Guerilla Gold Rush: The Spoils of War

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For over half a century, civil war paralyzed Colombia and kept much of its wild lands frozen in time. In December 2016, that changed. The war that resulted in the deaths of 220,000 and displaced 6 million people came to an end. And the land wars began. With the FARC officially gone, the forests of Colombia are open for business. With the war ongoing in 2011, National Geographic Explorer correspondent Mariana van Zeller traveled to Colombia to investigate how the conflict was fueled by gold, with each side wanting their part of the riches. In 2018 Mariana returns, and finds the country even more chaotic. Hundreds of thousands of acres of pristine land is up for the taking, and both corporations and wildcatters want a piece. Today a new conflict arises: FARC has abandoned their forest mines and new armed factions have sprung up in the void, each vying for control of illegal gold that brings in $7 billion per year alone. The scramble for control is unleashing a new round of bloodshed. Illegal gold mining is the largest cause of deforestation in Colombia, and scores of activists and union leaders have been murdered. Through expert interviews and personal encounters Mariana finds that before the peace and after, Colombia's agile criminal underground will evolve and find a way to succeed.