The abandoned Matapique Mixed Rural School in the south of Bolivar Department in the Middle Magdalene Valley where armed irregular groups of all the factions still operate, including the new generation of paramilitaries, most notably the Rastrojos. Guerrillas of the ELN (National Liberation Army) and the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) effectively controlled the region up until the late 1990s when they were pushed back by right-wing paramilitaries and Colombian military during a brutal period of conflict which targeted local civilians displacing thousands..