On the third anniversary of the murder of Sierra de Nevada National Park ranger Wilton Orrego, La Libertad Sublime would like to share this text detailing information about his life and death. The piece is a translation of an article which was originally published in Spanish by El Tiempo on August 29th 2021.

The case of Wilton Orrego, park ranger in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, is a cruel reflection of the violence suffered by the defenders of nature, and the population in general, in a paradise of biodiversity where paramilitaries sustain their own monarchy. It is also an example of the irreparable pain caused by the death of a loved one. 

“You’re not going to die. You’re not going to leave me alone!” – pleaded Saida to her husband Wilton, who was bleeding heavily. He squeezed her hand trying to calm her, and then let go to ask her, pointing with his fingers, to push his tongue inside the bloody mess that was his mouth. A tongue that hung out, like a snake, from the hole which the bullet had pierced in his face an hour beforehand. Another shot had skimmed the back of his head, without causing injury, according to the report by Medicina Legal. 

“We’ve got so many dreams, so many objectives, a daughter for whom we have to fight” he responded, talking as if he had a gag between his teeth; a voice which struggled through the rampant red river that was draining his life.

“Do you feel bad?” asked Saida.

“Very bad” Wilton responded as he lifted up his head.

“He looked at me. He looked at his father. He smiled and he closed his eyes. And I felt as if I died with him”, added Saida Garcia with a wounded soul as she recalls the night of January 14th, 2019, when they killed her husband: Wilton Fauder Orrego León. He was 38 years old and had been a park ranger of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta national park since May 2016. In the end, it was a calm death, as befitting Wilton: a tranquil and conciliatory man. He had seemed to Saida like a grandfather who would always bring calm to a situation.

Saida and Wilton had met one another on July 13th, 2002. She recalls the date because from the moment they saw each other, they were in love. He had arrived in the area a couple of months previously to work as a labourer on a plantain farm. She had studied to work as a secretary. Seven months later, they married at a notary in Santa Marta, with the religious ceremony taking place in the Cuadrangular evangelical church, where they congregated weekly. They moved into the home of Saida’s family. They struggled for money but had love in abundance. Not long after, they had a daughter, Sheilis Milena. The couple started to earn a living selling minutes for phone calls, and after they set up a small shop selling flip-flops and swimming shorts as well as a butcher’s shop.

They were both campesinos – poor like nearly all campesinos in Colombia – and they had both been displaced from their lands due to the armed conflict; two among the nearly 8 million displaced according to government statistics.

Wilton had been born in Mingueo, near Dibulla in the department of La Guajira, and the paramilitaries had forced him from his plot of land. Saida and her family were forced to flee their home in San Juan Nepomuceno, in the department of Bolivar, due to clashes between the paramilitaries and guerrilla forces.

They came together in Don Diego, a small town to the east of Santa Marta, situated by the river of the same name: a paradise between the sea and the jungle, located on the Troncal del Caribe, the major route linking Riohacha to Santa Marta. It is a stretch of land which is increasingly popular and attractive for tourism, and one of the most beautiful, biodiverse and visited regions in Colombia.

In 2019, before the pandemic, the country received 4,352,086 visitors, of which 2.8 million were foreigners, according to the ministry of commerce, industry and tourism. Santa Marta hosted 400,000 of these visitors, demonstrating the growth and potential of the tourism industry; yet it is far from being a victimless industry.

Despite the economic potential of the region, one of the principal sources of financing for the illegal armed groups, and for local criminal structures, is related to what has been called oro verde; the green gold of the tourism business. In Buritaca and Bahia Concha (popular beach spots in the region), to take just two examples, a percentage of the fees paid by tourists to enter the sites ends up in the coffers of the Pachencas (one of the principal illegal organisations operating in the region), according to the early warning 045 emitted by the Ombudsman’s Office in May 2018. 

It is a destination known nationally and internationally as a sanctuary of nature with golden sands, turquoise waters, two national parks (Tayrona and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta), and a major archaeological site: Teyuna, the lost city of the Tayrona civilization, which is reached by a two day trek and is considered as the Colombian Machu Picchu. 

This touristic portfolio has been extending along the Troncal del Caribe route with an unceasing development of hotels and hostels, from budget to high end, which has surged following the booming success of Palomino. Palomino is a nearby town towards Dibulla in La Guajira – a town of unpaved roads and lacking drinking water – which in the last 15 years has become the principal hippie and backpacker attraction in the region. It is situated about a 20 minute drive from the home of Wilton and Saida, in a region where for decades now, nothing is permitted without the approval of paramilitaries connected to the clan of Hernan Giraldo, a group known in recent years as the Pachencas or the Autodefensas Conquistadores de la Sierra Nevada. 

A clan.

An empire.

A monarchy.

A parallel and immovable government.

The Pachencas, or the Autodefensas Conquistadores de la Sierra Nevada as they identify themselves, are a legacy of the now extinct Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) paramilitaries, who handed in their arms in 2006. Hernan Giraldo, known locally as El Patrón (the boss), was extradited to the U.S. like the other paramilitary bosses for their involvement in drug trafficking. Although he was returned to Colombia on January 25th 2021 having served 12 years, his future is uncertain seeing as he was convicted (in absentia) in 2019 for hundreds of crimes: homicides, forced disappearances, torture and kidnapping. The proceedings included 706 criminal acts of various description, including the sexual abuse of dozens of girls and young ladies in the Sierra Nevada. For this reason, it is unsurprising that there are scores of adolescents and adults who carry his bloodline if not his name.

In these fertile lands, shared with six ethnic groups, campesino communities, settlers from other parts of the country  and those displaced by the violence, many people have celebrated Giraldo’s return to Colombia, even if he remains behind bars. Even though he was extradited, Giraldo was never totally absent as here, his eldest sons have continued to perpetuate his perverse legacy of coca, fear and death. 

It was one of his men, it would emerge, who killed Wilton. A heavy by the name of Planchita. There are various researchers and academics who have repeatedly denounced, at the cost of receiving death threats, all of the damage which paramilitary violence has wrought on the region. One of those is John Myers, who studied Political Science and International Environmentalism in the U.S. John came to Colombia for the first time in 2001 to see and explore the birds of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Since then, he has become increasingly informed of what occurs in the region.  

“The Sierra Nevada was the first place in the world where they realised you could export high quality marijuana to the U.S. in the 60s, during la marimbera bonanza. The proximity to Venezuela has also been a factor. And as such, all of this incredibly diverse region became a storehouse, logistical centre and a site for the production of drugs” stated the researcher. Myers added that the paramilitaries emerged following this period, and that they have continued to impose order and extort money, even after the demobilisation of AUC forces in 2006.

Luis Fernando Trejos, professor at the Universidad del Norte (Barranquilla), insists that all of this violence needs to be referred to as post-AUC acts, seeing as it is clear that they have never relinquished, nor even considered to do so, their power and influence. He also recommends that such a robust and powerful organisation must be challenged by the government if they wish to avoid further bloodshed.

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Before donning the blue shirt worn by the staff of Parques Nacionales, and committing to the struggle for the preservation of natural resources, Wilton had been doing the opposite: he was part of an association of lumberjacks who cut down the forest for its wood. Mature ceibas and fig trees almost 40 metres in height wound up converted into rooms, beds and dining tables. Wilton also participated, alongside the community of Don Diego, in the invasion of plots of unused land, which had previously been used for banana plantations. There he built his house, right by the roadside. He did the same on another plot to build a house for his parents. 

But Wilton and Saida were natural leaders. This is why he was hired by Parques Nacionales: they knew his capacities and knew that his situation was the same as that of his community in relation to the eternal issue of the settlers and their demands for land. This is a problem that has long since spiralled out of the control of the Colombian state and a problem for which there is an absence of solid data. These are people who feel that they have little choice but to invade protected areas with little interest beyond building a basic home and tilling a portion of land. Nevertheless, there are of course many instances where whole forests are cleared in order to make way for an industry which causes severe issues of contamination: cattle farming. 

All of these settlers, big and small, face the same obstacle in their pursuit of territory, Parques Nacionales; no one can live within a protected area. They are not allowed to live there, nor construct there, nor grow plantain, corn nor yucca. And even less to erect hotels or hostels or any infrastructure related to tourism. Yet nobody pays attention to this and nobody does anything when these laws are violated. The incentives which have been offered, in exchange for not encroaching on the protected areas, have always been insufficient. 

“We are victims of the guerrillas, of the paramilitaries, of the Parques Nacionales and of the Victims Unit”, states an indignant Amilcar Orrego, Wilton’s father.

The hiring of Wilton was not universally well received within the entity. It was not deemed coherent that a logger and an illegal settler of the Sierra, like the majority of the village’s men, was now invited to care for the forests and to follow  the instructions of Parques Nacionales. 

Events then occurred which generated even more pressure. Six months before Wilton was murdered, in July of 2018, six families were removed from homes they had built without permission on land in the Sierra Nevada. State institutions removed these families from the little possessions they had without offering an alternative solution. Months later, in November, unknown agents burned down the local Parques Nacionales branch: it was assumed to have been an act of retaliation for the removal. “They have to kill one of those sons of…from Parques so they’ll stop poking their nose in” was the refrain heard in those parts.

Tito Rodriguez was the head of the Parque Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, and as such, he was Wilton’s boss. He had been in that line of work for 20 years. Two months after the arson attack, he was the target of death threats. Three days before the attack on Wilton, Tito received word that they were planning to kill him. This same information was shared with his colleagues. The police assigned a bodyguard, as well as providing a panic button and cell phone so that Tito could contact them at the slightest sign of danger. Later, the National Protection Unit would assign him a bulletproof truck, two more guards and a bulletproof vest. Yet only months later, this entity would notify him, via resolution 0FI9-00420888, that despite acknowledging that he was indeed at risk, that they could no longer offer him this protection. They left him the vest, the phone and the panic button. Toto knew he must flee if he wished to stay alive. 

He travelled to the United States with his wife and his two sons, aged 9 and 10, as well as Nala, the street dog they had adopted. Their objective was to get to Canada. After arriving in Miami on the 12th of November 2019, Tito and his family made a pilgrimage through the US in order to reach the border with Canada, where they were met by the sister of his wife. He carried with him the documents needed to request political asylum in that country, where he and his family would need to start over from scratch. Far from home, making ends meet in a strange land, and deprived of so much; including the simple act of communication seeing as at 50 years old, he was barely able to pass a few words in French. But at the very least, he is alive.

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On the day they killed Wilton, the 14th of January 2019, Saida felt a sense of anguish. Intuition perhaps. After having chatted to his wife, Wilton decided to do some work on the site where his mother-in-law had a restaurant by the side of the road on the opposite side of the river Don Diego. They live exactly on the opposite side of that river of emerald colored water, where tourists float towards the sea in tubes while watching howler monkeys and various species of exotic birds which inhabit the verdant zone between the mountains and the sea.

Wilton started the work on his mother-in law Cenaida’s restauarant. In doing so, he made his best effort to avoid negatively impacting the site. He used guadua (similar to bamboo) and other materials of organic origin. Wilton knew well that it was prohibited to carry out any type of construction work within the protected areas of the Parques Nacionales Naturales; the entity founded in 1960 and charged (with a precarious budget it must be said) with the protection of Colombia’s natural “lungs”, 14 million hectares (more than 11% of the national territory) situated across 59 natural parks throughout the country not to mention the challenges and dangers presented by the six decades of civil conflict across Colombia. Scientists, biologists, guides and unarmed campesinos, such as Wilton, must defend our national patrimony in the midst of bullets fired by illegal organizations and the mafias of the drug trade. 

At 7.15 on the night of January 14 2019, Wilton returned to his house on the other side of the river. He was exhausted and the following day had an early commitment in the evangelist church he attended with Saida. Saida and their daughter remained in the craft shop she ran selling mochilas made by women from the Arhuaca, Kogui and Wayúu communities; three of the ethnic groups present in the region. Wilton said his goodbyes with a smile on his face. 

The piercing noise of the two bullets reverberated around the road. “My daughter asked me were they bullets” and I told her she would have to ask her father, said Saida, and her voice, hoarse and sweet at the same time, started to tremble. “My brother Harold called me and said they had someone injured there”. Harold picked her up on a motorbike and within seconds they were at the house where they encountered Wilton laying on the ground. 

“What happened? Did you see who it was? Did you argue with someone?” Saida asked frantically. She then saw the gaping hole in his mouth, the result of the bullet which had pierced his cheek on the right hand side. Wilton tried to talk, but they could not understand anything. They got him up, covering his face with a cloth. A neighbour who owned an old pick up truck offered to bring them to the small clinic in the nearby township of Guachaca. Wilton walked towards the truck as if he had not just received the blast of two bullets and got into the truck without assistance, but not before waving goodbye to his daughter and raising a thumb to assure her that everything was ok. He was accompanied by Saida and her father, Amílcar. Within 15 minutes they arrived at the clinic in Guachaca; a sad reflection of the health system in the country, it had next to nothing. All they could offer was that the situation looked bad and that they should go to an emergency ward in a hospital, the caveat being that they would have to wait more than two hours for an ambulance to arrive from Santa Marta. 

“More than two hours? But look at the bleeding!” Saida wistfully recalls saying. The nurse advised them that if they decided to go it alone, it would be their own responsibility. Saida grudgingly signed a release form and accepted an oxygen tank, the only one available in the clinic. 

Leonidas Rincón, the pastor at the evangelical church where Saida and Wilton attended, picked them up in his Toyota Hilux and they set off along the Troncal del Caribe in a race against death. 

Saida covered the gaping wound with her own shirt. Saida wrung the blood which soaked the shirt. 

Saida hugged him and urged him to hang on, and told him how handsome he was.

Saida reminded him that he was the love of her life. That he was the love of his daughter’s life.

Using signs, Wilton asked his wife to remove the oxygen tank; all that was left was drips of water. He was almost suffocating. “Calm down. Calm down, I’m ok”, he struggled to say to his wife and her father, mangling his words as he tried to control his tongue – snake like – which was slipping out of the wound in his mouth. Wilton spat out blood, clots which resembled a chicken’s liver. And he spat out the bullet. Saida felt a light relief and told him: “My love. You spat out the bullet!”. 

At 8:25 in the night, they arrived at a private clinic in Santa Marta, the closest upon arrival in the port city, only to be told that he could not be received as his insurance would not suffice for a private clinic. “But, how can you not attend him? Why do you have a hospital if not to save people ‘s lives?” Saida shouted. They returned to their race against death and headed for the Julio Mendez hospital. Wilton prayed and chanted but only the melody could be understood. Then they had their last interaction and they spoke of their undying love for their daughter and of the dreams ahead. 

“Do you feel bad?”

“Very bad”

Wilton then lost consciousness. 

They arrived at the hospital. They received Wilton. After a few minutes, a doctor approached Saida and told her that they couldn’t do anything. That her husband had arrived without vital signs. 

Saida collapsed. 

Saida filled the hospital with her howls.

Saida wailed at the universe for snatching the love of her life away. 

Saida shed rivers, seas of tears.

And from that night, she has felt a blade piercing through her body and soul. A while after, in conversations with a doctor friend, she was told that access to prompt and quality healthcare would have saved Wilton’s life. That the wound to the face and the throat could have been mended. That they need not have been mortal.  But Wilton’s life faded away drop by drop. He had stayed alive and conscious for an hour and twenty minutes after a paramilitary from the Pachencas entered his home and shot him. Wilton was not only shot and left to die. He was also allowed to die because of the nefarious health care in this country. 

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“With great sadness and massive indignation we have to give the news that a member of Parques Nacionales team was killed in the area of Perico Aguao, in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta national park. A young man, of 38 years, with a family; with a wife and a daughter of 15, who fulfilled a fundamental role for Colombia and the world which is the protection of this extraordinary natural wealth which exists in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta” – the message conveyed by Julia Miranda, the then director of Parques Nacionales Naturales, via the entity’s twitter account. She had been in charge of the entity for more than 16 years – a period during which Julia saw several of her colleagues murdered and others who had to flee the country to protect their lives – before being removed from her position in December of 2020. She was replaced in the position by Orlando Molano, ex-director of the Sports and Recreation District Institute of Bogotá.

Miranda added: “We are pained because in this area there are so many threats against the integrity of the national park, the security of the people who live there, and the safety of our functionaries”. 

There are 13 martyrs of the Parques Nacionales who have been murdered in the last 30 years, according to the figures presented by the entity. Three of those cases have occurred in the Santa Marta area: Hector Vargas and Martha  Hernandez, directors of the Tayrona park. The former was killed in September of 1994. He was a marine biologist and was 41 years old. They ambushed him as he was driving on the outskirts of Santa Marta.  The latter was a zoologist of 44 years. She was killed on January 29th 2004, in her home in Santa Marta. She had been due to travel the next day for vacations with her husband Carlos Hernandez; a biologist who found her massacred with the impact of six bullets and who still sheds tears over Martha. Both killings were ordered by the paramilitaries – according to what has been established by investigations. Both had been encouraged to leave Tayrona by the all powerful bosses in the area where they controlled routes for drug trafficking and increasingly aspects of the tourist industry. And on January 14th, 2019, those same paramilitary forces ordered the killing of Wilton Orrego. 

“We can no longer tolerate the indifference and the lack of safety guarantees for our laboral responsibilities as park rangers in Colombia” expressed a statement by the union of environmental and national park workers in response to the murder of Yamid Silva, a member of the Parque Nacional de Cocuy team, in January 2020. Yamid left a widow and three young children without a husband and father. Another case of impunity. 

In the case of Wilton, there has at least been one person of interest detained: Fernando Basante Gutiérrez, alias Planchita, allegedly the person in control of the hired assassins for Los Pachencas. On his phone were found conversations regarding the plan to kill Wilton. Planchita is currently imprisoned in a jail in Boyaca on charges of delinquency, extortion and homicide, but not yet over the crime of Wilton. The investigation has not advanced. 

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On December 20th 2019, the recently married couple of Nathalia Jimenez and Rodrigo Monsalve, 36 and 40 years old respectively, were abducted from one of the most beautiful viewpoints in the region; a cliff overlooking a sea with tones of green and blue. They had been on their way to Palomino to enjoy a honeymoon break. Their disappearance was national news. Images were shared of the couple earlier in the day as they stopped at a toll booth in their Ford EcoSport. Nathalia was a biologist who was well known for her defense of the region and for encouraging sustainable agriculture. Rodrigo was an anthropologist, an environmentalist and also a DJ in and around Santa Marta. The day after their abduction, their bodies were discovered tied to trees, their faces covered with hoods. Both had been shot in the head, in what the police argued was a robbery gone wrong. 

Ximena Cáceres, Nathalia’s mother, does not believe this version of events. She is adamant that her daughter was murdered for her work as an environmental leader in that part of the country.  “She loved animals, loved the land, and she loved the campesinos. That is why they killed her” said yet another mother who faced the horrible task of burying a child. She has also stated that she wants the truth over what happened. This is the same pain felt by the mother of Wilton, who had also had to bury her younger son, Ortinso Rafael. He was only 13 when he went out with his father to collect yuca only to be bitten by a mapaná snake on December 23rd 2008. This mother who lost her only two sons is named Maria Etelvina Leon. She spoke to us on the small farm where she lives with her husband, Amílcar. There were pictures of her dead sons hanging on the wall. In the back of the house were several crates of avocados and plantains which they sell by the roadside. 

“That there is some justice. My son is dead two years now and we still don’t know anything. Those who killed him are not in prison for doing so. It’s as if they killed an animal. There are so many mothers who are searching for their children and searching for the truth” wailed Maria Etelvina. 

Saida and her daughter walk along the beach where the river Don Diego meets the sea; the river as wide as a motorway. Saida admits that she doesn’t want to remain as a victim. She wants to know the truth as well as seeing justice. “I have learned to step out of the ashes with more empowerment. I don’t want to leave our dreams thrown by the wayside” says Saida, a leader in her community, intelligent and a speaker of several languages; she speaks Spanish as well as the languages of the Arhuaco, Kogi and Wayúu indigenous communities. Saida shows us an area that has been replanted with the association of former loggers in Don Diego. This association is the legal guardian for the area; later we would visit the nurseries where they plant and care for various species of trees in order to continue compensating for the damage caused to eco-systems in the past; the initiative also helps to provide for those involved. 

“We cannot continue crying over our dead. We need to continue fighting in honour of those who lost their lives for us” states Saida, acknowledging that despite the pain caused by her husband’s absence, she gets up each day with renewed hope.

*Translated from the following article: https://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/otras-ciudades/asesinato-de-wilton-orrego-lider-de-la-sierra-nevada-de-santa-marta-611607

The role of social leaders in a country such as Colombia is a vitally important one. A social leader according to the RAE is “a person who leads or directs a political party, social group or other collectivity” (s. f.). Nonetheless, that definition does not fulfill all the characteristics of the work that a social leader does or their importance for their communities in Colombia. A more accurate approximation reads: “A social leader is a person who defends the rights of the collective and develops an action for the common good recognized in his or her community, organization, or territory. Every social leader is considered a defender of human rights” (Editorial La República S.A.S., 2021). Taking that into account, it can be said that social leaders are people who are in positions of responsibility, and who fight for the rights of their communities or groups. This concept of perception is broadly used in Colombia since social leaders are the ones that help their communities and act or have a presence where there is an absence of the State. 

Francisco Giacometto is one of the multitudes of social leaders that have been assassinated in Colombia following the signing of the peace agreement. In this essay, Francisco’s case will be explored as well as the context of violence in the department of Magdalena in addition to the objective of highlighting the importance of social leaders in Colombia.

On April 18, 2021, the inhabitants of downtown Santa Marta alerted the local authorities because the house of Francisco Giacometto was emitting a strange stench, and they had not seen him leaving it since days before. So, the police decided to enter the house and found the terrible scene of Giacometto’s beheaded body lying on the floor. Apparently, the activist had been tortured and mortal wounds had been inflicted on his neck. It was suspected that the murder had been carried out several days earlier as the body was decomposing at the time of discovery. This news caused great commotion in the city and the governor of Magdalena made a statement offering a reward of 30 million pesos (7.915 US dollars) for information that would help to clarify and find the person responsible for the crime. Through investigative work carried out by the National Police, Diego Jesús Umbría Estilda, alias ‘Flaco’, was identified in Santa Marta (Magdalena), as the possible perpetrator of the crime of the political activist. The authorities relied on a series of security camera videos to identify this person. From there, they began their search for him until they were able to apprehend him (El Tiempo, 2021). The 8th Municipal Criminal Court ordered him to be placed in prison in relation to the crime. However, Umbria Estilda,  from Venezuela, did not accept these charges. On one hand, it seems like a closed case. On the other hand, it was not possible to obtain more information about the real motives of this person to murder Francisco or if he was the material actor of a plan carried out by other people. In cases of violence towards social leaders and activists in Colombia, it is not uncommon to see charges brought against the person supposedly responsible for carrying out the crimes, yet not so common to see who has ordered the killings. On occasion, these judicial conclusions raise more questions than answers. For example, in December 2019, biologists Natalia Jimenez and Rodrigo Monsalve were brutally murdered as they took off from Santa Marta to celebrate their honeymoon in the beach town of Palomino. Within days, the case was seemingly solved when three men, also hailing from Venezuela, were charged for the murder of the couple in a robbery gone wrong (El Tiempo, 2019); yet the fact that the couple showed signs of torture does not seem to align with this official explanation, nor does the speed with which the investigations were concluded. For this reason, it is essential to know more about the life and work of Francisco Giacometto in order to better understand the context of his murder.

Francisco Giacometto was an activist who understood the dangers of being stigmatized for political beliefs. According to the information portal Infobae (2021), Francisco Giacometto was a recognized student leader in Magdalena who was part of various leftist movements such as the JUCO Communist Youth, the Unes (a student unity movement) and was a co-founder, in the 1980s, of the Union Patriotica (UP), a Colombian leftist political party formed as part of an internal peace agreement process when the FARC guerrillas argued that by supporting the creation of this party they would explore the possibility of pursuing politics without weapons under the ceasefire agreements signed by government commissioner John Agudelo Ríos during the presidency of Belisario Betancur in the 1980s. However, from the very beginning, the UP, as it was commonly known, was subjected to all kinds of harassment and attacks and according to Cepeda (2006) in 1984, the first murders and forced “disappearances” targeting the party occurred. Throughout the 80s and 90s, anywhere between 3,000 and 5,000 members of the UP were massacred (El Pais), including countless elected officials and two presidential candidates. The majority of these killings were perpetrated by paramilitary groups and drug cartels, often working in collusion with state agents. These attacks effectively exterminated the UP as a political force and highlighted the danger faced by those who are identified as having alternative political leanings; those targeted were stigmatized as being an extension of the guerrilla forces rather than political activists. Unfortunately, such stigmatization continues to this day. Giacometto had moved to Santa Marta to support political activism and propaganda work in the city with the intention of “contributing to social justice and the consolidation of change” (Voz, 2021). In the same way, he always stood out for the defense of human rights, the intense desire to propagate the party’s lines, and for the dissemination of the newspaper ‘Voz’, of the communist party. According to the above, it is possible to infer that Francisco remained faithful and died defending his ideological belief. It is heartbreaking to know that this is not the first nor the last case of people who are silenced because they represent a “problem” or an obstacle for the interests of the powerful This kind of situation is constant in Colombia with over 1,200 social leaders and human rights defenders murdered since 2016 (Indepaz), and the Magdalena department is no exception with the high profile murders of leaders such as Maritza Quiroz, Wilton Orrego, Alejandro Llinas and the aforementioned Natalia Jimenez and her husband Rodrigo Monsalve all occurring in the department in the past 3 years.  In these cases, it is crucial to explore the type of work and activism pursued by the victims and for this reason, it is vital to know what Francisco had been involved in.

A social leader performs different types of work depending on the different types of rights they seek to guarantee. The work of Francisco Giacometto or “Yako” as he was known to friends, was based on guaranteeing the right to youth organization and participation, principally in defense of public education and a dignified life for the youth. According to Infobae (2021), the political leader played an important role as a witness in the investigative issues surrounding the murder of Nicolas Neira at the hands of the ESMAD (this is the Colombian anti-riot squad). Neira was injured during the demonstrations of May 1, 2005, and Francisco had assisted him at the time of the clashes; it is important to mention that this murder was declared a state crime. In January 2021, after 16 years of legal processes, ESMAD agent Néstor Rodríguez Rúa was convicted as being responsible for the shooting of Nicolás, causing the wounds that led to his death. Months later, on March 26, another former ESMAD agent was convicted, retired Major Fabián Mauricio Infante. Infante had been accused of concealing the homicide and delaying the process with the intention of favoring Rodríguez Rúa. Activism related to education has been historically  problematic in Colombia because many of those who confront the state and begin to have the attention of citizens are threatened or killed to silence them. Furthermore, the lack of state presence in the areas where these problems are generated is often a primary factor of these crimes (Rouille & Atencia, 2021). This is a situation which remains unchanged in current times with student leaders Lucas Villa and Esteban Mosquera being murdered in Colombia throughout 2021 (Caracol radio, 2021), in addition to those murdered and disappeared during nationwide strikes which brought hundreds of thousands onto the streets between April and June. While it is not possible to establish with certainty the link between Francisco’s activism and his violent death, given his own personal history and the painful lessons from the past, such a hypothesis cannot be overlooked. As ever in these tragic situations, it is also necessary to explore the local context where the crime took place.

On the other hand, the situation of violence that has existed in Magdalena for many years is quite complex and involves more than just education.  More specifically, in Santa Marta and its surrounding areas, there exists a mix between a “tourism mafia” and a kind of local de facto government. In this case, one is referring to the paramilitary group that rules in this zone known as Los Pachencas or the Autodefensas Conquistadores de la Sierra (ACSN). They are the “owners” of this zone since the 80s; this group is seen as a legacy of Hernan Giraldo, a former paramilitary leader and a sexual predator that was extradited to the USA in 2008 for charges of drug trafficking. Los Pachencas have an organisation named Oficina Caribe and they regulate and allow the entrance of other criminals in the region. They also control tourism and impose territorial arrangements, planning and appropriating the best properties in the area and putting illegal tolls on them. This illegal group profits from the trafficking of drugs and arms, as well as taxing businesses and tourism operators in the region. They are suspected to have been responsible for the aforementioned murder of leaders in the region such as Maritza Quiroz, Wilton Orrego and Alejandro Llinas, as well as that of Natalia and Rodrigo, in spite of the robbery theory and subsequent convictions. While military operations have led to several of their leaders being either killed or arrested in recent times, the organisation remains in firm control of criminal operations in the area and along the Troncal del Caribe road which links Santa Marta to Riohacha in La Guajira. Keeping in mind their track record of violence, and the firm grip they possess over Santa Marta, it would not be a shock if this organisation played some part in the gruesome murder of Francisco Giacometto.

The history of Colombia has been very chaotic and violent, and the presence of the state is so weak in many parts of its territory that it seems impossible for some citizens to feel protected. This is where the social leaders play their roles. Social leaders in Colombia become familiar with the social, political, cultural, and economic areas of their regions even if their work is just focused on one of them, and because of their persistence and continuous labor to protect the appliance and promotion of rights, they all too frequently become a target of violence. It is hard to determine exactly who targets them but according to an article by La República (2021), there are many groups and actors who are responsible for the violence against the leaders. According to data published by the UN, between January and September of 2020 around 139 murders were committed of social leaders who lived in rural zones, particularly municipalities with illegal economies related to drugs and illegal mining and in zones where the Planes de Desarrollo con Enfoque Territorial (PDET, for their initials in Spanish are rural development plans created as part of the 2016 peace deal between the government and the FARC guerrilla) is developed, which means that such zones are a priority for the state to protect because they are at risk zones with a higher percentage of violence.  In the same way according to the Fiscalia´s (public prosecutor’s office) information from 2016 to 2020 around 300 cases related to social leaders were opened but only around 100 were clarified, which is a worrying number of cases of violence. The work of social leaders in Colombia is a vital role, but also a dangerous one. Due to different reasons, and depending on their location they are threatened by armed groups such as “Los Pachencas”, “el Clan del Golfo”, the ELN, etc; groups that have presence over certain territories, making it difficult to identify the perpetrators of crimes against social leaders. It is important to point out that Santa Marta and its surrounding areas, in spite of its stunning natural and cultural beauty, bears many of the characteristics mentioned above, leaving leaders such as Francisco in a precarious position.

To conclude, it is important to point out the importance of social leaders in the territories and communities in Colombia. As highlighted above, their work gains more significance when there is a power vacuum, and they have to do the work of the State. The mass assassination of social leaders is an hugely important issue, with a high increase of cases after the signing of the peace agreement with the FARC. Yet, the government is not taking the necessary measures or does not seem to care enough. In regional terms, Magdalena is one of the most affected departments in the Caribbean area, and cases like Francisco’s are sadly common. As a student rights activist and a member of the communist party, his work was fundamental to a society of pluralistic values and visions. Unfortunately though, his case, like that of many others, is a clear example of the price that activists have to pay in Colombia for demanding the bare minimum which is the protection and guarantee of human rights. Also, what is more concerning and frustrating is the fact that justice will most probably not be served as a responsibility of the State. We as a society should be more aware of the work and importance of social leaders and their contribution to society and the country as a whole. This is why we should call upon the state to take action over the issue, and have a presence in the territories that have been most affected during the post-conflict. If we fail to act, we simply contribute to this state of indifference and impunity.

Bibliography

Caracol Radio. (2021, 26 January). Cada 41 horas asesinan a un líder social y cada 5 días a un ex Farc: JEP. https://caracol.com.co/radio/2021/01/26/judicial/1611683689_058206.html

 Caracol Radio (2021, 24 August), Otros casos de líderes estudiantiles asesinados que están en la impunidad.

https://caracol.com.co/radio/2021/08/24/judicial/1629828716_229146.html

Editorial La República S.A.S. (2021, 10 February). Se habla mucho de ellos, pero ¿qué es y qué hace un líder social? Diario La República. https://www.larepublica.co/especiales/lideres-sociales-en-colombia/se-habla-mucho-de-ellos-pero-que-es-y-que-hace-un-lider-social-3123581

Editorial La República S.A.S. (2021a, febrero 10). ¿Qué puede hacer Colombia para enfrentar la violencia contra los líderes? Diario La República. https://www.larepublica.co/especiales/lideres-sociales-en-colombia/que-puede-hacer-colombia-para-enfrentar-la-violencia-contra-los-lideres-3123675

Editorial La República S.A.S. (2021b, febrero 10). ¿Quién está detrás de los asesinatos de líderes sociales? Diario La República. https://www.larepublica.co/especiales/lideres-sociales-en-colombia/quien-esta-detras-de-los-asesinatos-de-lideres-sociales-3123598

El Pais (2016, September 21), Genocidio de la Unión Patriótica, una historia que no se puede olvidar ni repetir.

https://www.elpais.com.co/proceso-de-paz/genocidio-de-la-union-patriotica-una-historia-que-no-se-puede-olvidar-ni-repetir.html

El Tiempo (2019, December 30), Detalles del asesinato de Natalia Jimenes y Rodrigo Monsalve.

https://www.eltiempo.com/justicia/delitos/detalles-del-asesinato-de-nathalia-jimenez-y-rodrigo-monsalve-447818

El Tiempo (2021, 18 junio). Capturado presunto asesino de líder de Unión Patriótica en Santa Marta. https://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/otras-ciudades/capturan-a-presunto-asesino-de-miembro-de-union-patriotica-597068

Infobae. (2021, 19 April). Degollado en pleno centro de la ciudad fundador de la Unión Patriótica en Santa Marta [press release]. https://www.infobae.com/america/colombia/2021/04/19/degollado-en-pleno-centro-de-la-ciudad-fundador-de-la-union-patriotica-en-santa-marta/

Infobae. (2021, 28 mayo). Entre enero y marzo de 2021 fueron asesinados 34 líderes sociales, según la Defensoría del Pueblo. https://www.infobae.com/america/colombia/2021/05/28/entre-enero-y-marzo-2021-fueron-asesinados-34-lideres-sociales-segun-la-defensoria-del-pueblo/

RAE. (s. f.). líder, lideresa | Diccionario de la lengua española. «Diccionario de la lengua española» – Edición del Tricentenario. https://dle.rae.es/l%C3%ADder

Voz. (2021, 22 April). El “Yako” que conocí [press release]. https://semanariovoz.com/el-yako-que-conoci/ 

Cepeda, I. (2006). Genocidio político: el caso de la Unión Patriótica en Colombia. Revista Cetil, 1(2), 101-112.

Click to access r24797.pdf

Rouille, B., & Atencia, I. (2021, March 12). En los últimos cuatro años siguientes a la firma del Acuerdo de Paz entre la guerrilla de las FARC y el Gobierno Nacional, las cifras de asesinatos de líderes y lideresas sociales se han venido incrementando, pero esto no ha impedido que las poblaciones de los territorios del postconflicto sigan en la búsqueda de la paz. UNIMINUTO Radio. 

In a world where people’s rights are continuously violated and the state does not respond, it is necessary to have people who peacefully promote and protect the universality and indivisibility of the rights of peoples and individuals (Amnesty, n.d.). 

These people are called human rights defenders, and they  aim to ensure that the rights that are being violated will be respected.

This article will explore the case of one such defender, Aura Esther García Peñalver; a social leader who was murdered in 2021. This is not a new issue or event in Colombia; unfortunately it is a reality that hundreds of social leaders are threatened and many of them murdered for defending their communities and territories, a situation that should be unthinkable because they are the ones who are in charge of filling the vacuum left by the central government. The role of a social leader in Colombia is very important, especially for marginalized and indigenous communities, but even though they fight for equality and valid human rights, they find themselves in contexts of corruption, where the groups outside the law which do whatever is necessary to continue maintaining the power that the state leaves behind.  All these characteristics were experienced by Aura who was a social leader that defended the indigenous communities of La Guajira; this social leader experienced situations of high corruption in her territory where she had to face situations of discrimination and even great challenges. This text will explore the issue of violence against human rights defenders, share the story of Aura Esther Garcia Peñalver, and demonstrate what this story tells us about this current situation in Colombia.

Human rights and social leaders

According to the UN High Commissioner’s Office for Human Rights (OHCHR, n.d.), defenders use lobbying strategies to draw the attention of the public, politicians and judicial officials in order to take into account their work and address human rights violations. In effect, defenders address any human rights issue; from employment issues and rights to life to individual category rights such as indigenous or women’s rights (OHCHR, n.d.). Likewise, the existence of these defenders includes social leaders, which according to the Center for Social Leadership (2013), is a responsibility which  “means dedicating one’s life and talents to improving society regardless of social position, wealth or privilege. Social leaders serve and bless others“. In other words, regardless of their status, they are people who are dedicated to promoting an exemplary society and to this end they focus on encouraging the government to fulfill its obligations, especially those related to human rights. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (2019) argues that these leaders play a fundamental role within their communities because they act as mediators between the State and the people who want their voices to be heard and their needs to be met. For as Carlos Guevara, a member of the organization “Somos Defensores” (cited by Ramirez, 2017) states:, “A social leader or human rights defender is a weaver of wills”. However, currently in Colombia, social leaders and human rights defenders run serious risks; their lives are threatened and they have been killed, making this role one of the most dangerous jobs in the country. According to Amnesty (2020), it has been estimated that more than 100 social leaders and human rights defenders were  executed throughout 2020, and  Araya (2021) explains that 101 social leaders were murdered in just the first half of 2021. Seen more broadly, since the signing of the Peace Agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrilla organisation in 2016, 1,217 social leaders have been assassinated (Araya, 2021). Furthermore, according to the OHCHR (cited by Human rights watch, 2021) at least 49 women human rights defenders have been murdered since 2016, sixteen of them in 2019 alone. In 2020, the OHCHR found five murders of this type and verified another 10. In addition, three defenders have been raped since 2016. Likewise, among the types of leadership  most affected by this violence, according to the news outlet DW (2021), community leaders have been worst affected, with indigenous leaders the next highest among the victims.  It is also important to note that the OHCHR figures are lower than many national organisations report; this disparity is attributed to the verification capacity of the international organisation; this means that the statistics are most likely higher than those mentioned above. These numbers demonstrate the insecurity and risk of being a social leader and even more so, being a woman and an indigenous leader, as was Aura Esther Garcia.

Aura’s case

It is important to understand that being a social leader is not the same as being a female social leader. In Colombia, even when both face different types of threats, women are more prone to mockery and discrediting simply for being women. They become targets not only because of their leadership, but because with their activism they are deconstructing the idea that only men can be leaders, and the only ones willing to fight and get angry. Women tend to be seen as inferior so it is even more difficult for them to generate authority among their communities and with the government to accomplish projects. This is the case of Aura Esher Garcia Peñalver, who was a social female leader in La Guajira.

Aura was not only a female social leader but also a Wayuu woman who, according to Semanario de Voz (2021), was an active member of the indigenous resistance of Colombia in conjunction with the non-profit organization “Nación Wayúu”, which is dedicated to the defense of human rights. She worked with this organization in denouncing the mismanagement of children’s resources related to the School Feeding Plan. Aura, who was against the mismanagement of these resources in the department, was murdered at the entrance of her community in the company of her husband following an ambush by assailants on a motorcycle.  The victim received several gunshot wounds that ended her life. Since 2018, eight relatives of Aura Esther have been murdered. Statistics show that it is a reality that in our country being a social leader is a matter of risk. As mentioned previously, several sources within Colombia present statistics even more startling than the figures presented by the OHCHR: since 2016, around 131 female leaders have been assassinated according to Noguera (2020), who claims that it is important that as a community we understand this and demand greater measures from the government to ensure the protection of our social leaders. Just like Aura, thousands of women leaders die in Colombia at the hands of perpetrators of violence. While the perpetrators of these crimes often escape punishment, understanding the context in the regions and sub-regions where they occur can help to identify a motive. 

Social Context 

The department of La Guajira is very rich in culture, gastronomy, and tourism, among other areas. There is a strong concentration of Wayuu communities which are a traditional, historical, indegenous community who are known as the people of the sun , sand and wind. The Wayuu are also the most populous indigenous community among the indigenous demographic which makes up 4.4% of Colombia’s population. They live in the La Guajira peninsula, a desert area in the northeast of Colombia; full of cultural significance for these people.

One of the biggest problems in the region is the tremendous corruption that it suffers, and due to this financial mismanagement, many children suffer daily from poor nutrition, a situation that has been present for years without much improvement. This is why it is suitable to affirm that the issues which affect La Guajira stem from  a “domino effect” caused by corruption.

La Guajira had the potential of becoming a failed department. According to an investigation called “Bolsillos de cristal”,which was promoted by the Office of the Attorney General in order to fight against corruption, it was proved that judicial officials in combination with public leaders, businessmen, and even members of the Wayuu community contributed to the waste and robbery of funds for the region, and these practices were labeled as systemic in the politics of La Guajira. This type of practice has produced crises in sectors such as health and education; feeding off the vulnerable in terms of attention to early childhood, public work and many other sectors (El Espectador, 2016).

The solution to the historic abandonment of La Guajira lies in breaking the vicious cycle that has formed between the ineffectiveness of the system and the courts. However, there are other factors beyond the mismanagement of financial resources which affect the region and its communities at an environmental and social level. 

La Guajira is a major coal-producing region. The sub-soil in this region is rich in coal, and concessions for mining were highly coveted despite the region’s status as a protected sanctuary for indigenous communities. The Wayúu indigenous people have inhabited the region for centuries. This community’s livelihood (as well as the livelihood of other minorities) has been caught between these mining concessions and the armed conflict, seeing as regions such as La Guajira with a poor state presence have a historic presence of illegal armed groups. There is also a history of overlap between these two factors in the region with coal mining company Drummond being accused of involvement with right-wing paramilitaries in the neighbouring department of Cesar (Reuters, 2018).

In response to the negative environmental and social impacts of open-pit coal mining in the region, several international and Colombian NGOs have filed simultaneous complaints against Glencore, BHP, and Anglo American, parent companies of the Cerrejón mine, the largest open-pit coal mine in Latin America,  alleging serious human rights violations and devastating environmental impacts such as excessive water consumption; aggressive efforts to divert rivers; pollution and a lack of engagement with communities to conduct adequate consultation processes. Affected communities claim that Cerrejón’s actions have also caused severe cultural and social damage to their community. (Corporate accountability lab).

Different leaders of Wayuu communities have been outraged by the different projects that directly affect the department in the environmental field as well as its activities and rights to water, safety, food and health, in addition to the right to prioritize and maintain the cultures of communities. These leaders decided to sign different guardianships to protect their environment, which sometimes caused them to receive threats from criminal groups when their only desire is to keep the environment healthy. One example of this is that in April 2019, Fuerza Mujeres Wayuu (another organisation which represents the interests of Wayuu communities in La Guajira) received death threats from a group identifying itself as Águilas Negras (Bloque Capital D.C). Threats identified several leaders within this organisation.  Curiously, all of those threatened had been included in legal actions against the mining practices in the region.  Moreover, members of the Wayúu community have reported the presence of strangers in their shelters and hanging around their homes at night. Unfortunately, Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world for human rights defenders,  and has  a  long history of threats made against social leaders in regions like La Guajira, where there is a low state presence and conflicts between the interests of local communities and those interested in reaping financial benefits from the land.  Sadly, the government is not helpful since it keeps indigenous and Afro-descendant leaders and communities abandoned; the authorities must guarantee their rights and implement better ways to provide food and water to families who are exposed to the risk of malnutrition.

Recommendations

Finally, the Colombian government, international organizations and legal authorities must come together to seek answers to the situation of human rights leaders and defenders in Colombia. According to La Republica (2021), the main reasons why social leaders are killed are due to factors such as poverty and the absence of the state, two factors which were evident in the case of Aura.  Furthermore, there is the stigmatization of the work of these leaders do; insinuations that  defenders and leaders are ideologically biased  is used by illegal groups as justification for them being  targets and it also obscures  their needed work as defenders of rights. Among the recommendations, the UN has urged more presence of the State and the Ombudsman’s Office in the territories worst affected by  violence, in order to remove the problem from the root, assuming that drug trafficking is the phenomenon that generates the most deaths of social leaders (La Republica, 2021). Likewise, the Truth Commission recommends finding ways to end stigmatization, concluding that it is necessary to make a security and prevention plan. Finally, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders stated that Colombia must recognize articles 8 and 9 of the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of violence against Women (OP CEDAW) that provides tools to guarantee female human rights defenders to be free from torture (Forest 2018). A final recommendation would be for the Colombian congress to ratify the Escazu agreement, which is a regional pact to bring more transparency over issues of environmental defense. Such measures could lead to tragic murders like Aura’s being avoided in the future. 

Final reflection

In conclusion, the situation in Colombia in the face of the violation of human rights, the power vacuum of the government and the different forms of violence have led to a terrible wave of violence against those leaders  who seek to promote and protect the rights of their communities and the country. The risks of being a social leader in the country are high and often lead to death.

Indeed, cases such as that of Aura Esther Garcia and many other cases of murdered women leaders in Colombia show us the essential role that women play as leaders; transforming and saving lives in places where it is most difficult to reach. Likewise, it shows the power vacuum that the State has in matters of justice and defense; many of the leaders who are killed in the country have previously denounced threats or attacks and the government does not  act in time, especially with those leaders who are in the most marginalized areas of Colombia. This situation needs to change in order for these regions to have the opportunities that their vulnerable populations deserve.

*Article written by Maria Altamar, Catalina Hernandez & Sarah Pulgar. 

REFERENCES

Amnesty International. (2021, August 25). Colombia’s social leaders are still being killed during the quarantine. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/06/lideres-sociales-nos-siguen-matando-durante-cuarentena

Ramirez, L. (2017, November). “Un líder social o un defensor de DD.HH. es un tejedor de voluntades”: Carlos Guevara | Radio Nacional. Radio Nacional de Colombia.https://www.radionacional.co/cultura/un-lider-social-o-un-defensor-de-ddhh-es-un-tejedor-de-voluntades-carlos-guevara

Semanario de Voz. (2021, April 18). Mujer wayúu. Semanario Voz. https://semanariovoz.com/mujer-wayuu/Human Rigths Watch. (2021, February 12). Left Undefended. Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/02/10/left-undefended/killings-rights-defenders-colombias-remote-communities

Editorial La República S.A.S. (2021, February 10). ¿Qué puede hacer Colombia para enfrentar la violencia contra los líderes? Diario La República. https://www.larepublica.co/especiales/lideres-sociales-en-colombia/que-puede-hacer-colombia-para-enfrentar-la-violencia-contra-los-lideres-3123675

Forest, M. (2018, December). Declaración de Fin de Misión. Naciones Unidas El Relator Especial de las Naciones Unidas sobre la Situación de los Defensores y las Defensoras de Derechos Humanos. https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Defenders/StatementVisitColombia3Dec2018_SP.pdf

Amnesty. (n.d.). Defensores y defensoras de los derechos humanos. Amnistía Internacional Sección Española. Retrieved September 25, 2021, from https://www.es.amnesty.org/en-que-estamos/temas/defensores

OHCHR. (n.d.). OHCHR | About human rights defenders. United Nations Human Rights. Retrieved September 2021, from https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/SRHRDefenders/Pages/Defender.aspx

Corporate accountability lab. Corporate accountability lab, 08 02 2021, https://corpaccountabilitylab.org/calblog/2021/2/8/how-to-get-away-with-impunity-cerrejns-evasion-from-accountability.

In Colombia, citizens who practice democracy and fight to assert the rights of their community are stigmatized and persecuted in such a way that the consequences they tend to have is death. This is the case of social leaders in our country. These leaders are a fundamental pillar within the most marginalized communities and regions of our country, where the state presence is almost null and where the presence of dissidents and groups outside the law prevails. Although in 2016 a peace agreement was signed, it cannot be said that Colombia has lived a period of stable peace, because the threats and persecutions to these leaders have not stopped and have continued to perpetuate in such a way that the rates continue to increase (Indepaz). The hard work of these leaders has been so essential in order to represent and help their communities, that at the same time they have become a threat to these groups, and therefore under the shadow of these dissidents and illegal groups are the aggressions and assassinations of these leaders. Based on this, it is appropriate to address the case of Yobani Carranza, a 45 year old environmental leader in the village of Rincón Hondo (Cesar) who was murdered for his work for the benefit of the community; as of the time of writing, his case remains inconclusive and without clear explanations.

Yobani Carranza had taken up several leadership roles in his community. In the years leading up to his death, these roles had related to local environmental issues. Yobani became the defender of the La Mula river, which was being exploited by multiple companies dedicated to the extraction of materials. In his struggle to prevent them from destroying this river, which is a provider for the inhabitants of the town and is also a tourist attraction in the region, the problems for this leader were unleashed. His tireless work for the community and for the well-being of the river made Yobani become an indispensable figure in the village, which led the inhabitants to turn to him when there were problems related to public services or other problems in the community. In this way, Yobani, who had already been involved in mining works within La Loma and La Jagua de Ibirico, had made his way to enter politics. Belonging to the Liberal Party and later to Cambio Radical, Yobani had been able to reach the municipal council. All of his initiative and plans ended when the crime against Yobani took place on January 27 2021 in the 12 de Octubre neighborhood in Chiriguana, south of Valledupar (the capital city in the Caribbean department of Cesar). The leader was sitting on the terrace of a mechanical workshop, waiting for his vehicle to be fixed when he was approached by hitmen on a motorcycle; one of the assassins got off the motorcycle and shot him several times before escaping without being identified. Criminalistic units and police arrived at the crime scene to inspect the body and clarify the facts yet little has been established as of the time of writing (Semana). Unfortunately, this seems to be the norm with crimes against social leaders. For this reason, it is necessary to look at the local context and other cases which have occurred there in order to better understand the situation.

To continue with the study of this case, it is important to analyze what similarities this case has with different cases where social leaders have been assassinated in the region. As was previously stated, in the way in which Yobani Carranza was assassinated, we can realize the latent and repetitive pattern that is demonstrated in cases of violence against leaders, and this is the hired assassination. This modality is the principal method to end the life of the leader, where two people on a motorcycle travel to the site and shoot the person before fleeing. It is here where we can compare Yobani’s case with that of Luis Carlos Hernandez, a social leader who was murdered under the same modality and following the patterns of Yobani’s murder. What is most related between these two cases is that in the first place both crimes happened in Cesar, where the presence of the state is weak and where illegal groups prevail. Secondly, both had been involved in politics, one being a former councilman and the other a former candidate to the council. Thirdly, both were the friendly face of their community at the time of watching over the interests and needs of the population. In the case of Yobani for his work in defense of the community and its river, and in the case of Luis Carlos for being a member and representative of the departmental board of victims’ participation. Part of his responsibilities involved being the person in charge of supporting victims who had been forcibly displaced as a result of the armed conflict in Colombia. Luis Carlos provided them with the necessary tools for fair attention, reparation, and guarantee of non-repetition of the abuses committed by the armed groups (La Libertad Sublime). This shows us that although the context of the cases is different, the similarities between them are palpable, without leaving aside the fact that these similarities can be found in many cases of assassinations of social leaders across  our country. It is these similarities and parallels that allow people to refer to this wave of killings as systematic violence against leaders. What is evident is that each killing leaves a family distraught and a community without necessary representation. The murder of Yobani Carranza left a void in his community, just as the murder of Luis Carlos removed a vital representative of his community. Yobani had been recognized locally and was heralded as “the defender of the river”. Having seen him brutally murdered, others in the community are likely to be hesitant when it comes to protecting the river. In addition to this, this leader also helped the community by transporting passengers between Chiriguaná and nearby towns. Although he was paid for this informal work, it was of great help to the community, since transportation services in this region are limited, just one more indication of the state absence that reigns in so many corners of Colombia. This state absence means that leaders like Yobani and Luis Carlos are necessary to ensure the interests of these communities are represented. Unfortunately, this same state absence allows illegal groups free reign in many parts of the country and when leaders are murdered, impunity also reigns.

In looking at this case, like so many others, one thinks about the most important question; why has this case still not been solved? This is something that anyone who reads about the events regarding Yobani and indeed any social leader in Colombia who has been murdered must ask themselves. The question is that even though a lot of time has passed since the event, the authorities have not yet given a conclusive answer and it is clear that this murder can be attributed to the armed groups in the region and perhaps even to the companies that exploited the La Mula river. Yet without a serious clarification from the authorities, no definitive conclusions can be drawn. The lack of state presence in the region is also an important factor as to why this case is still unfinished, because the marginalized regions affected by the armed conflict have not been a priority in the government plans that have been implemented in Colombia. In spite of this, we must recognize the difficulty of identifying the perpetrators of this crime. Since the modality of hired assassination is the one that prevails in these cases, it is often difficult to establish who has ordered the killing. Nevertheless, this should not be a valid excuse to let what happened pass and just file the case of Yobani and all the murdered leaders in the country. Such indifference is another factor in the impunity which surrounds these cases. 

In conclusion, it is pivotal to express the disappointment felt when we see the precariousness of our past and current governments. We cannot ignore the hard work that Yobani did in his community as the voice that represented the needs and challenges with which the inhabitants of this township lived and surely continue to live. It is not enough for the government to express to Colombians its concern for the current situation of leaders in general. If they turn a deaf ear when it comes to taking action on this problem and do not give these leaders participation in the solution of problems, it will not do any good. The life of social leaders will always be in danger if the necessary measures are not taken in cases where those threatened request protection from the nation. Such protection sometimes arrives too late, and in other cases, it does not arrive at all. Finally, with this case, it is notorious how social work and actions towards the protection of the environment and nature come into conflict with other interests, especially in these regions where state neglect is so evident. Within these same regions there is no dialogue on the criticism, support, or rejection of large-scale commercial projects to be carried out within the community, and often, it is through armed violence that a “definitive solution” to these problems is given. Therefore if the situation does not change radically, the plight of social leaders in Colombia will never end. 

*Article written by Lucia Barrera with assistance from Jhon Obregon.

References

Barrios, M. (2021, January 28). A bala asesinan a exconcejal de Chiriguaná en Valledupar. El Heraldo. https://www.elheraldo.co/cesar/bala-asesinan-exconcejal-de-chiriguana-en-valledupar-790539

lalibertadsublime, & Lalibertadsublime, V. A. P. (2020, May 8). Slain leaders like Luis Carlos Hernández represent the visible face of our sad reality. Home.Blog. https://lalibertadsublime.home.blog/2020/05/08/slain-leaders-like-luis-carlos-hernandez-represent-the-visible-face-of-our-sad-reality/

Observatorio de Derechos Humanos y conflictividades – Indepaz. (n.d.). Org.Co. Retrieved October 21, 2021, from http://www.indepaz.org.co/observatorio-de-derechos-humanos-y-conflictividades/

Rincón, R. (n.d.). Líderes sociales víctimas de la violencia en Colombia. Consejoderedaccion.Org. Retrieved October 21, 2021, from https://consejoderedaccion.org/noticias/lideres-victimas-de-la-violencia

Semana. (2021, August 17). Informe Especial. Semana.com. https://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/informe-especial-la-aterradora-tragedia-de-los-asesinatos-a-lideres-ambientales-en-colombia/202100/

The brutally dismembered body of young worker, social activist, and mother Karina Paola Cuesta Ortega was found in a sack in the department of Cordoba-Colombia in March 2021. While such a crime cannot fail to shock people, cases like these occur far too frequently. Based on a report by Indepaz (2021), as of February 15th, twenty-two social leaders had been killed, which means that every two days a social leader is being murdered and these cases have only increased in the country. There are many and diverse issues to which social leaders are making efforts to improve and defend within Colombia; these people are leaders who seek to advance and improve both their quality of life and their community. However, Colombia is at the top as the most dangerous country for social leaders. If you decide to be one, it may mean putting a target on your back. This is the case for many Colombians who seek progress in social, cultural, political, or environmental fields. If you decide to be part of the change, the threats and the danger are going to become part of your everyday life, even if you are advocating peacefully. This text aims to better understand this dangerous dynamic by exploring the case of Karina Paola Cuesta Ortega. To begin, it is necessary to explore the context in Córdoba.

Cordoba has the most social leader murders in the Caribbean region of Colombia. According to INDEPAZ (2020), 45 social leaders had been murdered since 2016 in Córdoba as of October 2020, making it the most dangerous department for social leaders on the Caribbean coast by an abysmal difference. Many of the cases of these murders are related to the theme of coca cultivation, either through pacts for the substitution of territories for illicit crops (agreed as part of the 2016 peace deal) and the forced eradication of lands with illicit crops. The problematic relationship between violence and coca cultivation is especially evident in the south of the department, in municipal towns such as Tierralta. Tierralta has been constantly affected by the armed conflict due to the historic presence of paramilitaries and guerrilla forces. One of the effects of the Peace Agreement has been the intense struggle that social leaders have had to endure in that territory, a struggle that has cost many of them their lives, and left many others under permanent threat, but clinging to their ideals of converting the south of Cordoba into a place of peace.

Unfortunately, on March 25th, 2021, the darkness of the conflict and the violence once again left Tierralta in dismay when they found a body inside a sack with signs of torture. According to El Heraldo (2021), the body was so mutilated that it was almost impossible to identify. This corpse was dismembered and it was the body of a woman. Hours later, the victim would be identified as Karina Paola Cuesta Ortega.

Karina’s case was violent and atrocious; her body was found inside a sack in a rural sector of the town. This young woman, 25 years old, worked as a nurse and was the mother of an 8-year-old girl. At the time of writing, the authorities in charge of the case have not determined the motive for this murder. The corpse of the young woman had gunshot wounds in addition to signs of torture. The first point of the investigation was that it had been a “feminicide”, a far too common occurrence in the country. However, in the time since her brutal murder, more information has emerged regarding Karina, and the initiatives she had been involved in with “La Corporación Red Mujeres Por La Paz De Córdoba”, which is an organisation which fights for the social and political transformation of Altosinuana women, for women’s rights, and to end gender-based violence in the community. Karina was part of this corporation and when her death was declared, they pronounced that: “Because of our condition of being women, facts have remained in impunity, embraced by silence and without the existence of conclusive results of captures and justice for them. Enough is enough! Of intolerance, injustice, impunity, and little speed and results from police, investigative and judicial entities to stop violence against women and gender violence in the municipality”. This is of vital importance because it brings to light a determining factor in the investigation to clarify the murder of Karina, where only because she was a woman, the authorities assumed that this had been the reason for the act that ended her life. This invites reflection and analysis beyond the appearance of this case. Karina was a hardworking woman, she had no problems with anyone, she studied and worked to support her family and at the same time, she was an active member of the community, where despite the difficulties she faced in her life, she did not surrender and sought progress and advancement for the place where she lived. Likewise, this young woman was a beneficiary of the PNIS, which is a program that seeks to solve the problem of illicit crops, recognizing that this problem arises from the abandonment of the State and poverty, mostly in rural areas of the country. Córdoba was one of the departments to which huge sums were designated for the families that were part of the PNIS voluntary crop substitutions. Also, she was part of the “Asociación Campesina para el Desarrollo del Alto Sinú” (Asodecas), which is a collective seeking community led development for communities which have suffered years of violence in the region caused by illegal groups. According to Indepaz (2021), Karina is one of 129 social leaders, human rights defenders, and agreement signatories murdered so far this year. Like Karina, their absence leaves a void in their families and communities.

In reference to the reaction of the community, there was indignation and discontent with the way the case was being handled. In addition to being a brutal act, it was an unexpected one since Karina had not received any threats or warnings that her life was in danger. There was a march in response to the crime and human rights organizations called for increased reporting mechanisms for cases of violence. Likewise, there were presumptions made about the young woman and the reason for her murder, with representatives of the authorities suggesting, without any apparent support, that Karina had had links with illegal organisations in the area. In relation to these unsubstantiated claims,“La Agencia De Prensa Rural” (2021) stated: “We reject the declarations of the governor of the department of Córdoba, Orlando Benites Mora, in which he states that Karina was part of the Gaitanista self-defense groups. This fact re-victimizes the family and increases the risk of continuing to suffer violent acts. We demand that he rectify his words and clarify to the public that Karina was not part of any armed group”. Also, William Cuesta Polo, Karina’s father, rejected the fact that one of the hypotheses that the authorities suggested about his daughter’s crime is that she had had some kind of romantic relationship with members of criminal structures” (La Razón, 2021). This shows how the narrative of what happened is biased by the media and regional interests, where Karina is portrayed as a woman who was part of illicit things and that this was the reason for her death, instead of a working woman who fought for the welfare of her home. Such stigmatization for the victim of a brutal murder is a sadly all too common when it comes crimes such as these.

Learning about Karina’s case and researching information about similar or nearby cases is truly devastating. Even more outrageous is that these cases are not something irregular or surprising, because these crimes targeting social leaders are committed so regularly in Colombia. Furthermore, these crimes tend to occur especially in rural areas, such as the south of Córdoba, where there is a power vacuum that allows illegal groups to take control and act as the all powerful agent in these territories. In conclusion, it is our duty as Colombians to demand that Karina’s case does not go unpunished and that the cases of the other leaders murdered also be investigated, explained and adjudicated, because if those leaders, who want a future of peace for Colombia are left alone, no one will come to save them and our country will suffer.

*Article researched and written by Daren Diaz & Victoria Tapia.

The information was sourced from the following sites:

https://www.elheraldo.co/cordoba/en-tierralta-hallan-cadaver-dentro-de-un-costal-804244

https://www.elheraldo.co/cordoba/identifican-mujer-hallada-muerta-dentro-de-un-costal-en-tierralta-804308

http://www.indepaz.org.co/radiografia-de-la-violencia-contra-los-lideres-asesinados-en-colombia/ 

https://larazon.co/cordoba/reclamamos-justicia-red-mujeres-por-la-paz-sobre-crimen-de-karina-cuesta/

https://www.prensarural.org/spip/spip.php?article26514

https://larazon.co/cordoba/mi-hija-no-pertenecia-a-grupos-ilegales-padre-de-mujer-asesinada/

LÍDERES SOCIALES, DEFENSORES DE DD.HH Y FIRMANTES DE ACUERDO ASESINADOS EN 2021

The situation of social leaders in Colombia keeps getting worse as time goes by. As of September 2021 there were a reported 255 victims of massacres all over the country in what had passed of the calendar year. (Indepaz, 2021). The government does not have complete control of the territories or over the use of violence, leaving a power vacuum that makes it possible  for illegal groups to claim power and be recognized by some communities as their leaders. However, there are some people that do not settle for the injustices that illegal groups provide in their communities, and when they stand up, they are recognized as social leaders. Because of this “rebellious act” against not only illegal groups but also the local and national elites, they are victims of violence and, in many cases, assassination. According to the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, Human Rights Defenders fight to guarantee taking actions over local, regional, national and international affairs related to the violation of rights, doing their best to secure accountability and hoping to get rid of impunity.  These defenders often represent communities such as rural, Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities. This text will analyse this unacceptable wave of violence by exploring the murder of one indigenous leader in particular, Jaime Basilio. 

The case of Jaime Basilio sadly adds up to the long list of social leaders that have been assassinated in the country. The 61 year old indigenous leader was murdered outside his house in San Onofre, by an unidentified assailant who fled the scene on foot after shooting dead the indigenous leader.  From the information available, it is not possible to establish with certainty the motive for the crime, but given the situation regarding violence against social leaders in the country, one may infer that this was a factor. Jaime Basilio had only weeks previously been chosen as the local leader for his community, a community belonging to the Zenú indigenous line. What is clear is that indigenous leaders such as Jaime have long faced persecution for seeking the rights of their community, especially in regions such as Sucre with a long and murky association with paramilitary forces. Sucre is a department in Colombia that has been characterized by high levels of corruption in politics, as well as having a history of links between politics and paramilitarism, or as this phenomenon  is known in Colombia, parapolítica. Basically what this means is that political decisions are influenced by illegal groups that sponsor those who are elected as people’s political representation. The killing of Jaime Basilio also demonstrates the ineffectiveness of Colombian institutions. According to the testimonies given, the murder took place at 8 at night, but the police did not arrive until the following morning. In fact, it was reported that the body of the indigenous leader remained slumped in a chair on the porch of his home until the police eventually arrived at 8 the following morning. This is due to the fact that state security entities such as the police  are threatened by the “Plan Pistola”, an operation developed by the Clan del Golfo (an illegal group heavily involved in international drug trafficking and present in throughout the region and in many parts of Colombia) that seeks to assassinate police officers if they are encountered during certain hours in their territory. This well-known scheme has been a huge problem for the authorities. Not only because it limits their actions in the area, but also because it puts the lives of police officers at risk. It is also a clear demonstration of the state absence which characterizes so much of the country and which is a common denominator in so much of the violence towards indigenous communities and social leaders in Colombia. As we have already established, just like  Jaime’s case, there is a huge number of social leaders whose families and communities  do not get justice for their murders. It is difficult to access information, and this is because in Colombia, even though some people have an idea of what is  really going on, most of them only get their information from national networks that usually do not share much information about this, and if they do much of the time it is  biased or lacking in relevant contextual information. Unfortunately, the killing of indigenous leaders such as Jaime has become all too common in the past few years.

The human impact of the deaths in Colombia is discouraging. According to Indepaz, there have been over 1,200 social leaders and human rights defenders murdered in Colombia since the signing of the peace agreement in 2016, roughly a quarter of whom belonged to indigenous communities. There are  cases of human rights violations every day, with murder being a near-daily occurrence.  These crimes occur throughout the country and also throughout the Caribbean region. One example of this slaughter is the case of the former governor of Resguardo Indigena de Guadualito (North of Santander); Emiliano Trochéz. Emiliano was a teacher and an indigenous leader, who fought for the interests of his community. Emiliano was murdered on August 10th, 2018. He had received threats, which he reported to the authorities, but still, there have been no perpetrators brought to justice. Similar crimes have taken place in departments close to Sucre, where Jaime was killed, such as the department of Córdoba. But increasingly, the security situation in Sucre has been deteriorating due to the threats posed by illegal groups. One recent case of violence towards indigenous representatives took place in San Marcos, Sucre, where the Zenú indigenous community lives, and occasionally, dies with total impunity. Last year (2020), on November 8th, a massacre occurred that took the life of 5 members of the community; Arquímedes Centenaro, Luis Cochero Alba, Darwin de Hoyos Beltrán, Oscar Javier Hoyos Banquet, and Julio Hoyos Moreno (Guarnizo, 2020). The first three were specific targets of the attack while the latter two just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Thankfully, there was a survivor:  the indigenous captain of the Cabildo Arawak of the Zenú ethnicity, Carlos Arturo Valerio Betún, who had also been a target but was not present in the zone at the time. These crimes remain in impunity. There are many reasons why indigenous leaders, and Afro-Colombian leaders for that matter, are among the most targeted by the wave of violence. However, there is one reason that stands out by itself. Most of the indigenous settlements and their sacred zones are fertile and as such are targeted for the production of marijuana or cocaine. This, added to the state neglect in which both Afro and indigenous communities live, creates a perfect scenario for these crimes to take place. The situation has led to increasing scrutiny and comment from international organisations.

The presence of international human rights organizations in Colombia has gone from being a luxury to a necessity. Colombia has been characterized primarily by its mismanagement of the social leaders’ situation. There has been an indifference to the situation of violence against them. Many reports from the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights have made pronouncements regarding  Colombia’s lack of competence in confronting this problem. Also, its low interest in protecting human rights. This whole problem has been exacerbated by the covid-19 pandemic. However, testimonies presented to the organization Amnesty International, show that Colombians with the quarantine could experience indirectly what the social leaders live daily. According to the testimonies given, social leaders are unable to leave their homes under almost any circumstances due to threats and attacks against them. A similar analogy to covid-19, where people are unable to leave because of constant danger outside. Adding to the fact that when they do go out, it is necessary to do so with great care. There are also the testimonies given by WOLA (Washington Office of Latin America) which show that social leaders do not only face threats and attacks; indigenous and Afro-descendant social leaders must also fight against systemic racism in institutions. The lack of security guarantees from the government and the limited competence of the prosecutor’s office also represent a challenge for social leaders. These mechanisms are necessary to protect the life and work of these people. Leaders are mostly affected by the fact that their territories become war zones, due to the lack of state presence. In Colombia, these are just some of the many problems that surround the country, which is why the influence of international organizations is important. Even though the role of international organizations in the country may not be perceived as important, they are key to the defense and guarantee of human rights. The international community is responsible for pressuring the Colombian government to implement protection and justice mechanisms for social leaders, just as the UN does. On the other hand, the organizations are in charge of publishing the testimonies and experiences of social leaders to make known internationally the dangerous situation in which these people live. Beyond this, the situation demands more action to see a decrease in violence against leaders.

Regarding suggestions for the government, there are many. However, one could start with the idea that the government needs to be more involved in politics all around the country, not only in some specific places; they need to eliminate that power vacuum that currently characterizes Colombia. It is impossible to move on and become a better country if we do not take seriously what is  going on with every community that belongs to Colombian society. As was already established, social leaders represent the ideals of a large proportion  of Colombian society that are currently not being listened to and taken care of in the country. It is imperative that the government should be more involved in the creation and implementation of policies that have purposes beyond economic interests, and more importantly that focus on the development and safety of minorities, in order to avoid them being left behind  and abandoned. As seen with the case of Jaime Basilio, this abandonment means a leader can be assassinated in front of their own home with very little response on behalf of the authorities. Such a situation is unacceptable.

One recommendation already made to the Colombian government is to reinforce its presence in the most abandoned areas of the country, in order to guarantee the protection of human rights in these areas. However, it is also important that entities such as the prosecutor’s office strengthen their measures in order to bring justice to those leaders who have not been assassinated. The creation of programs and roundtables for dialogue with the victims is important, as it allows the government to know first hand how things are going. Finally, an entity must be created to control the cases of assassinations of social leaders within the judicial system, so that impunity does not continue to reign.

To sum up, Colombia is not a country that has been characterized over the last decades for its leadership in human rights and their guarantee, especially when the lives of social leaders are included in the discussion. The participation of international organizations is important to ensure at the very least that the conversation is started about what is really going on with the government, social leaders and illegal groups. These conversations can be helpful in eradicating future violence against those who stand up for their communities, and ensure that other leaders do not face the same tragic end as Jaime Basilio. 

*Article written by Isabella Ayazo, Valentina Bonivento, and Amanda Solano.

Information sourced from:

Colombia’s social leaders are still being killed during the quarantine

https://www.elheraldo.co/sucre/asesinan-un-lider-indigena-en-libertad-san-onofre-798620

http://www.indepaz.org.co/informe-de-masacres-en-colombia-durante-el-2020-2021/

https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/SRHRDefenders/Pages/Defender.aspx

Massacres and Killings of Social Leaders Impede Peace in Colombia: Second Alert

The department of Bolivar is located in the north of Colombia, in the Caribbean region. It borders the Caribbean Sea and other departments, which makes it one of the most populated departments, and it has a large number of routes that feed it commercially, touristically and culturally, and also connect it with the rest of the country as well as other countries like Venezuela. But these routes also mean the entry of illegal economies and practices such as the sale of weapons, drug trafficking and the cultivation of coca.

As well as its routes, the territories in the department are the source of its growth and recognition. Geographically, the territories in Bolivar are a great advantage for the armed groups that for years have controlled parts of the department, such as the south of the department for example, and villages such as Montecristo and Mina Piojó whose soil fertility, commercial borders and state absence attracts these groups. In addition, these groups sow  terror among inhabitants, obliging them to be part of the aforementioned illegal practices. These groups are also chiefly responsible for the murders of social leaders and human rights defenders in this region, as these leaders are often identified as threats or obstacles to the interests of these groups and organisations. 

The murder of social leaders is a dynamic that has been present for many years, afflicting the many social leaders of the country, and the government has not been able to control it. 

Five years on from the official signing of the peace treaty between the Colombian government of former President Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which brought an end to the internal armed conflict between the government and the guerrilla organisation in Colombia that had began in 1960, the disagreements within this group in addition to the continued presence of other armed groups maintain the illegal economies and the violence against small unprotected communities, something that was supposed to end with the treaty. The intention of the Colombian state was to comply with the policies agreed in the treaty to address and deal with these issues such as drug trafficking  and terrorism as well as guaranteeing the rights for all the inhabitants of the country. However, it is evident in places like Montecristo and Mina Piojó that several years after the treaty, the state has not achieved these goals, especially if it is seen from the point of view of social leaders, the only people who dare to confront the control of these groups in search of protection and in defense of human rights for their families and communities. It is for that reason that they pay with their lives the price of daring to make a social change without being intimidated.

In Colombia, being involved in political, economic, or social issues in addition to work in  defense of human rights puts your life in danger. Yet if you are not a court magistrate or someone with enough power and money to pay for your protection, chances are you will die in cold blood at the hands of armed people who do not care about your life or the suffering of your family, but only the ability to continue spreading violence, manipulation and intimidation. 

Continuing with the above and in accordance with the NGO Indepaz (Instituto de estudios para el desarrollo y la paz), in Colombia in 2020, 310 social leaders were assassinated, including indigenous, Afro-Colombian, peasant farmers, and defenders of sexual identity, in addition to 12 of their relatives and 64 signatories of the Peace Agreement. This, far from being a positive result of the agreement, diminishes the hopes of a Colombian society in which thoughts and ideas can be freely expressed. Colombia assassinates those who practice their democratic participation in the regions. To better understand this troubling dynamic, it is helpful to explore the case of one such leader.

Oswaldo Pérez was one of the many victims of violence against social leaders during 2021. He was assassinated mainly due to territorial issues, a problem that seems to never ceases to occur in the country, and which has represented a high relevance for the violation of human rights that occur without adequate intervention of the state. Oswaldo, a displaced person, father, husband and a brave defender of human rights,  worked on community development, formulation of governmental support policies, and conducted research about experiences regarding community action as the president of the community action board (junta de acción comunal), which is a non-profit corporation made up of citizens of the same community who join forces to work together for the benefit of the collective. Oswaldo also led the agro mining federation of southern Bolívar in the struggle of getting back their lands and rights. He was threatened several times before a group of armed people entered his house and shot him dead on July 26, 2021. Oswaldo was alone without any chance of help that night since his family had previously fled to another village in search of safety and with the promise of seeing him again. Even though his neighbours and people from the community had reported numerous death threats, the Bolivar Police Department did not act because they were not deemed “official threats” and accounted for the murder by saying that being a leader and “getting into these groups matters” had been the cause of his death. Such a statement offers an indication of the disconnection of the authorities with this village of displaced people, a community which has been immersed in a constant conflict over the possession of land for several years. To compound matters, the Colombian government has failed to sufficiently support  social policies focused on alternatives to illicit crops for the subsistence of the community, and this is one  reason why many illegal groups continue to prosper, sow terror and commit  multiple Human Rights abuses in addition to increasing  levels of inequality. These factors have placed social leaders and human rights defenders in the crossfire, meaning leaders with a similar profile to Oswaldo being killed across in the department.

Such indifference from the authorities has allowed these crimes to occur far too frequently and Oswaldo has not been the only victim in the south of Bolivar. Just like him, Luis Caldera, former president of the San Jacinto del Cauca Community Action Board, which is also located in southern Bolívar, was found dead; his body was found floating with his hands tied behind his back in the Cauca River on August 15, 2019. The main suspects in the murder were members of the AGC/Clan del Golfo, another armed group that craves land control and routes for drug trafficking. Luis’ position in this organization was to bring security, promote human rights and become a bridge between the community and the government. As well as Oswaldo and Luis, Edwin Acosta Ochoa, social leader and member of the Interlocution Commission of the South of Bolívar, father of three children and recognized by his community in the village of Mina Seca, south of Bolívar, was assassinated on 26 May, 2020 by three men who shot him dead in his home. That same week, the Community Action Board of the Vallecito village in the south of Bolívar denounced the forced disappearance of María Silva Caballero, 52, a member of the Board and defender of the projects for the voluntary substitution of crops for illicit use. In the same way, a month before Edwin’s murder, the Popular Women’s Organization of Colombia (OFP) denounced the murder of Carlota Salinas Pérez, mother of three and one of its leaders. This murder occurred in the San Pablo village, in Bolívar, on the eve of the quarantine in Colombia due to COVID-19, after she had been promotingthe organization of projects with women producers, leaders and defenders of victims of violence for more than 10 years. Carlota had also been part of the Civil Defense in the municipality of San Pablo, where she worked in disaster risk management and social and environmental action. All these victims leave a hole in their families and communities.

All these examples show that both in Bolívar and in the rest of Colombia, being a social leader is a risky job, and the risks are ever present. The most recent case of violence against social leaders in Bolívar was that of  Martín Bayona, murdered on September 22 in the municipality of Morales, in the south of Bolívar. Martín was president of the La Cuchilla Community Action Board and a member of the Development Programs with a Territorial Approach (PDET, for their initials in Spanish, are regional development programs agreed as part of the 2016 peace deal with the objective of helping provide better opportunities and living conditions for the sub-regions which have been historically worst affected by the armed conflict) and was assassinated by unknown armed men who broke into his farm and killed him with several gunshot wounds. His murder, though just one among the national statistics, was condemned by the IACHR using social networks alongside calls for  the State of Colombia to “investigate the fact promptly and diligently and punish the material and intellectual responsible, considering, as a hypothesis, the activity that Martín Bayona carried out as a social leader in his community.” As in 2019 and 2020, this year the murder of social leaders, women and men, defenders of rights, continues to increase at a national level.  

This wave of violence against leaders has been on the rise for the past number of years. According to a report on the deaths of social leaders in Colombia published by Indepaz in 2020, since the signing of the Agreement with the FARC, between 2016 and October 15, 2020; 840 leaders and 131 female human rights defenders were assassinated, which leaves in evidence the weak structure of the government in terms of monitoring threats and killings of leaders, since in most cases those responsible for these massacres were not made public or were strategically hidden, as in the case of Oswaldo, whose death threats were not listed as official and therefore were not followed up on. For that reason, the president of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), Eduardo Cifuentes, assured that the lives of the leaders “are at high risk due to the threats, homicides, disappearances, kidnappings, displacements and other attacks” of which they have been victims since the signing of the peace agreement in November 2016 and asked, from his position, the to government adopt a defense resolution in which it makes recommendations to the State institutions, and that these resolutions have  differential approaches and a territorial perspective, in order to set the roadmap to “stop this human tragedy” and the violence against social leaders, because, even after countless  deaths of social leaders in Colombia, the reason for the increase in threats, attacks and homicides against these leaders is not known with precision. What is clear is that they are killing leaders with three profiles, defenders who want to participate in politics, people who oppose illegal economies and claimants of land or truth, as assured by Indepaz. 

In the same way as the IACHR, the UN has also drawn attention to Colombia, demanding an effective response that explains the constant increase in these murders, because although this is an issue that has been happening during the mandate of different governments, it has become more than worrying during the current administration, and it is here that the question arises as to why the state has not been able to stop these crimes which represent a deeper problem than the daily death figures suggest.

Consequently, it becomes evident that due to the political polarization in Colombia and its increase, together with the lack of  attention and weak response from the state regarding peace policies in the country, many people have been displaced and have had to flee to other cities, leaving a vacuum of territorial power that is eventually filled by these armed groups on the fringes of the law. These groups fight for control of these evicted territories and for the profitable cultivation of coca. According to report No. 63 of the International Crisis Group, if the  Colombian Government does not provide alternative livelihoods for local peasants, as well as developing improvements in security and governance at the community level, it would increase the risk of losing political control over these parts of the country, since by resolving disputes and defending illicit livelihoods against security forces, these groups have established a rudimentary and authoritarian form of local political leadership. Such a scenario leaves social leaders on their own defending their rights and needs, dealing with these conflicts over the possession of land; an issue that could highlight the state’s absence and the weak scope of the peace treaty. In such a context, peace policies must be sought to build trust between the State and citizens, something that would guarantee them security and their rights. However, in the absence of such commitment on behalf of the state, the fledgling process has not produced the desired  results. In fact, it could be argued that the opposite has happened and that instead of building on the peace process to transform the dynamics of violence, the violence has been transformed and geared increasingly towards those who wish to see their communities and their region prosper.

To conclude, the heartbreaking case of Oswaldo and the many other social leaders remain part of the statistics. However, each of these victims leaves a void in their families and a trace of sadness and hopelessness in their communities, as well as  unfinished social processes and weakening the courage of other people who, like Oswaldo, could have faced armed groups to defend their rights. In this way, the constant sowing of fear, the marginalization of many parts of the population in Colombia and the constantly growing social inequality have become central problems for these regions where it has become common to see militarization as a response to the problems presented . Even if the number of coca crops can be reduced, this is just a temporary effect, since the peasants are not offered an alternative and besides, they are often forced to be part of this. This also shows that Colombia currently does not  have a structural solution to this structural problem and therefore, no solution for these families that live in state abandonment  with little security or guarantee of their rights. This state absence is the same faced by the community that Oswaldo and his family were part of, the community that he wanted to defend but that in doing so, just like  Luis, Edwin, María, Carlota, Martín and many other social leaders in Bolivar and throughout the country, he ended up being silenced in the most horrific and permanent manner. 

*Article researched and written by Katia Gonzalez with assistance from Roberto Gomez.

Information for this article was sourced from:

• https://www.wradio.com.co/noticias/regionales/asesinan-a-lider-social-en-montecristo-sur-de-bolivar/20210727/nota/4154194.aspx

• https://www.wradio.com.co/noticias/regionales/autoridades-investigan-asesinato-de-oswaldo-perez-lider-social-en-montecristo/20210728/nota/4154412.aspx

• https://www.elheraldo.co/bolivar/preocupacion-en-bolivar-por-asesinato-de-lider-social-838144 

• https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/94189610/posts/2703614977

• https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/159411886/posts/334

• https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/94189610/posts/3336194182

• https://www.dw.com/es/m%C3%A1s-de-900-l%C3%ADderes-sociales-asesinados-en-colombia-desde-2016/a-57257906

• http://www.indepaz.org.co/radiografia-de-la-violencia-contra-los-lideres-asesinados-en-colombia/

• https://mundonoticias.com.co/cidh-condena-asesinato-del-lider-social-martin-bayona-en-el-sur-de-bolivar/

• https://www.elheraldo.co/judicial/asesinan-la-lideresa-carlota-salinas-perez-en-bolivar-antes-de-la-cuarentena-712263

• https://www.contagioradio.com/asesinan-a-edwin-acosta-lider-social-y-minero-de-tiquisio-bolivar/ 

• https://www.wradio.com.co/noticias/regionales/asesinan-a-lider-social-en-montecristo-sur-de-bolivar/20210727/nota/4154194.aspx 

The killing of human rights defenders, former combatants and social leaders of communities devastated by decades of conflict remains the most serious threat to peace and human rights in Colombia. This remains the same 5 years since the signing of the Peace Agreement between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces in 2016. Without any doubt, this historical agreement marked a fundamental milestone in terms of protection for the life and conditions of remote communities; the number of homicides related to the armed conflict even decreased significantly during negotiations and immediately after the signing of the agreement. However, implementation issues, rearmed forces and the presence of other armed groups in the most affected regions have brought new threats for human rights defenders and community activists, referred to in Colombia as social leaders. This is often because of disputes over territory and land resources. Recently, the threats have become more significant and most of the Colombian population have identified the importance of preserving the actions and protecting the lives of social leaders in all national territory as a matter of urgency. Sadly, the ideal of defending the rights of their communities and developing concrete actions in favor of a common purpose has been blurred by a latent conflict that threatens the defense, promotion, respect and protection of human rights as their principal purpose.

One of the most painful cases that has been presented in this wave of violence against social leaders, and one which caught the attention of the entire nation, was the heinous murder of the emblematic lawyer, advisor on Afro legislation and cultural leader Fredman Arturo Herazo Padilla. His work was widely recognized in his hometown, San Basilio de Palenque (Bólivar), for his huge interest in the growth and preservation of the culture, language and traditions of this ancestral Afro-Colombian community, and also for being an important member of the Ma Kankamaná Community Council (El Espectador). After his painful assasination, El Heraldo (2021) mentioned that Fredman had become the first leader murdered in the Caribbean region in 2021; another charitable soul who came to this world with a clear mission, to serve, but who saw his light extinguished at the hands of hitmen in La Apartada, Córdoba, in the early morning of January 15, 2021. 

Relatives of Fredman informed the press that he had been in the department to do advisory work for community councils of Afro origin, work that he had performed in several territories of the Colombian Caribbean and on its Pacific Coast. But also, his family expressed that he had not been threatened, especially because Fredman’s work was always focused on cultural activities, far away from the common issues that receive the attention of criminal groups. While the Colombian National Police continue to investigate this murder, which appears to have been carried out by the criminal organization of Clan del Glofo in an act of mistrust towards the legal advisory Fredman was offering in the territory; the Afro community of his native San Basilio, many cultural organizations, senators and even the Minister of Culture have repudiated the murder of Fredman and have also declared a desire to preserve his legacy; the legacy of a brave man who fought his entire life for the promotion of Afro-Colombian culture and investigated the history of his people, whom he also supported as legal advisor. Such figures should be celebrated in our country, not mourned.

Undoubtedly, Fredman left a huge legacy for the residents of San Basilio. Although he is no longer physically in his native township, his story and legacy remains present in the hearts of those who had the opportunity to meet him and spend time in his company. Tomás Teheran, native of the region and a close friend of Fredman stated that: “He was an excellent person and leader who had as family all the people of San Basilio (…); Fredman created a feeling of pride when he started to exalt the language of Palenque and his murder was not expected by any of us”. Similarly, Danilo, a resident and friend of the deceased, said: “What stands out most about Fredman was his vocation of service. He was a person who was very dedicated to the communities. The news of his murder fell on the whole community like a bucket of cold water”. Nowadays, Fredman´s case pitifully makes part of the huge amount of murders against social leaders that happens weekly in Colombia and which affects the lives and causes of not just the social leaders, but also the families and communities to which they belong and for whose benefit they work. As can be seen by the testimonies included above, the murder of Fredman came as a huge shock to his community as he was a cherished member of the community and known as a man of peace. In order to understand this terrible crime, it is necessary to explore the context in the department of Córdoba, where this heinous act was committed. 

Córdoba has been one of the most affected territories by the historical dynamics of the armed conflict in Colombia. Because of its wide access to the sea through its coastline, fluvial mobility offered by the Sinú River and because it connects the Caribbean region with the central part of the country, this department has had a constant presence of various illegal armed groups disputing territorial control since the mid-twentieth century. According to the Centro de Investigación y Educación Popular (Cinep) (2017), the systematic seizure of thousands of hectares of land and the distribution of property in the region are related to the configuration of regional powers in this forgotten territory. The issue of land is complicated further by the historic presence in the department of several illegal groups.

In addition, over the last twenty years, violence has increased as a result of drug trafficking. This is because many of the drug transport routes pass through Córdoba and have historically been controlled by paramilitary groups, especially in the Nudo del Paramillo zone which is hugely strategic in the development of the trafficking routes. Despite the demobilization of paramilitary groups between 2002 and 2006, the armed structures that were part of the AUC group are now diversified and remain active in the department. Chief among these is the  Clan del Golfo, a criminal organization that achieved its expansion through an intense work of agreements and alliances with former members and partnerships with various local and regional organized crime structures. According to the organization Ideas para la Paz (2017), this criminal organization is currently one of the most important trafficking business chains in the national context, and has more than 1.900 members, with a constant presence in more than 107 municipalities. This group is the dominant power in the department of Córdoba and consequently is held responsible for much of the violence towards social leaders along with rival organisation the Caparros. 

Cordoba is the most dangerous department for social leaders and human rights defenders in the Caribbean region. With this constant presence in the territory, several social leaders have warned about the consolidation of these groups, as their presence and number has increased and social control over rural populations has been established. Yet the response of the local and state government is negligent given the conflictive dynamics in this area. In retaliation for their actions on behalf of their communities, according to the Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo y la Paz, or INDEPAZ (2021), 4 communal leaders have been killed in the department between January and September of 2021. This is just a fraction of the 46 social leaders that were murdered between 2016 and 2020 in the department of Córdoba, making it the deadliest department for social leaders in the Caribbean region, and one of the deadliest in the country. 

As it is well known, Colombia’s conflictive situation has left millions of victims over the years, with the civilian population and human rights defenders being heavily affected. According to Amnesty International (2020), the primary victims continue to be members of rural communities where control of territories formerly dominated by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is disputed. This has led to the forced displacement of thousands of people, sexual violence and gender-based violence, several victims of targeted killings and many other critical events that position Colombia as the most dangerous country in the world for human rights defenders; those seeking to improve conditions in affected areas through their activism (Amnesty International, 2020). The official statistics speak for themselves. In accordance with the official information presented by Indepaz (2020), since the signing of the peace agreement between the government and the FARC-EP until 15 july 2020, 971 social leaders and human rights defenders had been killed in the country. In addition to the analysis, many of these leaders, like Fredman, were Afro-descendants; 81 of whom were murdered between 24 November 2016 and 13 August 2020 (Indepaz, 2020). More recent data is not reassuring, as so far in 2021 at least 163 social leaders, human rights defenders and agreement signatories have been assassinated across the country, 7 of whom being Afro-descendant activists (Indepaz, 2021). With a situation as serious as this, one must analyse the measures being taken to address this wave of violence.

In this context, many of the measures taken by the government to increase the protection of social leaders and human rights defenders have not had satisfactory outcomes. For example, despite the fact that the peace agreement in Colombia included initiatives to prevent killings of human rights defenders, those crimes have increased as other armed groups have sought to fill the power vacuum left by the FARC (as can be seen in the context of the south of Córdoba), warring for control over territory for illegal activities like coca production (Human Rights Watch, 2021). Thus, the problem lies in the lack of state presence and the lack of will on behalf of the authorities to exercise control over certain parts of the country. Because of this, many international and national bodies have offered recommendations to address this problem. For instance, the OHCHR has said that it is essential to increase the presence of the Ombudsman’s Office in the areas most affected by violence, in order to allow other government agencies to operate there; likewise, the High Council for Human Rights of the Presidency stated that it is essential to advance projects aiming to understand the roots of violence (La República, 2021). Also, the European Union urges Colombia to implement more visible, swift and transparent justice in order to reduce the perception of impunity in society. There have also been recommendations from  the Comisión de la Verdad, which proposes to avoid stigmatisation and to implement a government-led security and prevention strategy to identify the masterminds of the crimes (La República, 2021). The Colombian government should stop focusing so much on militarisation of these regions and try to invest more in measures to bring education, state infrastructure and humanitarian work to these forgotten communities of the national territory.  

In conclusion, it is more than clear that social activism has long been a dangerous vocation in Colombia and Fredman is one of the many victims of this constant bloodshed in the country. His voice, like that of many other activists, has been cruelly silenced for being interpreted as an obstacle in the way of  the interests of the main actors of the conflict and those involved in profit seeking. It is worrying that, despite having a peace agreement in place, which is supposed to improve the critical situation of violence in the territory, the people and communities who deserve so much better, continue to be the most affected. Leaders like Fredman, concerned with improving the conditions of their environment, deserve to be protected and not forgotten by their own government. Colombia needs real change. It needs to end the legacy of chaos and danger and start preserving the work of those who seek true peace; it must take care of the heritage of those who really stand up every day for a better country, and in honour of those leaders who are no longer here.   

*Article researched and written by Camila Avila & Santiago Bertel

REFERENCES 

Amnesty International. (2020). Everything you need to know about human rights in Colombia 2020. Retrieved October 2, 2021, from https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/americas/south-america/colombia/report-colombia/ 

Centro de Investigación y Educación Popular. (2017). Especial: Córdoba, entre memorias del conflicto y acciones de paz. Retrieved October 2, 2021, from https://www.cinep.org.co/Home2/component/k2/478-especial-cordoba-entre-memorias-del-conflicto-y-acciones-de-paz.html

Editorial La República S.A.S. (2021, February 10). ¿Qué puede hacer Colombia para enfrentar la violencia contra los líderes? Diario La República. https://www.larepublica.co/especiales/lideres-sociales-en-colombia/que-puede-hacer-colombia-para-enfrentar-la-violencia-contra-los-lideres-3123675 

El Espectador. (2021). Fredman Herazo, líder social afro, fue asesinado en La Apartada, Córdoba. Retrieved Retrieved October 2, 2021, from https://www.elespectador.com/colombia/mas-regiones/fredman-herazo-lider-social-afro-fue-asesinado-en-la-apartada-cordoba-article/

El Heraldo. (2021). Reportan al primer líder social asesinado en el Caribe en el 2021.  Retrieved Retrieved October 2, 2021, from https://www.elheraldo.co/judicial/reportan-primer-lider-social-asesinado-en-el-caribe-en-el-2021-787606

González, L. (2020, August 13). Líderes afrodescendientes asesinados – Indepaz. Indepaz. http://www.indepaz.org.co/lideres-afrodescendientes-asesinados/ 

Left Undefended. (2021, February 12). Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/02/10/left-undefended/killings-rights-defenders-colombias-remote-communities 

Indepaz (2020). Informe especial: Registro de líderes y defensores de DD.HH asesinados desde la firma del acuerdo de paz. Retrieved October 2, 2021, from http://www.indepaz.org.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Informe-Especial-Asesinato-lideres-sociales-Nov2016-Jul2020-Indepaz.pdf 

Indepaz. (2021). Líderes sociales, defensores de DD.HH. y firmantes de acuerdo asesinados en 2021. Retrieved Retrieved October 2, 2021, from http://www.indepaz.org.co/lideres-sociales-y-defensores-de-derechos-humanos-asesinados-en-2021/

Ideas para la Paz. (2017). Crimen organizado y saboteadores armados en tiempos de transición. Retrieved Retrieved October 2, 2021, from https://cdn.ideaspaz.org/media/website/document/59b2f3940f71c.pdf

Special Jurisdiction for Peace. (2021). JEP warns that 2021 has been the most violent start of a year since the signing of the peace agreement. Retrieved October 2, 2021, from https://www.wola.org/2021/02/colombia-begins-2021-alarming-records-violence-urgent-action/

*This text is a translation of an article written by Camila Orozco Flores and Luis Fernando Trejos Rosero and published by La Silla Vacia.

In the first half of 2021, the murders of 6 human rights defenders were registered in the Caribbean region. These cases occurred in the departments of Córdoba (2), Sucre (1), Magdalena (1), La Guajira (1) and César (1). Furthermore, the initial months of 2021 were registered as the most violent since 2018, leading to serious effects on the civilian population, including community leaders and human rights defenders.   

While there has been a decrease in the number of murders (of community leaders and human rights defenders) in comparison to the first 6 months of 2020, systematic violence towards this sector has not ceased. Indigenous and Afro-Colombian leaders, promoters of illegal crop substitution programs, land claimants and environmental activists continue to be targeted in particular. 

These are the profiles of the human rights defenders and community leaders who were killed in Colombia’s Caribbean region between January and June 2021: 

Human Rights Defender	Leadership Role
Fredman Herazo Padilla	Afro-Colombian Rights Defender
Yobani Carranza Castillo	Environmental Activist
Aura Esther Garcia Peñalver	Indigenous Leader
Jaime Enrique Basilio	Indigenous Leader
Karina Paola Cuesta Ortega	Crop Substitution & Indigenous Leader
Francisco Giacometto	Community Leader

Keeping in mind the increase in armed actions, particularly in the south of Bolívar and the south of Córdoba, cases of attacks on human rights defenders and community leaders must be expected to increase. The murders occurred in territories with the presence of Illegal Armed Organisations (Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia, Autodefensas Conquistadores de la Sierra Nevada, the ELN and the Caparros). Furthermore, there continues to be a tendency whereby responsibility for the murders is not claimed publicly in order to avoid judicial or political consequences; a fact which makes them difficult to analyse. The presence of these groups can be attributed to the strategic value of each territory, which by and large revolves around the control of legal and illegal sources of income present. 

The security situation in the Caribbean region continues to deteriorate, not only due to the violent actions, but also because of the continued incursions from Venezuela of units from the Segunda Marquetalia (former FARC fighters who have turned their back on the 2016 peace agreement) into rural areas of Fonseca (La Guajira), very close to the camp of demobilised FARC fighters in Pondores. This dynamic not only endangers these ex-combatants in the process of reintegration, but also the rural and indigenous communities situated in this sector of the Serranía del Perijá mountain range. 

In such a complex context, UNCaribe reiterates the following proposals aiming to improve the conditions of (in)security regarding human rights defenders in the Caribbean region: 

• The national government and local governments must promote campaigns across various modes of communication highlighting the work of human rights defenders and the importance of this work for the communities they represent and for democracy writ large. 
• Urge the Public Prosecutor ‘s Office and the Attorney General’s Office to present results of any investigations regarding Transitional Justice Territorial Committees (Law 1148 of 2011) periodically and publicly. Similarly, the Attorney General’s Office must issue orders stating that in the municipalities where there are penal processes investigating threats and victimisations of defenders, reports should be published periodically and publicly stating what progress has been made.
• Strengthen the National Protection Unit with greater financial and human resources, with the intention being to reduce the time of internal processes.  
• Involve in an active manner the mayors and governors of the worst affected municipalities and departments, with the aim of formulating public policies with specific territorial focuses, keeping in mind the true institutional capacities of each municipality or department. 
• Keep in mind the early warning system of the Ombudsman’s Office in order to articulate territorial institutionality; the objective being to prevent or anticipate violence towards rights defenders and to establish protocols for rapid humanitarian evacuations in the most serious instances.
• Do not separate the security of human rights defenders from the agenda of integrated rural development, on the basis that there is a directly proportional relationship between both issues.
• Establish forms of coordination between national, regional and local authorities to create integrated action plans with medium and long term objectives (across terms of mandate) which would allow the creation of legal economic circuits, institutional strengthening and the articulation and qualification of civil society in the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta, Montes de Maria, the Serranía del Perijá and the southern regions of Bolívar, Córdoba and Cesar.  
• Promote the establishment of agreements or humanitarian pacts between local communities and illegal armed actors (often the de facto power in these regions). Such pacts could be facilitated and accompanied by the Catholic church, Evangelical churches and NGO’s, with clear limits being established regarding which topics can be processed or publicly denounced, as well as creating mechanisms for the resolution of conflicts which may emerge through the application and interpretation of such pacts. 
• Accelerate the full implementation of the 2016 Peace Agreement.

This article was originally published by La Libertad Sublime in June 2019.

The horrible rawness of the video shatters the distance between the viewer and the topic at hand. One cannot fail to be stirred by the sight and sound of a nine year old boy wailing out helplessly at the tragedy of his mother, whose lifeless and bloodied body lays a few feet away, being shot dead in front of his eyes. He screams. He wails. He thrashes about. He kicks a fence. And the viewer gets a glimpse of the violence which looms over large swathes of Colombia, and perhaps more pertinently, the pain and despair it leaves in its wake. The video of course made an impact in this age of social media content. Shared. Commented upon. Suitable emojis assigned. The public, across multiple demographics, were indignant. Rightly so. The point that people need to remember is that cases like these, with families and lives destroyed, and trauma and grief inflicted, are depressingly prevalent in the marginalized sectors of this country. Our indifference to this situation makes us complicit. If we are to change this status, a better understanding of the issue is required. The victims of the violence since the signing of the peace agreement in 2016 can still speak to us, and it is our responsibility to listen. Maria Del Pilar Hurtado Montaño, the 34 year old mother of four, who provided for her family as an informal recycling collector, has become yet another of these victims. One more statistic. We glimpsed the pain of her loss in the video of her young son. It should be our duty to him, and as citizens, to learn and reflect on her story, and how it fits into this terrible thread of tragedy and trauma.

Like countless other cases, it seems Maria´s murder is a chronicle of a death foretold. A pamphlet, reportedly from the Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia, a neo paramilitary group associated with the Clan del Golfo drug trafficking organisation, was circulated in Tierralta (the town in the south of Córdoba where Maria lived) at the beginning of June threatening the lives of NGO workers, social leaders and four other individuals referred to in derogatory terms. Among these, was a threat against la gorda hpta mujer del chatarrero (the fat son of a bitch scrap waste woman), believed to be a reference to Maria. Maria was shot dead on Friday morning (June 21st) as she walked towards her home in Tierralta. In the days since, as the emotional impact of the footage of her distraught son sent ripples across social media in Colombia and beyond, more information regarding Maria has come to light. Like many victims in this current wave of violence, it appears that Maria had been involved in victim´s organisations in her home town of Puerto Tejada, in the department of Cauca. It is reported that Maria, her partner and their four children had arrived to the south of Córdoba in recent years having been forced to flee their home in Cauca due to threats against their lives. Such a factor would certainly seem to correlate with other victims of this recent wave of violence; victims of displacement and representatives of victims rights in one area being murdered in the area they settled. However, information coming out of Córdobexia, an NGO which deals with rights issues in Córdoba, suggests that the murder of Maria may not be directly linked with her previous work with victims organisations in Cauca. The organisation claims that Maria and her family are among several dwellers to build homes in an invasión (unregulated building of informal homes on land without legal permission) of land belonging to the father of the mayor of Tierralta, Fabio Otero. Córdobexia claim their own president, Albeiro Begambre, is among those threatened over the situation, and that two others have supposedly been killed. Such a suggestion of course raises grave concerns given the toxic links between politics and paramilitary violence in the region and country in the not too distant past. Leaving aside the dark motives behind this latest addition to a national tragedy, the murder of Maria highlights the precarious position in which marginalised sectors of society currently find themselves in the south of Córdoba.

Maria Del Pilar Hurtado escaped one region rife with violence when she was forced to flee Cauca only to end up in another. Tierralta may have been the furthest possible destination for a young family of limited means, but it would not represent safety for Maria. The municipal town, like various others in the south of Córdoba, has seen a surge in violence since the signing of peace accords between the government and the FARC in 2016. This agreement and the movement of guerrilla soldiers to demobilisation camps created a power vacuum (likewise in numerous other regions throughout the country) in a region of high strategic importance for drug trafficking. The previously mentioned Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia (AGC) have been involved in a violent struggle with the organisation known as the Caparrapos (a splinter group from the AGC, reportedly funded by Mexican drug cartels). Clashes between these neo paramilitary groups have displaced thousands from rural communities in a region with high levels of poverty. Cases of displacement have occurred as a direct consequence of fighting between rival groups, but also as a result of threats against anyone unfortunate enough to be identified as an obstacle by the illegal powers that be. More than ten social leaders, including one mayoral candidate and several supporting substitution of illicit crops programs, have been murdered in the region since the peace agreement. The loved ones left behind by these killings have in some cases packed up their belongings and sought safety wherever they thought it could be found. In addition to this mass displacement, reminiscent of the worst decades of violence in Colombian history, marginalized rural communities in regions like the south of Córdoba continue to face the plight of poverty. When impoverished rural dwellers are forced to flee their homes, the only viable option tends to be the nearest urban or municipal centers. Once there, they must get by however possible, meaning building homes in informal neighborhoods, and making a living in the informal economy, perhaps as an informal recycling collector; sifting through the discarded waste of others to find enough plastic, glass or cardboard to exchange in order to provide for their family.

Maria may not have arrived in Tierralta as a result of the violent confrontations terrorising rural communities in the south of Córdoba, but she would have felt empathy with the tales she no doubt heard from neighbors in the ramshackle sector of the town where she lived and died. She would likely find herself thinking that there are few possibilities for the forgotten rural poor in this Colombia. Poverty and an absence of state support often puts people at the mercy of illegal groups. One false move, or tentative step towards independence (in act or thought), may result in death. If not, they must run. But when they run, they find themselves often unwelcome and without any support in the towns, or outskirts of towns, where they settle. Once there, another cycle of exploitation begins. It seems that in some cases, victims must suffer death by a thousand cuts, a thousand indignations, before the finality of the act is confirmed with bullets from a sicario, paid for by whichever nefarious interest group felt sufficiently motivated to dispose of them. Most of these killings pass without much commotion. There will be some information in the local news, the case will be referred to in a statistical manner in the national press, and life will carry on. In most of these cases, we are not privy to how the family of the victim, be they a social leader, a community activist, a former guerrilla fighter, or a scrap waste collector, reacts to their sudden and violent demise. But the sight of that 9 year old boy wailing at the unjustness of it all provided a window into a world of pain which is an everyday occurrence for many in this Colombia; each victim a beloved mother, father, brother, sister, caregiver, provider. If we are to be emotionally moved by such footage, we should possess the moral courage to demand better from our country.

*Information for this post was taken from the following sources:

https://www.elespectador.com/noticias/nacional/asesinan-mujer-que-fue-amenazada-en-panfleto-de-las-agc-en-cordoba-articulo-867127

https://lasillavacia.com/silla-llena/red-caribe/historia/el-conflicto-invisible-del-caribe-70059?fbclid=IwAR2–01VKbhixJaoipzTsjMgtFpHwG6EX_Y0DEnNWCTD2g3sceuc3Xty628