Un río difícil. El Magdalena: historia ambiental, navegabilidad y desarrollo

Abstract

The Magdalena River, for centuries, was the main and almost only way to put interior Colombia in contact with the Caribbean and the world, even if it was always difficult to navigate, as supported here basing on traveler's references. Natural causes, as topography, geology and climate, promote erosion and induce sand and mud barriers, as well as torrential flow, problems that worsen with increasing deforestation of the basin. Navigation collapses, because of these and other causes, by the sixties of the past century; alternative transportation was eventually found on the way to the Pacific coast, with railways and roads whose construction began to the end of XIX century. These alternatives, together with Panama channel functioning since 1914, promoted Cali, Buenaventura and western Colombia development, in detriment of that of the Caribbean coast, mainly Barranquilla, until then and via the Magdalena River key for Colombian external commerce. Scientific information explains natural difficulties of Magdalena; an overview of deforestation illustrates the worsening conditions. Nowadays, huge projects to recover navigability of the River are beginning; this is a risky process that seems to ignore that Magdalena have been always a difficult river.