Muzo (Colombia)

Muzo
Coordinates: 5 ° 32 ′  N , 74 ° 6 ′  W Muzo​ Muzo on the map of Colombia
Location of the municipality of Muzo on the Boyacá map
Basic data
Country	Colombia
Department	Boyacá
City foundation	1559
Residents	8548  (2019)
City insignia
Detailed data
surface	147 km 2
Population density	58 people / km 2
height	815  m
Time zone	UTC -5
City Presidency	Elin José Bohórquez Ariza (2016–2019)
Website	www.muzo-boyaca.gov.co
Aerial view of Muzo
Emerald from the Muzo mine

Muzo is a municipality ( municipio ) in the department of Boyacá in Colombia .

Muzo is known for its emerald mine , which is one of the world's most productive and produces the best quality emeralds. The 1383.95 carat Devonshire emerald comes from the Muzo mine. In 1916, the US National Museum conducted a mineralogical and petrological study of the Muzo mines.

geography

The Municipio Muzo belongs administratively to the Departamento de Boyacá and is located on the foothills of the Eastern Cordillera. The mean annual temperature in Muzo is 26 ° C and the mean annual precipitation is 3,152 mm. In the north Muzo borders on the Municipios of Otanche and San Pablo de Borbur , in the east on Maripí and Coper , in the west on Quípama and in the south on Paime in the department of Cundinamarca .

population

The municipality of Muzo has 8,548 inhabitants, of which 5,292 live in the urban part (cabecera municipal) of the municipality (as of 2019).

economy

The focus of the economy in Muzo is in the emerald mining and trading. 75% of the population are directly or indirectly involved in the emerald business.

Another 25% work in agriculture and animal husbandry. The main crops are sugar cane , cocoa , cassava , avocado and citrus fruits . In addition, timber industry and beef production.

53% of the proceeds are generated by the emerald trade, and handicrafts are also important. Agricultural income only accounts for 15%.

history

Before the conquest by the Spanish conquistadors , the ethnic group of the Muzo Indians lived there. The warlike Muzo, who settled permanently in the area of ​​the Muisca Indians, are assigned to the ethnic group of the Caribs . The Muzo cultivated the very fertile and nutrient-rich mountains in slash and burn construction and began early on with the superficial mining of emeralds, which served as jewelry or as a barter between the individual family clans. With the neighboring Muiscas they lived in ongoing wars, which were mainly fought over the spoils of war.

They delivered 20 years of war to the Spanish, which was fought with mutual success. In 1539 Luis Lancheros invaded the territory of the Muzo for the first time, in 1544 Melchor de Valdéz, who was finally able to temporarily defeat them in 1550. Nevertheless, the area remained troubled. A settlement founded by Pedro de Ursúa in 1555 was destroyed and burned down by the Muzo. Luis Lancheros founded Muzo on February 20, 1559, which at that time was still called " Villa de la Santísima Trinidad de los Muzos ". The emeralds were referred to as " tears of the gods " in the Muzo language .

The subjugated Indians had to dig emeralds for the Spaniards in slave labor in the opencast mine , and many died of exertion and disease. During this time the muzo were almost wiped out. By 1640 the mines were already exhausted due to improper management and partially overgrown by rainforest vegetation; large-scale emerald mining was only resumed later.

Today Muzo is a globally important transshipment point for raw emerald.

Mine by Muzo

The Muzo mines are located along the gorges around the Río Minero. The descendants of the Muzo make up the majority of the Guaqueros who live in large illegal tent settlements around the mines and claim the mining rights in Peñas Blancas, " La Culebra " and the Quebrada del Desaguadero.

Most emerald seekers who have no possessions aim to find emeralds quickly and return them to their hometowns. The motto of life is: " Me enguaco y me voy .", Which is why mostly only temporary bivouac settlements are created. The life of the Guaqueros is marked by violence , poverty , prostitution , gambling and alcoholism .

The approximately 200 hectare mine area was the scene of several armed conflicts between bandoleros , paramilitary groups, left-wing guerrillas, drug traffickers and private armies of the mine owners for decades , which harbors a potential for violence that continues to this day. The property rights of the mine changed over the years from private property, government property to a temporary British administration (British-South African Colombian Esmerald Mining Co., Ltd.). Today Muzo is managed by the mining company Tecminas. Famous emeralds such as B. the Mackay emerald came from the Muzo mine. On February 29, 2012 a raw emerald of 51.95 ct was recovered from the mine, which was then processed in the workshops of Muzo International, a company of the Texma Group, in Bogotà. The result was an emerald weighing 13.98 ct.

Ten kilometers from the Muzo mine is the Coscuez mine, which is still very productive today.

" Si iba a Muzo tenía que decir que era conservador, si usted decía liberal no podía pasar. - Muzo is one of the strongholds of the conservatives in Colombia, to which the caciques and patronages belong. At the entrance to the town there was a sign:" Bienvenidos. Éste es un territorio antiguerrillero "to deter left-wing guerrillas, since Muzo is ruled by the paramilitares . After years of isolation by the private armies of the mine owners, the area has been discovered for backpacking for some time.

Web links

Commons : Muzo  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Municipio de Muzo. Alcaldía de Muzo - Boyacá, accessed on June 5, 2019 (Spanish, website of the municipality of Muzo). 
• Diego Rodriguez Acosta: Mines. flickr.com, accessed June 5, 2019 (images of the Muzo mine). 
• Jaime Barrera, Milton Mahecha: Estudio administrative para determiner la situación actual de la empresa Coexminas Ltda. (PDF; 812 KB) usbbog.edu.co, accessed on June 5, 2019 (Spanish). 
• Joseph E. Pogue: The Emerald Deposits of Muzo, Colombia, Division of Mineralogy and Petrology, US National Museum, Arizona, 1916. palagems.com, accessed June 5, 2019 . 
• Germán Alberto Amaya Guío, Producción de Esmeraldas en Muzo Boyacá / Emerald production in Muzo in the 19th century. ( Memento from June 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Historia. Alcaldía de Muzo - Boyacá, accessed June 5, 2019 (Spanish, information on the municipality). 
2. ↑ ESTIMACIONES DE POBLACIÓN 1985 - 2005 Y PROYECCIONES DE POBLACIÓN 2005 - 2020 TOTAL DEPARTAMENTAL POR ÁREA. (Excel; 1.72 MB) DANE, May 11, 2011, accessed on June 4, 2019 (Spanish, extrapolation of the population of Colombia). 
3. ^ Spanish city of the Holy Trinity of Muzo
4. ↑ http://south Amerika.blog.de/2009/06/07/kolumbiens-smaragd-milliardaer-hausbesuch-pate-gruenen-goldes-6253138/  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically saved as marked defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ " excessive labor in the mines was imposed on neighboring tribes, a burden resulting in heavy mortality and serious depopulation of the region ." in http://www.palagems.com/emerald_colombia.htm
6. ↑ http://www.m-ernst.ch/gold/de/web/webstart/wsestein.htm
7. ^ Jörg Denzer: The conquest of the Augsburg Welser Society in South America 1528-1556, p. 145
8. ↑ http://www.welt.de/icon/article153594660/Fuer-Kolumbiens-Smaragdbau-beginnt-eine-neue-Aera.html
9. ↑ The Minero river: assassin, thief and ghost in http://www.revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/maguare/article/viewFile/10911/11509
10. ↑ " I'll get rich and then I'll go ." in - ( Memento of the original from July 29, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
11. ↑ ^{a b} http://www.usbbog.edu.co:8080/websaib/DocDig/archivos/BDigital/40646.pdf  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
12. ↑ ^{a b} http://www.cartagenainfo.com/Joyerias/mines.html
13. ↑ http://www.internetstones.com/patricia-emerald-632-carat-uncut-colombian-origin-chivor-mine.html
14. ↑ http://www.cartagenainfo.net/Jewelry/mines.html
15. ↑ http://www.internetstones.com/168-carat-mackay-emerald-necklace-muzo-mine-colombia.html
16. ↑ http://www.nobelio.de/shopping-und-fashion/muzo-smaragd-von-1398-carat-6506.html
17. ↑ The Coscuez Mine: A Major Source of Colombian Emeralds in http://gia.metapress.com/content/2570h374n30107h2/  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
18. ↑ span. When you come to Muzo, you have to stand by the conservatives, liberals are not allowed to pass.
19. ↑ http://www.ucentral.edu.co/acn/articulos/f130904/art053.htm  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
20. ↑ Welcome, this is a guerrilla free territory
21. ↑ - ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
22. ↑ - ( Memento of the original from August 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.