Andean Scapes team · Updated
The second Green War (1975–1978)
A short war while the emerald trade moved from the mines to the streets of Bogotá, and the first written peace between the dealers of western Boyacá.
When it happened
The second Green War ran from 1975 to 1978. It began in 1975 with the killing of the brothers of an emerald dealer.[1]
It came while the peace that followed the 1973 tender was already falling apart under outside money and internal disputes.[3]
The trade moves to Calle 14
During the uneasy peace the business moved from the mines to Calle 14 in central Bogotá. Selling, not mining, became the heart of the trade.[3]
Japanese buyers became, within a few years, the largest buyers and the ones who set prices.[3]
Emerald fortunes on the surface
As emerald prices rose against the dollar, the trade’s winners became magnates. They bought large estates in Cundinamarca and Boyacá, paso fino horses, casinos and racehorses.[3]
In the same years Japanese buyers, who bought both in the street and at the mines, came to dominate the trade and set prices.[3]
The first peace pact
In 1978 the emerald dealers of western Boyacá signed their first peace pact.[1]
The same year a public tender opened emerald mining to private operators, and dealers could formalize their fortunes.[1]
Two blocs and 35,000 guaqueros
Out of this war two large groups formed: one around Coscuez, Maripí and Pauna, and another around Otanche, Borbur, Santa Bárbara and Muzo.[1]