Buenaventura is Colombia's only im portant Pacif ic port and, as such, is a pillar of the economy. Though enormous riches in oil, coffee, cotton, sugar and frozen shrimp pass through every day, the wealth never seems to rub off on Buena ventura, nor has It in the past.
Unemployment is esti mated at 80 per cent, and theft and prostitution are the two most conspicuous forms of livelihood. In conversation with a vis itor, beggars, businessmen, Communists and priests ex press the nearly unanimous belief that something is des perately wrong not only with their town but with their na tion. Life is slow for the , residents of Buenaventura.
At high tide, when the tankers and freighters arrive and leave, there is a bustle of dockside activity. There is a clatter of typewriters from company and Government of fices near the wharves and an occasional uproar when a thief grabs for a woman's purse. Downtown streets near the docks are paved. The main Roman Catholic church, solid ly built of concrete, stands impressively on a hill facing bars, cafes and brothel hotels, all of which have neon signs.
Half a dozen blocks inland the paved streets and con crete structures end. The shacks and squalor recede into swamp and dense jungle, dotted every few dozen miles by clusters of thatched huts that are as iso lated from the modern world as any community on earth. The group's priests are ac tive in various parts of Colombia, and a few of the most militant have joined guerrilla groups. The Rev. Camilo Tor res, a guerrilla priest slain by troops in , is their main hero.
Gerardo Valencia, is a member of the Golconda Group, as are half a dozen missionary priests. One of them described community problems in these terms:. These people still live essentially as slaves, working for the hand ful of white landowners. They are diseased, physically and morally, and their lives are a continuous frustration. They believe that this coun try needs a new kind of presi dentโa man like Salvador Allende of Chile.
