On 28 November 1999, over 500 people from the village of Las Mercedes, on the Atrato River in Chocó department, were forced to flee their homes after threats from a paramilitary group to leave or be killed. The threats are a result of the arrest of nine paramilitary members for the killings of humanitarian workers Iñigo Eguiluz and Jorge Luis Mazo on 18 November 1999.
