Taraza is a town and municipality

Municipio

Municipio and Município are terms used for country subdivisions. They are often translated as municipality.-Overview:...

 in the Bajo Cauca

Bajo Cauca Antioquia

Bajo Cauca Antioquia is a subregion in the Colombian Department of Antioquia. The region is made up by 6 municipalities. The region cover most of the lower valley of the Cauca River with the department of Antioquia.-Municipalities:* Cáceres* Caucasia...

 subregion of Antioquia Department

Antioquia Department

Antioquia is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the central northwestern part of Colombia with a narrow section that borders the Caribbean Sea. Most of its territory is mountainous with some valleys, much of which is part of the Andes mountain range...

, Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

. It lies 222 kilometres (137.9 mi) from the city of Medellín

Medellín

Medellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...

, the departmental capital, and has a land area of 1569 square kilometres (605.8 sq mi). The municipality was separated from the municipality of Cáceres

Cáceres, Antioquia

Cáceres is a town and municipality in the Colombian department of Antioquia....

 in 1979.

In April 2008, 24 people were arrested, 40 were injured and at least one was killed in farmers' protests, instigated by FARC

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army is a Marxist–Leninist revolutionary guerrilla organization based in Colombia which is involved in the ongoing Colombian armed conflict, currently involved in drug dealing and crimes against the civilians..FARC-EP is a peasant army which...

, against the eradication of the coca

Coca

Coca, Erythroxylum coca, is a plant in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. The plant plays a significant role in many traditional Andean cultures...

crop in the local area. In the aftermath of this, the municipality declared a humanitarian crisis.