablo Apóstol, has been restored after the massacre, and is being maintained in memory of the tragic event. An annual memorial is held in the church on the second of May. During this service el Christo Mutilado de Bojaya, a statue of Christ mutilated in the massacre, is brought from the new church in Bellavista Nuevo to Bellavista Viejo in a procession by river.{{Cite web|title=De la devastación a la esperanza: así se levanta Bojayá|url=https://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/otras-ciudades/cristo-mutilado-de-bojaya-dio-esperanzas-de-paz-al-pueblo-colombiano-154128|last=Tiempo|first=Casa Editorial El|date=2017-11-22|website=El Tiempo|language=es|access-date=2020-05-13}}

Bojayá has a very wet tropical rainforest climate, as shown in these data from Bellavista Nuevo.

{{Weather box

| width = auto

| location = Bellavista Nuevo

| single line = Yes

| metric first = Yes

| Jan high C = 30.5

| Feb high C = 30.5

| Mar high C = 30.9

| Apr high C = 30.8

| May high C = 29.8

| Jun high C = 29.9

| Jul high C = 30.0

| Aug high C = 29.9

| Sep high C = 29.2

| Oct high C = 28.9

| Nov high C = 29.1

| Dec high C = 29.8

| Jan mean C = 26.3

| Feb mean C = 26.3

| Mar mean C = 26.2

| Apr mean C = 26.3

| May mean C = 26.2

| Jun mean C = 26.3

| Jul mean C = 26.3

| Aug mean C = 26.2

| Sep mean C = 25.8

| Oct mean C = 25.5

| Nov mean C = 25.5

| Dec mean C = 26.2

| Jan low C = 22.1

| Feb low C = 22.2

| Mar low C = 22.6

| Apr low C = 22.8

| May low C = 22.7

| Jun low C = 22.7

| Jul low C = 22.6

| Aug low C = 22.6

| Sep low C = 22.5

| Oct low C = 22.2

| Nov low C = 22.0

| Dec low C = 22.6

| rain colour = green

| Jan rain mm = 362.8

| Feb rain mm = 288.9

| Mar rain mm = 284.2

| Apr rain mm = 460.1

| May rain mm = 482.3

| Jun rain mm = 409.4

| Jul rain mm = 512.3

| Aug rain mm = 495.1

| Sep rain mm = 398.7

| Oct rain mm = 421.4

| Nov rain mm = 481.5

| Dec rain mm = 470.3

| Jan rain days = 17

| Feb rain days = 14

| Mar rain days = 15

| Apr rain days = 21

| May rain days = 23

| Jun rain days = 23

| Jul rain days = 23

| Aug rain days = 24

| Sep rain days = 23

| Oct rain days = 24

| Nov rain days = 23

| Dec rain days = 23

| source = Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (Colombia){{Cite web|url=http://www.ideam.gov.co/documents/21021/553571/Promedios+Climatol%C3%B3gicos++1981+-+2010.xlsx/f28d0b07-1208-4a46-8ccf-bddd70fb4128|title=Wayback Machine|date=August 15, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815025712/http://www.ideam.gov.co/documents/21021/553571/Promedios+Climatol%C3%B3gicos++1981+-+2010.xlsx/f28d0b07-1208-4a46-8ccf-bddd70fb4128 |archive-date=15 August 2016 }}

}}File:Casa de la Hermanas Agustinas.jpgFile:Bellavista Viejo - Church interior.jpg took place in 2002.]]File:Bellavista Viejo.jpg

{{reflist}}

• {{in lang|es}} [https://archive.today/20130201232130/http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?idArt=102705 Revista Semana: Un Pueblo a la Espera]

{{Municipalities choco department}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bojaya}}

Category:Municipalities of Chocó Department