Infinitos Mundos

The Provisional Council for the Administration, Governance and Transition of Colombia has officially passed a resolution announcing the nationalization of a 35% equity stake in the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Colombia (National Railways of Colombia) corporation, which has remained, despite selling off of its properties and assets, the prime railway operator in Colombia. This resolution thus increases the equity stake held by the state of Colombia in the FNC from 20 to 55%, giving it absolute majority ownership over the enterprise. Furthermore, private ownership and operation of rail- and highways in Colombia has been outlawed, all rail infrastructure in the country is thus returned to operation by the FNC. All assets and properties in relation to privately owned rail lines, employees included, have been transferred in full to the FNC, and the companies or subsidiaries in question bought out by the government after owners agreed under threat of arrest to the purchases, which were done at fair rates based on the evaluation of the companies or subsidiaries after their assets had been transferred to the FNC.

The resolution additionally included provisions for allocation of budgetary funds toward the renovation of 3,154 kilometers of narrow gauge rail in Colombia, which is to be in its entirety converted to standard gauge, alongside allocation of funds for reactivation of unused rail lines, and construction of new railway infrastructure to bolster connectivity inside Colombia.

Proposición 0213 was passed from the Provisional Council to the Parliament, which is currently vacated of members, aside from the presiding officers of both houses, who quickly declared, and ended, the votes in their respective chambers, which both passed the resolution by, surprisingly enough, unanimous decision.

Dr. Marcos Abellán, the former Deputy Director of the FNC, who was fired after the Marquéz government announced it would be moving toward privatized rail infrastructure, has been appointed by the Provisional Council to serve as its 'Temporary Director of National Transit, Cargo and Infrastructure'. After the resolution passed both the council and parliament and became law, he held a press conference at the Ministry of Transport. "The stipulations of Proposición 0213 are a unilateral step forward for the nation of Colombia, which continues to seek escape from the neoliberal circus that unfolded here over the past fifty years. The resolution has halted the privatization of Colombia's vital infrastructure and reversed it, enabling us to expand upon it to help reconstruct the nation's economy, and increase the standard of living nationwide." Unveiling a chart beside his lectern, which shows various railway gauges, he continued, occasionally pointing at relevant details on the diagram.

"Most of the world, including most of our neighborhood and trade partners make use of the Standard railway gauge of 1,435 mm. By far the most common gauge in Colombia is the 'three foot' gauge that measures 914 mm in width, specifically, this includes 3,154 kilometers of Colombia's total 3,304 kilometer railway system, currently inactive lines included. Bringing our railway gauge to standard will have multiple benefits. First it will increase connectivity to our immediate neighborhood, more importantly it will lower acquisition costs for rail-bound vehicles, as we will no longer have to seek specialized options fitting three foot rail." He folded the gauge diagram over the back of the board beside him, revealing a map of Colombia's current rail system, and continued to use the diagram actively as he explained anything that required visual aid.

"The dotted lines are inactive tracks. Whole lines are active tracks. Inactive tracks will be brought back to active use, effective immediately. As we speak the government is assembling the workforce needed for all required tidying of dead rail, which consists of exactly 543 kilometers." He paused for a moment to clear his throat. "In addition to reactivating dead rail and complete renovation of narrow gauge rail in the country, we will also engage in construction of new rail lines, with particular focus being around Lake Maracaibo, which is, of course, where our most prominent resource export is produced. A full railway ring will be built around the lake, connecting all important storage, production, refinement, and other sites, as well as of course providing connectivity for public transport. This ring will be connected to the rest of the grid via the new line Maracaibo-Riohacha-Santa Marta in the north, and via Cúcuta to Bucaramanga and from there Barrancabermeja in the south." He stepped a bit to the left to reveal the more central region of Colombia on the map.

"We also intend on constructing an additional line connecting Bogotá directly with the Pacific coast at Buenaventura via Manizales and Zarzal. We will also be financing, together with regional and local governments, the creation of metropolitan rail services in Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, and Cartagena." He stepped back behind the lectern, turning to the crowd to finish his speech.

"The projects outlined will return control over our vital rail infrastructure to the people of Colombia, prevent the destruction of public transit by means of privatization, and offer innumerable economic benefits, from short term lowering of employment via public works, to long term lowering of employment via new job openings on the expanded and renovated railway grid, not to mention greater connectivity with our neighbors, cheaper acquisition costs related to public transport, and a general improvement in way and quality of life, as superior public transport will lower the nation's overall dependence on personal vehicles. Of course, the projects I have described are not minor, in fact just about everything mentioned is a grand undertaking, and of course it will take years to complete, but we would like to show the people of Colombia, that we are looking out for them, and have their best interests at heart. Thank you."

The wet season had come earlier, and fiercer than usual. It was rare, in fact, according to the locals, unheard of, for the April rains to pierce so far into the eastern cordilleras. Were Dr. Abellán none the wiser, he'd turn to superstition. His protégé, Vicente Perez, a young doctoral student at the Universidad Nacional, had grown up in these same mountains, just a few valleys over in San Bernardo. Despite his careful and methodic attempt to maintain the facade of a rational and skeptic thinker, he couldn't quite contain those old, inherent fears and worries, nestled in his heart and mind in the cradle by the environment he was raised in - stories of Indigenous origin, passed on through the generations and centuries, telling of mystical spirits and beings, guarding the sanctity of the Andes. He didn't believe it of course, but there was a feeling inside, that he just couldn't quite shake off, that maybe this tunnel wasn't supposed to be built.

When completed, the tunnel connecting Pamplona and Pamplonita, as yet two relatively unimportant towns in the eastern Andes, would become one of the longest in Colombia, and certainly among its most important, as it would fill the last remaining gap in the Bucaramanga-Cúcuta rail line, connecting the oil and industry rich Maracaibo Basin with the nation's Andean heartland. It's southern port would be just a stone's throw from the existing port of the roughly mile long Pamplona Tunnel, a road tunnel acting as a bypass of Pamplona's dense and congested city center. It's northern port would be located about 5 kilometers away, almost directly north of the south port. The tunnel would run at a minor downward angle, emerging just south of the small town of Pamplonita, which it would then evade along the west before joining the already constructed railway parallel to the main road, just north of Pamplonita. It was to be the longest, most expensive and most difficult tunnel to construct of the roughly dozen or so that dotted the "Southern Maracaibo Line", as it had been labelled, and it was to be Abellán's masterpiece, the peak and zenith of his life's work. He hadn't revealed so to anyone, except Vicente, but he intended to name it for the man who made it all possible. It was to be christened, Túnel Aureliano.

If only it weren't for the rain.

The staff car's engine was as loud as a mouse compared to the tunnel bore, which despite now being about a kilometer behind them, still dominated Vicente's earshot. "At this rate," Abellán leaned over to his apprentice, screaming almost at the top of his lungs, to overcome the drill behind them, the engine in front of them, and the muffled ears between them. "we'll be in Pamplonita by early May." Pulling his work journal from a satchel rested on his lap, and secured with a belt over his left shoulder, he grabbed a bright red index tab labelled Cronograma, and flipped the book open. "The first train from Bucaramanga will arrive in Cúcuta two weeks ahead of schedule." He continued screaming to Perez, as his finger pointed through the hastily sketched out timetable.

The tunnel was just over a mile long, and making steady progress day after day. Work on the Southern Maracaibo Line had gone so quick in fact, that about a month ago, Abellán was able to officially give all construction workers on the project weekends off, while still remaining noticeably ahead of schedule. After about 5 minutes the staff car arrived back at the doctor's field office. The two architects rushed through the pouring rain and burst through the door, almost knocking it off its hinges in their hurry. "I've absolutely no clue how this rain got so far inland." He removed his glasses to clear the raindrops from them, only to find his shirt already almost soaking wet, despite a total of about 15 seconds in the rain. He walked up to a window, looking down on Pamplona. "I went into town a bit before you arrived yesterday, shortly after the rain started. Just about everyone I asked told me it was the first time in their lifetimes it rained so much here. And it hasn't stopped since."

"It seems like it's gotten stronger since I got here." Vicente walked up to the neighboring window. "We'll need a second pump in the tunnel if it keeps up like this." Marcos turned around and slowly made his way to his desk. "I've been having... strange feelings about this whole ordeal." Perez raised an eyebrow, a poor attempt at feigning surprise, and his own such feelings. "I'm sure you're just nervous. This is the biggest project of your career, after all."

Not feeling particularly calmed by his apprentice's weak encouragement, Abellán's stare dropped, and just happened to gaze at a half empty glass of water on the side of his desk, beside the untidy mess of papers, journals and documents on the tabletop. Ever a master of noticing the little things in life, he couldn't help but note an odd ripple on the surface of the water. "Do you feel something?" Vicente was puzzled. His eyebrows mushed closer together. "Not really, no-" They both felt it.

An earthquake shook through Santander and Norte de Santander. Abellán and Perez rushed out of the mobile office into the pouring rain, only to witness the most horrific scene either of them had seen in their lives. The turbulent rains over the last two days had softened and muddied the dirt and sediments around the large entrance to the tunnel. Combined with the sudden, powerful earthquake, the now softened arch of the Túnel Aureliano south port collapsed before the eyes of the two leading engineers. Workers outside the tunnel fled like the wind; the dirt, mud and rock burying a half dozen vehicles, demolishing a portion of the construction site, and, most importantly, burying over two dozen workers inside the tunnel, a mile underground, under a mile high mountain. The pump that was emptying the water from the downward sloped tunnel had been cut off by the sudden avalanche - if the inner parts of the tunnel remained stable, the pump had sure as hell stopped working, and with the rains not looking like they intended to stop any time soon, it was only a matter of time before the water slowly seeping through either drowned the workers, or destabilized the rest of the buried structure in the mountain.

Dr. Abellán's masterpiece had become a cruel race against time, that would doubtless stain his legacy forever.