Use of Land Mines Spreading in Colombia

AQUITANIA, Colombia — The imperfectly healed stump that was once his left leg makes Luis Alfonso Quintero wince in pain, emotional as much as physical.

With a useless half-limb, how will he tend his emerald-green fields, or cross the village square without a care? How will he put food on the table for his seven kids, or dandle the youngest in his lap?

These were the simple things that defined the Quintero's life until the day last year that a land mine exploded underneath him. For the 39-year-old farmer and father who can't read or write, the blast destroyed more than flesh and bone.

"The most horrible thing is to be an invalid afterward," Quintero said as he lay in a hospital bed, the white gauze on his leg discolored by an oozing infection. "At times I get very depressed looking at the future that awaits me."

It's a bleak prospect that haunts thousands of Colombians, victims of a civil war that has stretched into its fifth decade. As leftist rebels square off against right-wing paramilitaries and the Colombian army battles both, the use of land mines by militant groups has risen alarmingly in recent years.

So has the casualty count. In 2003, an average of two people a day -- both civilians and soldiers -- fell victim to mines and other unexploded ordnance across Colombia, an increase of more than five-fold from 2000.

Colombia ranked third for casualties in 2003, behind only Afghanistan and Cambodia, according to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Of the 668 casualties, 156 people died. From January through September 2004, 421 new casualties were registered, it said.

"We have to race to fix the problem," said Alvaro Jimenez Millan, national coordinator of the Colombian Campaign Against Mines. "We're the only [country] in the Americas where mines are being laid."

He and other activists complain that the government has been slow to educate the populace, prioritize anti-mining efforts and help victims. Officials insist that they are taking action, with a national awareness project in the works and international aid in hand to help out.

Still, the situation is likely to worsen while the fighting drags on. Even if peace should come, experts say, the problem is expected to persist because removing mines could take years.