Cesar: Inequality and absence of State allows violence against social leaders

Cesar faces violence against social leaders

Over the years, Colombia has faced different problems such as the war between the state and the guerrilla forces and the inequality among its inhabitants; in recent years, after the signing of the peace agreement between the government and the FARC in 2016, other problems have been unleashed, such as the assassination of social leaders who have been threatened for defending their communities rights by armed groups which want to take control of the zones where in the past were the guerrilla forces of the FARC.

The department of Cesar is an example of this situation because of the different dynamics that are evident in the territory. It is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, and it is located in the northeast of the country. Cesar reaches its limits in the north with the departments of La Guajira and Magdalena; to the south, with Bolivar, Santander and Norte de Santander; and to the east, with Norte de Santander and Venezuela. Cesar has become one of the Colombian territories with the lowest levels of economic and social development, and with a strong presence of illegality in many of its senses; factors which have caused the murder of many social leaders who have demanded better management of the situation. This article will explore topics like poverty, illegality, underdevelopment and of course the murder of social leaders in this department. Cesar is one of the departments with the greatest presence of illegality, despite not being one of the largest. The illegality present in the department includes illegal mining, illegal groups and political clans who contribute to practices of corruption.

The first issue is illegal mining, which is affecting 24 of the 25 municipalities in Cesar. The department is projected today as the primary coal producer in Colombia. Mining went from representing 8% of the departmental gross domestic product in 1990 to 33.1% in 2005. For 2018, according to the Colombian Ministry of Commerce, in the gross domestic product of the department, mining represents 44% of the total, and because of that we can see a maintenance in Cesar’s economy, even if in general the GDP of the department is notoriously lower than the GDP of the country. Despite this, 58 illegal mining companies that devastate rivers and forests have been identified. In the same way, 680 families subsist from illegal mining in 33 brickyards and 31 quarries.

The next issue concerns the illegal groups which are another critical factor in the department. Due to the position of the department and its proximity to the Venezuelan border, the absence of the state has allowed illegal groups to fill this power vacuum. Before the Peace Agreement, armed groups like the FARC and the ELN, in addition to paramilitaries, had established a presence in this department. The FARC arrived in the 1980s and consolidated to the north and center, while the ELN, which arrived in the 1970s, dominated the south. For their part, the paramilitaries, with groups such as the AUC (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia) and the AUSC (Autodefensas Campesinas del Sur del Cesar) managed to locate themselves throughout the territory. Currently, the FARC have demobilized, but there remains some of its members who rejected the peace deal and are still doing the things that they did before, in addition to the presence of other criminal organisations made up of former paramilitaries.

These groups even intervene in democratic exercises such as the local elections threatening candidates and intimidating the community in order to prevent them from voting. In the same way they have carried out massacres and displaced people from their lands; all this to gain power and control zones through violence.

The final factor to highlight regards the political clans such as the Gneccos, the Araujos and the Castros, who are generally the ones who take turns in the public offices of the department. These clans want to gain power and money and because of that try to control the territory in political matters and also economically under corrupt and illegal practices but they do not make a significant enough contribution for the community despite running candidates in every local election. Furthermore, they configure a political factor that does not allow the free political development of the territory. These peculiarities are the result of the weak presence of the state in this territory and an expression of a questionable democracy. It makes it difficult for these municipalities and departments to interact competitively with all other regions of the country in social, political and economic terms.

Cesar shows a problematic social situation that places it as one of the least developed regions and one of the regions with the greatest challenges in Colombia, despite having an important mining reserve that is the power of its entire economy. In this sense, we can mention the inequity within their society and the backwardness of basic services, infrastructure, health and education in which much of the population lives in the face of the country’s development possibilities. Also, Cesarean society, traditionally a rural society, poor and isolated from trade flows, has been slowly transforming and in recent decades the community has been migrating towards populated centers. Cesar’s urbanization process, however, has been slower than the national one.

According to The National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE, for its initials in Spanish) dimensional poverty in the department, although it has decreased compared to 2005, which showed 55%, as opposed to 33.2% in 2018, is still higher than the national total that was for that year 19.6%. It is necessary to specify that this index is made up of 5 dimensions: health, work, the conditions of childhood and youth, educational conditions, and the conditions of housing and public services, although national government statistics show that there has been an increase in the department’s GDP, thanks especially to the exploitation of coal. When the GINI indicator, which shows the inequality index in a given population in terms of their incomes, is observed, it is seen that it is not being distributed, with a percentage of 0,488%. (DANE,2018)

These dynamics present in the department make the absence of the state increasingly noticeable and how this has meant a lack of opportunities and social development for the department and the quality of life for the citizens. Here, where the State has not reached, illegality has played at its whim with citizens doing with them what they want regardless of anything, and citizens have had to endure all this to be able to have at least their basic needs satisfied.

The situation in the department has made many people claim and demand the presence of the State in this area that has been characteristically forgotten. However, the actions of this group of people (activists, human rights defenders and social leaders) have often been abruptly and violently interrupted. The presence of illegal groups and interests, coupled with a lack of true state presence and a problematic social situation, is leaving social leaders and rights defenders in a vulnerable situation in Cesar. The assassination of social leaders is a huge problem that crosses the department, and in the last years since the peace agreement the situation of violence against leaders in Cesar is increasing.

There are three cases to highlight. In first place, the case of Luis Vera Gamboa who was a peasant leader and was also the vice-president of the Communal Action Board in the village of El Desengaño. He was shot dead alongside another man in Chimichagua, Cesar on August 23rd, 2018. His partner was wounded in the attack and his 13 year old step-daughter survived the attack by hiding under a bed. In second place, Wilson Chaustre Parada, a demobilized ex-paramilitary, was shot dead on September 26th 2018 at his farm in the municipality of Pueblo Bello, Cesar. Wilson was the president of the Communal Action Board in the area of Casa de Zinc. According to his sister he was threatened many times through intimidating calls telling him to leave the area because they were going to kill him but he ignored these threats. Finally, the case of Luis Carlos Hernandez, a social leader of the municipality of Curumaní, who was a representative of the Departmental Table of Participation of Victims, and a former candidate for the council of Curumani. He was shot dead by unknown subjects in the hamlet of Los Ranchos, on December 12th 2019.

All of them have some things in common, like that they held an important position representing their community; an example being their representative position on the community action board. It is understood therefore that they represent and support the well-being of the population. They educate people about what is right and what is wrong in order to delegitimize violence and illegal practices. Community action boards also pressure the state to create efficient public policies and fight corruption. This could lead to the state taking actions against the illegal groups in the zone and can make those groups feel pressured and threatened, and this is one reason why leaders like these are being killed.

In the same way, these systematic murders demonstrate that there are groups interested in maintaining a specific order in Cesar and that they will not allow claims of any kind which might threaten their status quo. This has made the situation in the department increasingly stressful. It can be said that illegal practices in Colombia are more than notorious, especially in territories like Cesar that have a huge lack of State that allows the presence of other dynamics like illegalities; for example armed groups, political clans and illegal mining. Also the risk in the territory and for the citizens increases when we focus on the social situation of the department with a high level of poverty and undevelopment.

The combination of all these factors brings a difficult situation for some people that want to fight against the corruption and the irregularities. Social leaders in Cesar who rise up to fight are brutally assassinated in the department and suffer the worst consequences for trying to bring a better quality life.

*Article written by Franchesca Collante, Elissa Medel & Claudeth Ospina

Bibliography

Arias, A. Acevedo, T. Monografía Político Electoral Departamento de Cesar, 1997 a 2007. Misión de Observación Electoral. Retrieved from: https://moe.org.co/home/doc/moe_mre/CD/PDF/cesar.pdf

Barrios, M. (2016). Identifican a 58 mineras ilegales que devastan ríos y bosques en el Cesar. El Heraldo newspaper. Retrieved from: https://www.elheraldo.co/cesar/58-mineras-ilegales-devastan-rios-y-bosques-en-el-cesar-290075

Bustos Reales, j. (2018). Opinion column: ¿en serio? Retrieved from: https://www.rptnoticias.com/2018/09/24/los-clanes-y-la-politica-en-el-cesar/

DANE. (2018). Pobreza monetaria por departamentos en Colombia. Retrieved from: https://www.dane.gov.co/files/investigaciones/condiciones_vida/pobreza/2018/bt_pobreza_monetaria_18_departamentos.pdf

DANE. (2019). Pobreza Multidimensional por departamentos 2018: Resultados. Retrieved from: https://www.dane.gov.co/files/investigaciones/condiciones_vida/pobreza/2018/presentacion_pobreza_multidimensional_18_departamento.pdf

Florez, J. (2019). El poder político en el Departamento del Cesar: un forcejeo entre clanes. Panoramacultural.com.co. Retrieved from: https://panoramacultural.com.co/opinion/6541/el-poder-politico-en-el-departamento-del-cesar-un-forcejeo-entre-clanes

Ministerio de Comercio. (2020). Información: Perfiles Económicos Departamentales. Retrieved from: http://www.mincit.gov.co/getattachment/6463f761-e0f6-485a-889e-f87a21e0de18/Cesar

Redacción Regionales. (2019). En riesgo electoral 15 municipios en Cesar por grupos armados. El Heraldo newspaper. Retrieved from: https://www.elheraldo.co/cesar/en-riesgo-electoral-15-municipios-en-cesar-por-grupos-armados-662703

Sánchez, M. (2018). Asesinan a líder social en el Cesar. El Heraldo newspaper. Retrieved from: https://www.elheraldo.co/cesar/asesinan-lider-social-en-el-cesar-546778

(2018). Líder campesino fue atrozmente acribillado en Chimichagua, Cesar. Extra Boyacá newspaper. Retrieved from: https://boyaca.extra.com.co/noticias/judicial/lider-campesino-fue-atrozmente-acribillado-en-chimichagua-ce-451319

Natalia and Rodrigo: the honeymoon murder of Colombian environmentalists that shocked the country.

Violence has been a constant element in the history of Colombia. It claims many victims year after year. Two of the recent victims, Natalia Jimenez and Rodrigo Monsalve, were a young, newly-married couple who were killed and whose bodies were found with bags over their head and their hands tied. They had been shot dead. Their killers left their bodies abandoned much in the same way that the Colombian State has left forgotten many territories in peripheral parts of the country. In that sense, it is a fact that the State does not have the capacity to apply the law and use its power in all its territory. This is explained by factors such as corruption, paramilitarism, drug trafficking and the lack of political power.

The Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta is the area where the murder of the couple was committed and through recent history this zone has suffered not only for the same factors which were previously mentioned, but also by particular circumstances in terms of illegal mining, illegal crops and in particular, environmental conflicts in which economic interests tend to clash with indigenous and local interests. In contrast with the brutality of the crime, the beauty of the landscape of the area is world renowned with abundant vegetation, waterfalls, jungle areas, streams, hot springs, beaches and even snow-capped mountains. Also, there are natural riches such as gold, silver and fertile soil which have been ancestrally protected and valued by their native inhabitants, the indigenous peoples who inhabit the Sierra Nevada. In order to protect this natural and cultural wealth, there are many people like Natalia who focus their efforts on teaching communities how to preserve these resources and speak up for their rights. However, the goodness of their actions and the beauty of this paradise do not protect them from the clutches of the criminal agents who control this area. Natalia Jimenez and Rodrigo Monsalve were a couple, both born in the city of Bogotá, but living in Santa Marta, in the department of Magdalena. Natalia worked there as an ecologist in the region and Rodrigo was an anthropology student and a well-known DJ in the city.

The couple had married a week before their murder, although they had been in a relationship for 15 years. The murder caused a great commotion at a national and even international level, mainly through social networks where justice was demanded for the couple; the hashtag #RodrigoyNatalia was a trend for several days; especially seeing as the murder took place on their honeymoon, and that it was during the Christmas season and also because of the serious situation that social leaders in the country are facing. The couple were described as idealists who worked hard for the good of the communities where they worked and were also considered an example to follow for all Colombians.

According to her mother and friends, Natalia was working on the most important project in terms of conservation of fresh water in Colombia, named “Magdalena-Cauca Vive”, which was focused on the conservation of the Magdalena and Cauca river basins. The couple were on their way to the department of La Guajira to enjoy their honeymoon, when they were intercepted on the road by a group of armed men; total communication with them was lost and no more was heard until Monday December 23, when their bodies were found with their faces covered, hands tied and bullets in their heads, putting an end to this sad story that adds to other cases of murder of social leaders in Colombia. It must be stated that the place where the crime was perpetrated was far from the community where Natalia worked with the Natura Foundation, and furthermore the foundation declared that Natalia’s murder had nothing to do with the work she was doing at the foundation seeing as they had received no threats, yet Natalia´s mother has been adamant that the killing was related to her daughter´s community work.

The Colombian authorities carried out the pertinent investigations to solve the case and the only thing they found was the recording of a security camera that saw the couple at a tollbooth, but due to an electrical cut no more information could be obtained from the security cameras. Moreover, during the moment they were intercepted, both were threatened with death in case they did not hang up the cell phone since Natalia was talking to her father. It is also worth mentioning that both were traveling in quite a dangerous area controlled by paramilitary groups. The police indicated that neither their car nor the victims’ belongings have been found, which suggest that the crime was perpetrated by criminal groups that operate in the area and they pointed out the criminal organization “Los Pachencas” as possible authors of the crime, although they did not rule out other hypotheses. Shortly after the events the police managed to capture two men possibly involved in the crime, and later these men admitted to committing the crime and that the main objective of the crime had been to steal the couple´s vehicle. These two men were found guilty and sent to prison, although many people claim that this story of the robbery does not make sense, since a large number of illegal and dangerous armed groups operate in that area of the country, and that these could have been the main culprits of the crime. In order to understand what happened with Rodrigo and Natalia’s case, its fundamental first to know the territorial circumstances in the department of Magdalena, the main actors in the area, their activities and the political, social and economic dynamics that govern the area in question.

The department of Magdalena is a territory that has been directly affected by the violence which has plagued Colombia. The importance of the area is due to its strategic position for the cocaine trade. According to the Semana magazine, specifically the Sierra Nevada area is in the domain of Los Pachencas, a paramilitary organization that exports large quantities of cocaine to Europe and the US. This group has been responsible for the fear of the community and the constant criminal violence.
On the other hand, there is the presence of the Clan del Golfo who have allied with Los Pachencas on several occasions although currently there is a break in the balance of power that they have maintained throughout the territory. In addition, the presence of the ELN is found in the vicinity of Minca, Dibulla and in the mountainous area of Santa Marta itself. According to Semana Magazine, the main disputes are over the control of the routes for the export of cocaine hydrochloride, the control of the port and the illegal income generated by extortion. The fact is that in a year and half, 11 of the 15 municipalities in the area have had manifestations of violence, six social leaders have been killed, and 42 people were displaced after the murder of a member of the community in Playa Salguero. In total, there have been eight armed actions and eight infractions of International Humanitarian Law were filed, according to a recent report by UNCaribe, an observatory from the Universidad del Norte. Among these victims was Maritza Quiroz, who was shot dead on a farm that was donated to her and another nine people because they had been victims of displacement. Maritza Quiroz was social leader in Santa Marta, and was killed on the 5 of January last year in the Sierra Nevada. Maritza was a woman who worked as a representative of her community in the construction of wastewater treatment plants in the Sierra Nevada and Perijá. Despite being a victim of violence, she always fought for her community. Looking at other cases, we have Wilton Orrego who was killed near a village called Perico Aguoao (curiously, the same place where Natalia and Rodrigo were discovered dead), Wilton was a park ranger who, like Natalia, had interest in preserving the area.
For all these reasons, and keeping in mind the presence of these illegal groups and interests, it is clear to see why many people are not convinced about the oficial version that establish that the case of Natalia and Rodrigo was a simple robbery. As was previously mentioned, the department of Magdalena is a territory that has a presence of illegal groups and that has been affected by violence. With this in mind, it is necessary to understand what Natalia and Rodrigo did in their professional life in order to see if, like Maritza and Wilton, their murders were related to their work. Natalia was an ecologist from the Universidad Javeriana and anthropologist from the Universidad Nacional, and was the environmental manager of Fundación Natura, where she participated in the Magdalena Cauca Vive project. According to this organization, “the area where she performed her professional duties was the swampy complex of Zapatosa, between Cesar and Magdalena, as well as the swamp of Ayapel, in Córdoba. As was previously mentioned, the organization denies there was a link between her work and her death. Rodrigo had graduated from the National University as an anthropologist. However, he had discovered that in addition to his taste for nature and research, he had a deep passion for music, so at least eight years ago he decided to create his own brand as a DJ and play in clubs and private events. He had recently embarked on an international tour of the United States.

It is important to consider that Natalia´s mother said that her daughter was a social leader because she defended rural workers rights, taught them how to farm sustainably, and did not allow them to be taken advantage of. In an interview with Caracol Radio she said:”My daughter was a victim, like the other social leaders. That’s why they were killed. That’s why. I’m sure of it. They weren’t mugged, they weren’t drugged for stealing their car. They were killed because she was a social leader who only defended these communities, who only taught them how to cultivate their land”-With this in mind, it is important to decide if Natalia was a social leader; the Truth commission in Colombia said that a social leader is someone who defends the human rights of those people who are vulnerable. In addition, the United Nations talks about the human rights defenders and said that a person who acts on behalf of a human right (or rights) of an individual or a group shall be a human rights defender.
These people strive to promote and protect civil and political rights and to achieve the promotion, protection and enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. In consequence of this, we could determine that Natalia was a social leader, because based on what her mother said, she was working to protect the rights of rural communities. In addition, she was working on a project with Natura Foundation and this means that she was an environmental leader.

In conclusion, despite the fact that the “Natura” foundation declared that neither Natalia nor this entity had received threats, this article identifies Natalia Jimenez as a social leader because of what was mentioned above. Also this article recognizes that the project in which she worked and her attitude towards the community were essential for the construction of a better social reality. This means, that she didn’t just defend people, she also defended the environment, and was focused on constructing a better society not only helping rural communities, but also helping nature and creating and being part of big projects to protect the environment. All this indicates that she was a social leader and environmental leader too.

Finally, analyzing this article and what is known, we can say that there are circumstances that indicate that the murder of the young couple was not the result of a simple robbery as the authorities maintain, but that this was a crime to silence the voice of their actions that were intended to help a community and protect its rights as well as contributing to building a better future. Until now there has been no further progress in the investigation into the killing of the couple, and everything continues to be attributed as a simple robbery, adding another curiosity to the situation facing social leaders in Colombia.

*Article written by Maria Ballesteros, Steffanie Cadena & Sergio Sarmiento

References

NA(26 diciembre 2019). Natalia y Rodrigo: el asesinato de la pareja de ecologistas colombianos en su luna de miel que conmociona al país. BBC NEWS. Tomado de: https://bbc.in/2WSGieD
NA(6 de enero 2020). Crímenes en la Sierra: el paraíso perdido en el que manda el grupo paramilitar Los Pachencas. Revista Semana. Tomado de: https://bit.ly/2wJnyDB

NA(17 de diciembre 2019).La nueva guerra criminal por el control de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Revista Semana. Tomado de: https://bit.ly/33OK4qY
NA(13 de enero 2018) ¿Qué es ser un líder social?. Alto Comisionado de la Verdad. Tomado de: https://bit.ly/3dIc6sv
NA(NA). Sobre los defensores de los Derechos Humanos. Naciones Unidas y Derechos Humanos, Oficina del Alto Comisionado. Tomado de: https://bit.ly/33XRpEP
NA(24 de diciembre de 2019) Caracol Radio. Tomado de: https://bit.ly/2UswsOY
NA (1 de junio de 2010)Con el crimen de Maritza, el 2019 inicia con el asesinato de un líder social por día. Revista Semana. Tomado de: https://bit.ly/3dXT55s

Hernán Bermudez: The Gentle Giant Killed for Helping Others Reclaim their Land

Murdered social leader Hernan Antonio Bermudez Arevalo was involved in land restitution programs

In the last years, the status and work of social leaders in Colombia has become dangerous and very complex. The systematic killing of these leaders even after a huge peace process and the demobilization of the country’s biggest and oldest guerrilla organization has become a challenge for the government and it has opened the debate about the future of leadership and social movements in the country.

Social leaders are people who peacefully fight for the rights of others and are recognized by those communities as spokespersons for them. In the Colombian context, many of these leaders are born because of the necessity to seek justice from paramilitary or guerrilla interventions in marginalized regions during the country’s 52 years of armed conflict. Therefore, many of them are involved in land restitution programs since processes such as the taking of land by illegal armed groups has been one of the most common situations during the war which has caused the displacement of tens of thousands of citizens leaving them with nothing and increasing the poverty levels in the
country. This article wants to share the story and work of Hernán “Po” Bermudez, a social leader
involved in a land restitution process in his hometown of Riohacha in the department of La Guajira, who was killed on his doorsteps and what might be the reason for his assassination.

Hernan Antonio Bermudez Arevalo was a social leader involved in land restitution who was born in Riohacha, La Guajira. He was 56 years old. According to his family members, he was a calm man full of peace; a relaxed man who was dedicated to his family. He did not use weapons or any sort of violence as he determined and understood that his work could not offend or scare anyone. He lived with his family on a plot of land located about thirty minutes from the city of Riohacha. The social leader who was killed at 7:10 pm in the village of Mundo Nuevo -a rural area of Riohacha- invited his assassin to sit down and talk to him. However, the hitman refused and seconds later, he unraveled the weapon and shot “Po” 10 times. Before getting shot, Bermudez had asked the hitman multiple times why he was acting the way he was, to which the assassin coldly replied “there is nothing to talk about” and proceeded to open fire on the 56-year-old leader. This story was told by his wife, Gladys Garcia, who had lived with him for 35 years. She confessed that people near to Hernan were really afraid because of the risks his job as a mediator for displaced families in land restitution processes involved. In addition to leading the land restitution process for displaced families and victims of the armed conflict, Bermúdez Arévalo belonged to the El Eneal Community Council of Afro-descendants with whom he had been carrying out a series of social work projects in order to strengthen much of the Afro-Caribbean culture.

In order to understand better why it is so dangerous for social leaders like Hernan Antonio
Bermudez in departments such as La Guajira, we need to have a clear understanding of the social context in La Guajira. If we measure the risk situation in the department of La Guajira, highlighting that it is one of the most corrupt departments of Colombia and that it has an active participation of armed groups such as: the Urabeños, the Paisas, the 59th front (dissidents) of the FARC and others, which are illegal groups that take part in the armed conflict that exists in Colombia; we would say that the risk is extremely high.

Displacement, threats against leaders claiming land, forced disappearance and selective killings, recruitment of children, young people and adolescents, affectation of indigenous peoples’ territories and recruitment for trafficking and extortion; these are just some examples of risk scenarios that people in La Guajira have to overcome each day. Social leaders, specifically those who are fighting for the restitution of land, like Hernan, are significantly more at risk. The presence of illicit crops and the weakness of local organizational processes are highlighted when talking about land restitution. Due to this, social leaders like Po are in greater danger than others, because they represent an obstacle to the armed groups and their way of controlling and subsisting. Next, it is important to learn about Po’s work with land restitution and how the violence surrounding these processes were likely the cause of his death.

The issue of land restitution most probably cost Hernan Antonio his life and it is a complicated issue throughout the region and Colombia. Of 6.5 million hectares abandoned or stripped all around the country , only 314,849 have been returned, which represents represents only around 4.8%. La Guajira is one of the most affected regions because of the violence the department has suffered. And after the peace agreements signed in 2016, the region has had many problems such as violence, poverty and many others. Since the agreement, the land restitution projects have suffered many challenges due to a lack of the government attention, especially in La Guajira where the government prefer to give priority to other issues that for them bring bigger benefits. But La Guajira is not the only department that has faced violence against social leaders because of land restitution issue. The Forjando Futuros Foundation came up with a report in 2019 showing that the departments with the greatest aggression against human rights defenders are also the regions where there is a “slight advance” in land restitution. The report shows that the departments with the highest number of attacks against human rights defenders are Cauca, Antioquia and Norte de Santander. Around 4,365 applications are counted in Cauca and the percentage of the refund is 4%, while the leaders killed until March 2019, were 32. A similar situation happens in Antioquia, where applications are 21,204 and the refund does not exceed 6%; the murdered leaders amount to 31. Finally, in Norte de Santander, with 4,871 applications and a percentage of the refund of 5%, homicides of social leaders total 19.

After doing this research, the conclusion to which we arrived is that Hernan or “Po” was a social leader who believed in his work because it brought some sense of justice into the lives of many people who lost their land and their homes because of the terrible violence derived from a 50 year old war. The state abandonment that La Guajira has been going through for so many years created a power vacuum allowing the presence of illegal armed groups such as guerrillas, paramilitaries and cartels which need land to cultivate coca and poppies and also, to use it as a sign of power. Therefore, the work Hernan was doing represented a threat to their business, their influence in the region and their power overall; that’s why we believe one of those groups was responsible for his murder. Hernan’s story and situation is not an exception; it is the norm throughout the entire country. Hundreds of social leaders fighting for the improvement of their communities are threatened and killed; such threats and killings are a daily reality. Even though the current scenario may not seem hopeful, we truly believe in the work of the people and how their influence can change the country for the better and how, even if it is not easy, there will at least be a government that truly worries about the social leaders and that they, together with the people of the communities, will not only work to provide protection for them, but also to work together to create a better Colombia.

*Article written by Camila De Avila, Danna Diaz, Linda Florez & Maria Daniela Zalabata

Information sourced from:

https://www.restituciondetierras.gov.co/inicio

http://www.ideaspaz.org/publications/posts/525

https://lasillavacia.com/silla-llena/red-caribe/conflicto-la-frontera-la-guajira-71188

https://semanarural.com/web/articulo/a-los-lideres-sociales-los-asesinan-por-problemas-de-tierras-no-por-el-narcotrafico-forjando-futuros/1079

https://www.elheraldo.co/la-guajira/matan-lider-de-restitucion-de-tierras-en-riohacha-682840

https://www.elheraldo.co/la-guajira/lider-asesinado-le-ofrecio-una-silla-al-sicario-antes-de-que-le-disparara-683183

https://www.bluradio.com/judicial/asesinan-lider-de-restitucion-de-tierras-en-la-guajira-crbe-233710-ie5134696

https://www.elespectador.com/noticias/politica/conflictos-por-la-tierra-otra-arista-en-crimenes-de-lideres-sociales-articulo-875666

https://www.elheraldo.co/la-guajira/matan-lider-de-restitucion-de-tierras-en-riohacha-682840

The “Parapolitica” Scandal in Sucre; Perspectives and Relations to Violence.

Sucre is a department heavily associated with the Parapolitica scandal

Sucre is one of the eight departments on the Caribbean coast, its capital being the city of Sincelejo. This department is located in the north of the country, in the Caribbean region, bordering on the north with the Caribbean Sea (Atlantic Ocean), on the east with the department of Bolivar and the west with the department of Cordoba. Its main economic activity is ranching and social services. The department faces important issues such as poverty, forced displacement (around 30.300 families having been affected), drug trafficking and the presence of illegal groups such as Clan del Golfo, which competes for the control of drug trafficking routes into the Caribbean Sea. The significance of the region is due to the fact it is a strategic corridor; there are also strong paramilitary groups in the region, a significant lack of state control and a livestock tradition: factors which allowed the phenomenon of “Parapolitica” in the department. The purpose of this article is to explain what has been the impact of the “Parapolitica” scandal in the department of Sucre. The “Parapolitica” is the name given to a political scandal which brought to light the link between Colombian politicians and the paramilitary groups in a symbiotic relationship. In order to explore this topic, this article will look at the impact of the “Parapolitica” scandal in the political field. Afterwards, it will highlight the relationship between the scandal and violence in the department, and finally, it will look at the connection between the scandal, the murder of social leaders and forced displacement in Sucre.

Sucre is a region that has been strongly affected by corruption and the “Parapolitica” scandal. Since the 90’s, this has been one of the prominent political dynamics that affected the development and political scenario of this department. The term Parapolitica, as mentioned before, refers to the relation between the paramilitary groups and politicians hence it created a beneficial interaction for both parts, with the purpose of having political representation and a free path for paramilitaries to succeed in their illegal activities with the help of the politicians in different positions in the country. In exchange for support, politicians were backed up by paramilitary groups to accomplish political positions, in two ways, according to Avila (2019): firstly, eliminating the political competition; secondly, forcing people to vote for these candidates. The significant role of paramilitary groups in Colombia is recognized due to the variety of bonds established with politicians and state functionaries, which in the legal sphere helped them with resources, information, and contacts. In the region of Sucre, the “Parapolitica” had more relevance due to the influence that the paramilitaries groups had in political institutions. The National Center of Historical Memories (2018), establishes four main reasons: 1) The agrarian character of the department and the high dependency on political positions; 2) The political and agrarian elites invested in the creation of the paramilitary groups; 3) Paramilitary groups did not enter into confrontation with any competitors and; 4) Parapolitica articulated politicians with wider power in the territory.

This phenomenon has contributed to a low rate of people’s participation in elections and also to the delegitimization of politicians. In recent years, in Sucre, a total of 35 politicians have been processed because of their relationship with paramilitary groups. The “Parapolitica” has also had impacts on the dynamics of violence in the region, because some of the para-politicians were involved in prominent crimes, such as Alvaro Garcia, who according to Verdad Abierta (2009), was convicted for being the intellectual author of the Macayepo massacre (A massacre perpetrated by the paramilitary group Heróes de los Montes de María to obtain the control over that area ).

The “Parapolitica” also has a close relationship to the dynamics of violence that the department has faced. The department and all the region has suffered a high level of violence due to the conflict and this has become common for its population. Nonetheless, we must highlight that these crimes are regularly overlooked and not resolved because those responsible have the power to delete their trace.

In Sucre, according to RUV (Unique register of victims, which is a databa base of the government for the victim reparation) figures, 255,743 victims were registered in Sucre, of which 250,148 were a direct consequence of the armed conflict. This means that with a population of 826,780 inhabitants, victims represent 32% of the total residents in this department. These shocking figures are a reflection of different dynamics and actors that have developed in the context of the armed conflict. In effect, there have been different expressions of violence linked to various actors such as the PRT (Workers Revolutionary Party of Colombia), the CRS (Current of Socialist Renewal to the Constitution), the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), the AUC (United Self-Defences of Colombia), the para-politicians and the Bacrim. Even though all the cases of violence in Sucre are not related to the “Parapolitica”, the rates of violence in the region increased dramatically with the implementation of indiscriminate violence by self-defense and the paramilitary groups actions. Another point is that in the department, a sizable amount of violent cases have happened, among those the most famous case was called “Los Montes de Maria” massacre, after the place where it happened. This case happened between the 16 and 17 of February of 2000, and during these days the paramilitaries murdered 20 farmers. Also, this violent event was one of the most important in the history of Sucre and it was accomplished by different paramilitary groups. With the previous information, it is possible to notice how this department is affected by the “Parapolitica” in terms of violence. These groups are involved in many cases of violence in the region because of the importance of some strategic locations in the department and many people have to pay the price in many ways. These people have suffered too many issues generated by violence and massacres in the region, specifically in notorious instances like Montes de Maria which are evidence of the dynamics of violence and forced displacement which the people have faced.

Other side effects related to the “Parapolítica” in Sucre are land ownership, forced displacement and the threats and violence faced by social leaders in the department. As in many departments of Colombia, in Sucre, there has been a significant amount of control from several illegal groups over the land, which emerged because of the state’s weakness in terms of protection of citizens and their land rights. Freddy Aguilera, a member of the Sucre peace roundtable, explains that Sucre’s development took place around a large estate. These lands were given to the peasants to be cleaned and then returned; therefore, these lands would never belong to them. This situation created clientelism, or dependence on certain characters, and also led to the creation of the political patron culture that still persists today. In addition, as a result of the precarious state assistance, there was an exponential increase of illegal armed groups, which were fighting for dominance over certain strategic locations. This was because of the role that drug trafficking had as the principal financial activity of these type of groups. The control over the routes of drugs and the crop fields led to the seizure of many farmer’s lands, which increased the forced displacements, recruitment for armed groups, kidnappings, murders and other types of violence. The presence of these groups limited the creation of autonomous and independent citizenship, and citizens were unable to make decisions freely. Likewise, it limited the possibilities for the establishment of social organizations and leaders who couldn’t act with liberty since they were threatened, raped and killed. This can be reflected in the case of “Asociación Nacional de Usuarios Campesinos” (National Association of Farm Users). Their work in Sucre was one of the strongest in the country at a point when the local working classes came to exercise elements of power. They started demanding land for the people who worked it, and the landowners got terrified of this movement. However, between the 80’s and 90’s, those leaders started to be systematically persecuted and killed by paramilitaries and guerillas. Few leaders have survived to tell the story. Social leaders have emerged and have been working as defenders of human rights and as the voice of the citizens. Their principal labor is to contribute to the establishment of equal democracy and a guarantee of a decent life for the population under their assistance. For that reason, the efforts of the social leaders in this department have been guided to certain statements. Sowing Seeds of Peace Association recognizes the large footprint that the armed conflict has left in Sucre, and it is the reason why they have been promoting the different elements of citizen participation that our country offers us as a social state under the rule of law, organizing workshops, and formal meetings to discuss justice, democracy, human rights and violations of them. It is important to keep in mind that their principal function is teach how to be a leader for their people and their responsibility in relation to the community. However, similarly to their predecessors in the 80s and 90s, this work means they must constantly fear for their own safety.

In Conclusion, Sucre was highly affected by the paramilitary scandal of the country. This department has been mainly affected by corruption and the “Parapolitica” that has been present. In Sucre, the people who gain power and political positions are often not elected democratically, but through illegal means. The “Parapolitica” is also responsible for many of the violent events in the region, causing great massacres, murders, kidnappings, threats, and among many other effects on society. Even so, that is not the only fact about the amount of violence that these groups created by the “parapolitica”. It is also true that justice is very rarely obtained for these crimes. After all of the above, one of the greatest consequences of the acts of violence by the paramilitaries in the department is the forced displacement faced by people and the systematic murder of social leaders. This consequence has left many people homeless, affecting their quality of life. Therefore, more presence of the central government in the department is necessary so that people have certainty and do not live with fear. The central government has to bring this security (Military forces and Police) along with improvements to the infrastructure to assure a safe territory. Equally important, it is not only relevant to have security but also to bring justice to all the people who have suffered due to the conflict, particularly at the hands of the paramilitaries, many of whose former political allies are in office and protected by the same government. Thereupon it is necessary for having a better lifestyle for the population in the department, whose safety will set up a productive project to improve the economy. For this reason, it is also necessary to have a less corrupt government so that these groups can end this situation and begin a time of peace.

*Article written by Daniel Alvarez, Mercedes Ebrath & Arianna Morales

Information sourced from:

Ávila, A. (2019). [Ariel Ávila Explica]. (2019, March 6). El paramilitarismo en Colombia. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3l44__ZGuI

Asociación Sembrando Semillas de Paz. (2020). Retrieved 15 de abril de 2020, de Mesa Sucreña por la paz. Retrieved from: http://www.sembrandopaz.org/en/press-release-mesa-sucrena-por-la-paz/

Cadrazco Martelo, Manuel Andrés. (2019). Casas políticas, su configuración y roles en las elecciones 2014 ; 2015 y 2018: el caso de Sucre. Retrieved from: http://hdl.handle.net/10554/46542

Centro Nacional de Memoria Histórica. (2018). Paramilitarismo: Balance de la contribución del CNMH al esclarecimiento histórico. Retrieved from: http://www.centrodememoriahistorica.gov.co/micrositios/balances-jep/descargas/balance-paramilitarismo.pdf

Fernando, O. (2009). El paramilitarismo en Sucre, un proyecto armado por su clase política. Verdad Abierta. Retrieved from: https://verdadabierta.com/el-paramilitarismo-en-sucre-un-proyecto-armado-por-su-clase-politica/

Gutierrez, É. (2007). Guía Práctica para entender el escándalo de la Parapolítica. Revista Semana. Retrieved from: https://www.semana.com/on-line/articulo/guia-practica-para-entender-escandalo-para-politica/84455-3

Tous, J. (2017, August 29). Sucre, en conflicto. El Heraldo. Retrieved from: https://www.elheraldo.co/politica/sucre-en-conflicto-397139

Verdad Abierta. (2010, September 2). El precio que pagó la Anuc por querer la tierra que trabajaban. Retrieved from: https://verdadabierta.com/el-precio-que-pago-la-anuc-por-querer-la-tierra-que-trabajaban

Unidad para la Atención y la Reparación Integral a las Víctimas (2020, January 01) Víctimas registradas del conflicto armado. Retrieved from: https://www.unidadvictimas.gov.co/es/ruv/37385

Verdad Abierta. (2010, September 02) ¿Cómo se fraguó la tragedia de los Montes de Maria?. Retrieved from: https://verdadabierta.com/icomo-se-fraguo-la-tragedia-de-los-montes-de-maria/

*Image retrieved from https://www.semana.com/on-line/articulo/guia-practica-para-entender-escandalo-para-politica/84455-3

Challenges facing the LGBTI community in Atlantico

“It is absolutely imperative that every human being’s freedom and human rights are respected, all over the world,”

Those were the words of Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir during her speech at an event related to the Pride festival. As a declared lesbian, Jóhanna became the first woman who ever assumed the role of Prime Minister in Iceland, and the world’s first LGBTI recognized head of the government. However, around the world, there are still some difficulties that LGBTI members face daily. This could be linked to the fact that the context of each society differs from the others. Thus, the customs and values that are socially accepted in Iceland, aren´t the same in Turkey, Somalia, the USA, and Colombia -our focus.

Therefore, it is necessary to introduce the term “cultural relativity” when we discuss culture, customs, values, and Human Rights. According to Jack Donnelly, “cultural relativity is an undeniable fact; moral rules and social institutions evidence an astonishing cultural and historical variability”. In other words, cultural relativity refers to not judging a culture or a person to our own standards of what is right, wrong, strange or normal. Instead, we should try to understand the cultural practices of other groups in their own cultural context. In fact, Atlántico – a department located in Colombia – is a clear example as most of the murders of the LGBTI community are motivated by prejudice towards the sexual orientation or gender identity of the victims. Furthermore, throughout this article, we will relate this type of prejudice to a typical way of seeing society in the region, the concept of “machismo”.

Machismo has several characteristics; one of which is the defense of the traditional roles for the fact that they are tradition, that is to say, there is an essentialist vision of what it means to be a man or a woman, and questioning these concepts generates anger and frustration among people who identify with this concept. The LGBTI community is criticized for not matching these parameters and a heterosexual relationship is seen as “normal”; so marriage between woman and man is very important; likewise, there are even justifications from some sectors for gender violence based on the same limited views of gender roles under the concept of machismo.

In Atlantico, this kind of prejudice is very common and some people use this as justification for crimes or doing all kinds of damage to the LGBTI community. Therefore, it is a hugely important issue to look at.

During the armed conflict in Colombia, 142 members of the LGBTI community were murdered in the country as a consequence of such prejudices. During the confessions of Peace and Justice, which is a judicial mechanism that seeks for the reincorporation of paramilitaries -a right-wing informal army-, its members confessed with extreme serenity how they committed crimes against members of the LGBT community and the horrible methods they used -torture, acid attacks, chainsaw attacks-. Furthermore, if one of them was called “marica” (a derogatory term for a gay man) by their superiors they would express anger. This situation created a context where fear limited the rights of citizens whose sexual orientation was not socially accepted. As a consequence, the history of the LGBTI community in Atlantico has always been difficult since they face a lot of issues regarding their rights. In this department, this minority constantly faces challenges like discrimination and violence due to their sexual orientation and some of them are criticized for showing their true nature. Most cases of violence or harassment are towards gay men in their homes and transgender women, who identify themselves as such.

In addition, the social pressure created by those prejudices has led to cases where people commit suicide, which is a common situation in schools where bullying is not commonly taken into account as a serious issue. In 2019, there were 39 suicides in the department of Atlántico. Men have made this fatal decision with 37 cases with 2 women ending their lives.

The statistics of the suicide cases in Barranquilla show a decrease in the cases of suicide between January and July 2019 with 21 cases. Compared to 2018, when 42 cases were presented. It should be mentioned that the LGBTI young population, according to several studies, has between 1.5 and 3 times more suicidal ideation than other non-LGB (or heterosexual) youth.

However, 10 years ago, the members of the LGBTI community were able to finally protest for the accomplishment and respect of their rights as citizens of Colombia. The community gained more value in society. Through this protest, they were finally able to freely express their opinions in the media and have it partially accepted by society without threats to their lives. However, legally-speaking, no significant change occurred through this march in the department of Atlántico.

Unfortunately, representing and defending the rights of this community is still a dangerous labor; Atlantico is a department where patriarchal values are very persistent in the society, political speeches, interpersonal relationships, and even societal customs. These values, perpetuate the discrimination of people whose sexual orientation goes against what is traditionally established or accepted. A person should be involved in a relationship with someone from the opposite gender, and if that’s not the case, then that person is going to be considered and treated differently. They frequently begin to be discriminated against by society as well as by their family and friends, and in some cases, threats to their life and physical integrity begin to occur. The armed groups have historically been responsible for most of the threats that have occurred in the department and in the country.

The social leaders who represent this community are greatly affected, as this can be a risk to their physical integrity as well as that of their families. In fact, on August 1 of 2019, Ariel López was killed in his home located in Barranquilla, Atlantico. In a statement to the public, the Caribe Afirmativo collective gave its opinion on the discovery of the lifeless body of Ariel López Romero:

“In the morning, the victim was seen by people close to him talking to another man on one of the soccer fields in the Las Moras neighborhood, where he lived. Minutes later, the latter moved to his home, where he entered with the other man and did not leave again. At 1:00 p.m. Lopez was found with his throat cut and lifeless in his room,”

The discovery, according to the Barranquilla Metropolitan Police, was made by a neighbor who was alerted about the event through the emergency line. However, minutes after the police arrived at the scene they established that the man had died at the scene due to a stab wound at the height of the neck on the right side. Police are still investigating the case and are still investigating the motive.

He was considered an LGBTI activist, therefore, a Human Rights defender according to the UNHCR, since he promoted the protection of the LGBTI community rights. Besides, López also contributed to the coordination of some programs already created in the Peace Agreements of the 2016 that aimed for the protection of this minority.

Between 2018 and early 2019 Caribe Afirmativo had registered in its databases eight cases of gay men who were murdered violently – mostly with a knife – in the department of Atlántico. These cases continue to be a systematic action of violence used by armed groups, common criminals or unidentified actors that are intended to generate anxiety, fear, and intimidation. Likewise, the organizations point out that the main perpetrators, in addition to paramilitaries, guerrillas or Bacrim (organized crime groups), have also been civilians and common crime organizations.

In many respects, with crimes like the killing of Ariel, it would be easy to be pessimistic about the scenario, but progress is being made in the department. In the department of Atlantico, measures have been developed in favor of protecting the human rights of these communities. For example, organizations such as Caribe Afirmativo have implemented actions that favor the people of this community, in order to influence the construction of sexual and gender diversity agendas in the Caribbean region. This helps to recognize the rights and access to justice for LGBTI people in the post-conflict. This organization carries out reports, investigations, assessments, and booklets that publish what is happening with the LGBTI community in the Caribbean region; that is to say, whether their human rights have been respected, and they detail what they are doing to help this community.

For example, Barranquilla has just created a headquarter for this purpose, the House of Diversity, a space for people from the LGBTI community to find support and endorsement in the city. In this place, legal advice and psychosocial care will be given to people from this community. They will also provide information on the routes of care in terms of access to health and spaces for training in employability, culture, and access to other amenities.

The LGBTI community has traditionally been very poorly represented and they represent a significant community in the department of Atlantico. But their fundamental rights have been affected thanks to many factors such as discrimination. Values referring to the patriarchy have meant great discrimination towards people who think or act differently regarding the traditions of society. Taking this into account, many leaders of this community have been affected, as we have seen above in the case of Ariel. This is why organizations such as the Caribe Afirmativo are so necessary in order to give this community a voice and help to ensure that there is no more discrimination or violence towards people belonging to it.

Having a strong LGBTQI community can be really important to the region; it brings diversity to the department and it can be very beneficial to society, and the country as a whole. And as such, we should all feel invested in making sure their rights and leaders are respected.

*Article written by Oscar Melo, Angelica Ortega & Yahaira Quintero

Information for this article came from the following sources:

https://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/srhrdefenders/pages/defender.aspx

https://www.wradio.com.co/noticias/regionales/cinco-miembros-de-la-comunidad-lgbt-han-sido-asesinados-en-el-atlantico-durante-2019/20190429/nota/3896390.aspx

http://zonacero.com/samir-lopez-visbal

https://www.elheraldo.co/tendencias/cuatro-testimonios-explican-el-movimiento-lgbt-269685

https://www.dw.com/es/barranquilla-celebra-su-octava-marcha-lgbti/a-44511934

https://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/barranquilla/amenazas-a-comunidad-lgbt-en-la-costa-28210

The role of Luis Dario Rodriguez in the south of Córdoba: A Social Leader to Remember

Luís Dario Rodriguez was yet another victim of the violence in the south of Córdoba

The systematic assassinations of social leaders in Colombia are of great concern because the numbers are alarming and this is something that cannot be happening in any way. For this reason, it is necessary to be aware of this situation since in almost all of the country’s departments at least one social leader has been assassinated, and the most serious thing is that most of these cases go unpunished before Colombian justice.

First of all, it is important to note that a social leader is “a person who has recognition of their community for conducting, coordinating or supporting collective processes or activities that positively affect the life of their community, improving and dignifying their living conditions or building social fabric” (The UN). In this sense, these people have as their main objective defending the rights of the least privileged, such as indigenous people, farmers, and Afro-Colombian communities, among others.

Given this situation, different organizations have documented and monitored the cases of assassinations of social leaders, however, as these events occur in different parts of the country and social sectors, it is difficult to have a record of all cases. According to Dejusticia (2019), a center for legal and social studies that is in charge of carrying out rigorous studies and proposing public policies, it is estimated that 284 social leaders were assassinated in 2018.

For its part, the National University of Colombia carried out a report in which it found that the departments with the highest homicide rate are: Chocó, Antioquia, Córdoba, Norte de Santander, Guaviare, Cauca and Nariño, and also the types of leadership of the victims represent: community civic leaders, leaders of community action boards, indigenous leaders, and Afro leaders, among others.

Many of the regions of Colombia are affected by this problem, but in this article we will focus on the department of Córdoba, since this is a territory with numerous problems, among which poverty, violence and a power vacuum stand out. Thus, the purpose of this article is to show that this situation deserves the attention of Colombians, the media and of young people in order to make a change in the country. For this, we will analyze the specific case of Luis Darío Rodríguez, a Colombian social leader who fought for the rights of the people of Córdoba regarding the recuperation of land on behalf of displaced people.

The case of Luis Darío Rodriguez is not isolated, as it is one of the hundreds of cases of murdered social leaders in the country: this article focuses on important aspects about him, his context and his work.

Luis Darío Rodriguez was a social leader who lived in Nuevo Oriente in Tierralta, Córdoba, but unfortunately he was assassinated by unknown assailants on January 17th of this year.

It is important to know that like most, he had formed a family; he was husband and a father of three children. Also, he was a farmer dedicated to agriculture and fishing and in this way he supported his family. In relation to his role as leader, his work in the community of Tierralta was very important because he was one of the most important leaders in that rural area; he was also part of two associations and organizations in support of the welfare of his community.

Before his death, Luis Darío had been in charge of a process of claiming land rights, sovereignty and reparation for families who had suffered due to the flooding of land in the upper Sinú caused by the Urra hydroelectric plant (La FM, 2020). Through this project, Luis Darío sought to achieve the restoration of human rights for the population of Tierralta and the revitalization of the area through social projects such as the prioritization of local agricultural production to feed the population, allowing access for farmers to land, water and seeds, as well as farmers’ right to produce food.

In addition to this, Luis Dario was defined by his work ethic, and as was said previously, he was a member of different organizations that have served the community.

Luis Dario raised his voice and fought for the good of his community to protect it and denounce the bad conditions in which many in the region find themselves. So, these organizations were of great help to the social leader, as they served as a tool to offer their work to the people of his town and contribute to defending their rights.

One of these was the Association of Displaced and Vulnerable Families of Tierralta (UFADESVUL), of which Luís Darío was member. According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) this association has legal status and is made up of approximately 120 families who are dedicated to presenting social and productive investment projects in order to serve and give a better quality of life to people who are displaced and in conditions of vulnerability.

On the other hand, the social leader was also part of the Human Rights Network in Southern Córdoba. This non-governmental organization seeks to present effective actions to the different authorities to guarantee the rights of the population and create strategies to improve the territory and the series of problems that both the community and the region have.

These associations take care of the different problems that the community has. Having outlined the projects that this leader was involved in, it is necessary to understand the political, social and cultural context of the place where Luis Darío resided.

The department in which Luis Darío lived has a series of issues that are important to take into account (Sánchez, 1996). Córdoba is located in the north of the country, specifically in the Caribbean region. Its capital is Montería, however, it integrates different important towns such as Montelíbano, Lorica, Sahagún, Cereté, and Tierralta -where the social leader lived- among others. Also it is essential to keep in mind that it is one of the most populated departments in Colombia. This area of the country, although it is very rich in its culture, its fauna and flora and its natural places, has urgent issues facing the population.

For many experts in the area, the general context of the department of Cordoba is worrying. There are traits of violence and violation of rights and freedoms that are unforgivable. For Negrette (2013), there is an increase in activities of illegal armed groups, a situation of displacement of peasants and indigenous people that does not stop, threats to journalists, teachers, social leaders and an increase in the number of homicides that nobody solves, and of which little is said.

According to Cordobexia -the organization that denounced the murder of Luis Darío-, southern Córdoba is a territory disputed by the Gaitanista self-defense groups of Colombia (AGC) and the Caparrapos -a drug smuggling organisation established by former paramilitaries-, together with the FARC dissidents. Many of the social leaders and human rights defenders in the department express that one of the most important reasons is the dispute over the Nudo del Paramillo area, which is strategic for illegal economies. Furthermore, according to this organization, there is an absence of effective actions by the State to guarantee the rights of the population. This explains the violence suffered by the inhabitants of the south of Córdoba, as well as other areas of the country such as the departments of Cauca and Antioquia, since they have also suffered the murder of many social leaders, in similar circumstances.

To all of the above, it can be added that in a 2018 report created by various NGOs and supported by the foreign office of Spain and the Netherlands (¿Cuales son las Patrones? Asesinatos de líderes sociales en el post acuerdo), various patterns across the killings were identified. It relates the problem of the assassinations of the social leaders after the peace agreement in Colombia, to the fact that there are still armed actors in the department that have political and economic motives that seek to obtain power and resources from the State. The document states that after the signing of the peace agreement, the rates of assassinations of social leaders have increased and other forms of violence have continued, such as kidnappings, displacement and violations of rights.

Likewise, the report presents a series of relationships that have to do with fundamental issues, such as rights violations, illicit crops, mining, illegal groups and paramilitaries, among others. To highlight, the violation of the right to life is very recurrent in the country, affecting 84.37% of its area, and Córdoba is no exception, as it is the region that occupies the fifth place with 16 violations of this right. Many of these modifications have to do with the use of land for drug trafficking, the presence of the military and armed groups, forced displacement and illegal extraction activities.

Additionally, the issue of illicit crops is so important because it can be seen that there is a pattern. The first ten departments with the highest number of murders of social leaders and human rights defenders – including Córdoba – coincide with the highest presence of coca cultivation; this is linked to point 4 of the peace agreements that talks about the treatment of these lands, and showing that many of the deaths of social leaders in those regions are directly related to issues of illicit crops.

Mining is another example due to this issue having always been related to the Colombian armed conflict and violation of human rights. The Office of the Ombudsman affirms that in 2015, illegal mining was practiced in 56% of Colombian territory and one of the most affected places was the department of Córdoba; this leads to environmental and social problems, so many environmental defenders came to light who openly declared themselves against the exploitation of commodities. In this sense many deaths were related to illegal mining and social leaders who protected the natural resources of the region.

The problems of illegality, armed groups and displacement can be absolutely linked to unemployment, lack of education and, of course, the huge power vacuum due to the lack of state presence; that mean that leaders like Luis Dario find themselves in a very dangerous situation and at the same time making Cordoba a notorious department for these issues.

In almost all of the country’s departments at least one social leader has been assassinated and the most serious thing is that most of these cases go unpunished before Colombian justice. According to Dejusticia (2019) it is estimated that 284 social leaders were assassinated in 2018.

Luis Darío Rodriguez was a great social leader, but he was also a husband and a father of three children who was dedicated to agriculture and fishing, and in this way he supported his family. He was part of two associations and organizations in support of the welfare of his community, the Association of Displaced and Vulnerable Families of Tierralta (UFADESVUL) and the Human Rights Network in Southern Córdoba. In Tierralta Córdoba, there are traits of violence and violation of rights and freedom that are unforgivable.

The killing of social leaders is a problem that the government does not pay enough attention to, and unfortunately there are so many cases like Luis Dario. They are all similar in the patterns surrounding them, but the human impact of their killing is the same. For that reason it is necessary that the Colombian government put into action public policies that recognize and promote the work of human rights defenders in the territories.

Article written by María Alejandra Ardila Ortega, Laura Vanessa Brugés Díaz and Daniela Carrasco.

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DeJusticia. (2019). Asesinatos de líderes sociales en Colombia: una estimación del universo. – Actualización 2018 (pp. 1-9). Bogotá. Retrieved from https://hrdag.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/2019-HRDAG-killings-colombi8a-update-spanish.pdf
El Espectador. (2019). La violencia que no termina por la restitución en Tierralta. Retrieved from https://www.elespectador.com/colombia2020/territorio/la-violencia-que-no-termina-por-la-restitucion-en-tierralta-articulo-869666
La FM. (2020) Asesinan al líder social de Córdoba, Luis Darío Rodríguez Narváez. Retrieved from https://www.lafm.com.co/colombia/asesinan-al-lider-social-de-cordoba-luis-dario-rodriguez-narvaez
La Libertad. (2020). Asesinan en Córdoba al líder social Luís Darío Rodríguez. Retrieved from https://diariolalibertad.com/sitio/2020/01/18/asesinan-en-cordoba-al-lider-social-luis-dario-rodriguez/
Sánchez, A. (1996). Tierralta: Refugio de la violencia. El Tiempo. Retrieved from https://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-347407

Image retrieved from https://www.elespectador.com/colombia2020/pais/los-rostros-y-luchas-de-los-lideres-sociales-asesinados-en-lo-corrido-del-2020-articulo-913792

Bolívar: State absence leaves south of department to suffer due to the prevalence of illegal economies

The footprint of illegal mining in the south of Bolívar

Bolivar department is located in the center of Colombia, and its southern part offers easy access to many areas of the country. In the same way it also offers passways to two frontiers that are strategic for the drug trafficking routes: Venezuela and Panama. On the other hand, Bolivar is a strategic area for Colombia, because the country depends on its oil, agricultural and ecological resources. Its geography has been a determining factor in the economic development of this region; the fertility of soil and geographical features (mountains, rivers or swamps) are also attractive for illegal groups. For this reason, this area has extensive coca crops and facility to transport drugs along the Magdalena River.

Bolivar has been immersed in a constant conflict over the possession of land and the Colombian government lacks social policies focused on alternatives to illicit crops for the community’s subsistence. These are the reasons why it has many illegal groups, multiple Human Right violations and high levels of inequality.

Bolivar has been an area of riches and has seen the extraction of wood, gold, and also the cultivation of marijuana and coca; initiatives characterized by an environment of waste, informality and illegality. These riches have been ephemeral and have brought negative consequences that far exceed the few benefits obtained. According to Viloria (2009) “The municipalities of southern Bolivar have 73% of their territory in forest reserve area, which prevents their people from farming in a legal way”. These situations make farmers more vulnerable and increase inequality, but they also contribute to illegal oversights. Viloria (2009) affirms “This implies that the population settled within the reserve continues to be outside of institutional projects, which exacerbates their situation of poverty and misery. These circumstances may be contributing to the growth of the illegal economy of coca, logging, and gold extraction, controlled by illegal armed groups such as drug traffickers, guerrillas, and paramilitaries”. These areas are under the control of armed groups such as: the ELN, FARC dissidents, and various paramilitary groups. These are groups outside the law, which arise in order to restore order but use inadequate means. In addition, these groups have clashed historically and in recent times over control of the region’s riches through the collection of extortion taxes for the production of coca, marijuana, gold extraction and contracts through the budgets of some municipalities. Furthermore, Viloria (2009) emphasizes “these illegal armed groups are nourished and strengthened by the same resources such as illicit crops, corruption and extortion, even if they have different ideological motivations”. This way, the department is submerged in decreased economic activity due to illegal groups and state neglect; two factors which explain the high levels of coca cultivation in the region.

Colombia is positioned as the country with the highest number of coca crops in the world. Despite the efforts of the government to mitigate production, it’s only contributing to the increase in poverty in the population that remains in this type of illegal economy. According to the monitoring report of territories affected by illicit crops in Colombia (2018), “Bolivar is one the departments with increases in coca growing, estimated to be (39%)” On the other hand, Chica (2019) says: “Bolivar is one of the departments where the war with the ELN maintains an increase in the violence and systematic murders that has led the population to confinement and forced displacement”. For this reason, disputes over the territory make the government’s ineffectiveness clear in terms of the restoration of peace in that territory and the eradication of these types of crop for the transition to the legal economy. According to Trejos (2019) “the South of Bolivar is one of the most inaccessible territories of the Caribbean (it does not even have adequate access roads from the north of the region), the war is still suffered, especially due to ELN guerrillas, basically due to the presence of illegal income such as coca crops and illegal gold mining”. Therefore, the neglect of the State, poverty and illicit economies have been the main factors driving violence in this region. The main fuel of the war in this region has been drug trafficking. Despite, the demobilization of the paramilitaries and that of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), the conflict continues and has been most keenly felt by the most vulnerable sectors of the population, so it’s clear that the violation of human rights and the state’s inadequate response to resolving the crisis remain the same.

As previously stated, the inhabitants of southern Bolívar are being made victims of a massive violation of their human rights. According to The Universal (2019), organized criminal groups have taken advantage of the absence of the State, to promote drug trafficking, since this is their main source of financing, and as a result of this, peasants are being pressured to enter this practice to maintain their safety and economy. In recent years (2016-2019), there has been a large number of murders, kidnappings, and forced displacement among this population, due to the fact that armed actors use force to banish peasants from their lands and thus use them for the cultivation and distribution of illicit drugs.

The Ombudsman’s Office is concerned about how vulnerable the people of this territory are due to the armed conflict, because they are in the vicinity of the drug trafficking route, so they are being displaced from their homes since these territories are being used for illegal cultivation and to produce and distribute drugs and weapons. The public ministry requested the intervention of the state, to guarantee the fundamental rights of the population. However, this aid has not been rapid, and this has allowed the problem to spread and continue to affect the life and development of the communities who reside there.

In summary, Bolivar suffers from the consequences of living under an illegal economy. On the other hand, the government and the community has no agreement to restore order in the territory. Despite this, it seems the points dealt with in this article are key to consolidating peace, but the absence of key policies only strengthens illegal groups. Violence has become the daily life for many communities in Bolivar and the department has had a significant increase in homicides and forced displacement, demonstrating either the State’s lack of interest in the resolution of the crisis and establishing dialogues for the restoration of peace.

In addition, as has been said previously, the inhabitants of the south of the Bolivar are being seriously harmed, because they are being direct victims of a large number of violations of their human rights, and despite the fact that this situation is nationally and internationally recognized, and despite the fact that the public ministry has asked the state for help to end this problem, its response has not been effective. The state has taken a long time to take drastic measures to ensure the rights of all the people who live in this territory. The south of Bolivar is a place with difficult access, making it easier for it to be used for illegal activities that hurt the community. The state must strengthen their institutions, so that they reach these remote places and thus avoid the continued violation of the rights of all these people who are victims of violence.

*Information for this article came from the following sources:

http://historico.derechoshumanos.gov.co/Observatorio/DiagnosticoEstadisticoDepto/dd/2003-2007/bolivar.pd
https://www.eluniversal.com.co/regional/bolivar/en-bolivar-aumentaron-los-cultivos-ilicitos-CX1541235
https://verdadabierta.com/la-paz-del-sur-de-bolivar-en-la-cuerda-floja/
https://verdadabierta.com/el-conflicto-y-el-abandono-del-sur-de-bolivar/
https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/colombia
https://www.defensoria.gov.co/public/pdf/economiasilegales.pdf
https://es.insightcrime.org/noticias/analisis/sur-de-bolivar-el-fortin-criminal-donde-el-eln-se-fortalece-en-colombia/
https://www.banrep.gov.co/docum/Lectura_finanzas/pdf/DTSER-110.pdf
https://www.camaraaguachica.org.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/CONCEPTO-ECONOMICO-SOBRE-LA-REGION-SUR-DEL-CESAR-Y-SUR-DE-BOLIVAR.pdf
Image retrieved from https://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-16563519

Slain leaders like Luis Carlos Hernández represent the visible face of our sad reality

Colombia is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful countries in the world, as it has a natural wealth that is home to an incredible biological diversity and a majestic culture. Its population is characterized by being kind, loving and attentive. Colombia was considered in 2017 by the World Happiness Report as one of the countries with the highest happiness indexes, occupying the second place. Likewise, it was selected by Lonely Planet, which is one of the largest publishers of travel guides in the world, as one of the ten best destinations to visit in 2017. In spite of all these positive characteristics, Colombia has a very negative side because it continues to have the shadow of violence and conflict. This is reflected in the fact that the national territory has become a dangerous place to develop certain types of work, particularly related to social leaders working in defense of human rights. According to the UN; a human rights defender is one who is recognized by his or her community for conducting, coordinating or supporting processes of a collective nature that impact their communities in a positive way in order to dignify the living conditions of the members of those groups (OHCHR, 2020).

Social leaders who watch over the fulfillment of human rights, promote development, defend the environment, fight against illegal economies, and promote citizen participation among other actions, have been victims of assassinations throughout Colombian history, but this work has become more dangerous than ever in recent years. According to INDEPAZ; a Colombian institute specialized in conflict, development and peace, at least 850 social leaders have been killed between 2016 and 2019. This number continues to increase and the absence of the Colombian State persists in many places of the country. Furthemore, this situation includes the fact that the work of social leaders is so frequently stigmatized and not given the attention it deserves. The scourge of violence against social leaders has greatly affected the Colombian Caribbean coast, including the department of Cesar. This department not only struggles with the presence of armed groups, illicit crops, corruption and poverty but also has to deal with the multiple murders of human right defenders who just want to change the internal dynamics of the department. One of these murdered leaders from Cesar is Luis Carlos Hernández Santiago, who worked with the victims of the armed conflict, led several land restitution projects and was recognized for his community work. He was killed on December 12, 2019 and unfortunately the crime remains unpunished.

The goal of this article is to demonstrate the dynamics and context that the country faces in relation to the situation of social leaders. To achieve this, the particular story of social leader Luis Carlos Hernández Santiago will be communicated and analyzed. All this will hopefully help to represent how Colombian territory is still a victim of conflict, violence and a lack of respect for the right to life with the objective being to raise awareness in society and try to make a small contribution to improving the situation.

Luis Carlos Hernández Santiago was a social leader from the municipality of Curumaní, in the center of the department of Cesar. Luis Carlos was 42 years old and was an active member and also a representative of the departmental board of victims participation. Luis was in charge of supporting displaced victims of the Colombian armed conflict, providing them the necessary tools for reparation, attention and non-repetition of all atrocities committed by armed groups. According to Victor Hugo Mosquera, director of the Cesar victims unit, Luis Carlos was a leader, collaborator and defender of the members of the departmental board (Diario del Cesar, 2019). In addition, he was candidate for the municipal council of Curumaní in the 2019 elections and was leading several land restitution projects. He was also coordinating issues related to the substitution of illicit crops in the context of the implementation of the peace agreement in the region. This last project consisted of giving special treatment to those on the lowest of the drug trafficking chain, the coca growers, by promoting the voluntary substitution of illicit crops in order to transform the department of Cesar. Likewise, Luis Carlos supported projects related to the call for strengthening the presence of the state in Cesar.

One of the biggest projects Luis Carlos Hernandez was involved in was linked to the improvement of the lives of people who suffered violence in that territory, by offering assistance via legal avenues. On the other hand, he was developing a diverse plan of action to change the quality of life for victims of the conflict which consisted of access to educational services so that these people could acquire new work skills. Luis Carlos had the desire to contribute to his community and help turn his region into a more dignified territory because he had also been a victim of violence many years ago. His younger brother was brutally murdered during a confrontation of illegal groups in Cesar. As can be seen, Luis Carlos was doing a great job in his community, a situation that put him at risk as his work represented an obstacle for the interests of various illegal sectors in the region.

According to the newspaper El Heraldo, on Thursday, December 12 2019, Luis Carlos Hernández left his home in the municipality of Curumaní and went to the village of Los Ranchos in the sector of the Serranía del Perijá. Luis Carlos was attending a meeting which had been scheduled by telephone and he was accompanied by his brother -in- law. Shortly after arriving at the village, they were intercepted by some armed subjects who were all dressed in black and who shot at them. Luis Carlos died immediately, while the person accompanying him was wounded in the neck and managed to go to the hospital and tell the authorities what had happened. The body of Luis Carlos was removed the next day when the police and the army arrived, as this area is difficult to access based on its topography and given the risk due to the presence of armed groups. A report from the departmental Ombudsman’s office stated that Luis Carlos had received death threats, but that he had refused police protection and that he had rejected these preventive measures (Caracol News, 2019). Nevertheless, representatives from the municipal town rejected these statements and pointed out that Luis Carlos had been requesting guarantees of protection from the Ombudsman’s Office in Valledupar, but that the security scheme had never been put into effect and that the only thing he had been given was instructions not to mobilize in some sectors.

For its part, the municipal authorities of Curumaní offered in December 2019, a reward of 15 million Colombian pesos to clarify the causes of the murder of the social leader and identify the perpetrators of this crime (RPT news, 2019). Likewise, the community of the municipality of Curumaní held a peaceful protest in December, with the hope that this type of situation would not be repeated. Today, almost six months later, the crime is still unpunished and the situation in the department of Cesar remains unchanged. To understand as deeply as possible the causes of the death of Luis Carlos Hernández Santiago, it is very important and necessary to refer to the context, the characteristics and the dynamics presented in the department of Cesar and in many other territories throughout the country.

Cesar is located in the northwest of Colombia and is one of the thirty-two departments that make up the country. It borders La Guajira and Magdalena to the north; Bolívar, Santander and Norte de Santander to the south; and Norte de Santander and Venezuela to the east. Geographically, it is divided into six zones: the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the Serranía de Perijá, the Complejo cenagoso de Zapatosa, the Valle del río del César, the Valle del río Ariguaní and the Valle del Magdalena (Governación de César, n.d.). Regarding the economic and social development of the department, the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) presented a report in which multidimensional poverty is calculated by municipalities based on the information of the National Population and Housing Census (CNPV) of 2018. This report showed that 25 of the municipalities of the department of Cesar exceed the national average of multidimensional poverty of 2018, which was 19,6%, and in some cases, even doubling it (El Pilón, 2020).

Historically, the department of Cesar has been immersed in a climate of violence generated by the presence of illegal groups such as the FARC, ELN, EPL, AGC, and paramilitaries, as well as drug traffickers and the so-called “BACRIM” (criminal gangs formed by former paramilitaries). Likewise, according to a publication by the Silla Vacía (2018), Luis Fernando Trejos, a political scientist from the region, states that the Northeastern War Front (ELN guerrilla group) continues to operate in the south of the department, concentrating specifically on municipalities where there are hectares of coca such as Aguachica, Curumaní, Gamarra, La Gloria and Pelaya. In accordance with this, local authorities point out that Curumani, a municipality located near to the Serranía del Perijá and where the murder of Luis Carlos took place, is considered as a high-risk sector due to the presence of these groups. This corresponds to a number of factors that encourage atrocious crimes against social leaders. In this sense, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (2020) points out that:

Of the 108 killings documented by OHCHR, 75 per cent occurred in rural areas; 86 per cent in municipalities with a multidimensional poverty index above the national average; 91 per cent in municipalities where the homicide rate indicates the existence of endemic violence; and 98 per cent in municipalities with the presence of illicit economies and ELN, other violent groups and criminal groups.

In this vein, Luis Carlos Hernández sought to address this situation and generate positive change in his municipality by coordinating projects related to illicit crop substitution in the context of the post-agreement.

In addition to these factors, there is corruption, clientelism and the lack of institutional presence in the department. In the particular case of corruption, OHCHR (2020) received information about possible cases involving members of the police and army in Amazonas, Antioquia, Caquetá, Chocó, Cauca, Cesar, La Guajira, Magdalena, Nariño, Huila, Putumayo and Valle del Cauca. In addition, OHCHR notes that these situations may affect the effectiveness of measures taken against the ELN, criminal groups and other violent groups. In that sense, when one takes into consideration the possible involvement of members of the police and army in illegal practices, the vulnerability of leaders like Luis Carlos becomes even more evident.

Unfortunately the context which condemned Luis Carlos is reflected in several parts of the region and the country. Cesar is not the only department that has been affected by the murder of social leaders. In other departments, that is to say, in different geographical contexts, there are similar cases of murders of social leaders who were working on similar projects.

There are other cases that share similar characteristics to that of Luis Carlos Hernandez. For example there is the case of Hernán Antonio Bermúdez Arévalo, a social leader born in Riohacha (in the department of La Guajira), who was murdered in 2019 at the age of 56 by two men on a bike. Hernan Bermudez, just like Luis Carlos Hernandez, led the process of restitution of land to groups of peasants, and he also was a member of the Community Council of Afro-descendants. Elsewhere, there is also the case of Jorge Luis Betancourt, a 42-year-old social leader from Montelíbano, Córdoba. He was carrying out a land restitution project in Montelíbano and he was killed by men who shot him in his house. Jorge also worked as a peasant leader and was the president of the Community Action Board in the village of San Francisco del Rayo. Finally, it is important to mention the case of Luis Darío Rodríguez Narvaez, a farmer and fisherman. He was murdered in January 2020 by unknown men on a motorcycle. That murder represented the 39th case of deaths of social leaders in the department of Córdoba since 2016. Luis Darío belonged to the Unión de Familias Desplazadas y Vulnerables de Tierralta (Union of Displaced and Vulnerable Families of Tierralta) and had previously denounced the threats against his life, after becoming involved in the process of restitution of land to displaced people.

In this sense, it can be observed that although the contexts are different and these leaders are not part of the same geographical areas, they are still similar cases, where the common denominator is the work related to land restitution. And this, is no coincidence, according to the Foundation “Forging Futures” cited in El Espectador (2019), a report determined that “the departments with the greatest aggressions against human rights defenders are also the regions where there is “minimal progress” in land restitution”. Therefore, it can be said that in these cases, the practices and actions of violence are focused on people fighting for the processes of land restitution and construction. In addition, with regard to the spatial issue, there is also a correlation between violations of the right to life and voting in the 2016 Plebiscite for Peace. According to a study by CCJ, I., & Cinep, U. N. (2018) there is a “correlation between municipalities that voted YES and critical municipalities in terms of violations of the right to life”. Such is the case of Riohacha, Curumaní, Montelibano, and Tierralta with 62.55%, 59.21%, 58.17%, and 69.76% respectively in favor of the YES vote. It is important to highlight that land restitution is linked to the peace process. Although in these cases it has not been determined where the order to kill these leaders has come from and that they may be different actors in each case, the message is the same: the restitution of land is being resisted by powerful interest groups.

All of this, is affected by another critical point to understand: the fact that the Colombian State, due to a lack of political will or capacity, has not fully complied with its commitment to guarantee security and the exercise of human rights with the people in these areas.

Finally, much more importance and attention needs to be given to this type of work because it is necessary in the current situation that our country is experiencing, given that the number of deaths of social leaders is increasing daily and we do not have a positive response from the government to control this situation. In order to improve the current panorama and change it definitively, it is important that the Colombian government has a real interest in addressing this problem, to find effective and radical solutions to eliminate the systematic violation of human rights in the country. Instead of stigmatizing them, it is necessary to recognize the importance of the positive work of social leaders in those communities where the State does not have a presence, and to ensure that carrying out their work does not constitute a serious danger to their own lives. These types of atrocities highlight that there is still a power vacuum in these rural areas and the lack of state control in these forgotten territories is still evident. With that in mind, it is imperative to make visible a problem that affects the most vulnerable and marginalized sectors of society, and once again shows the massive violation of human rights that exists in Colombia under different practices. It is vitally important to keep this type of case in the lens and give it the importance it deserves. It is a way of denouncing this type of violation that generates so much damage, and in the same way it serves to show Colombian society the hard situation of violence that is lived in the bowels of the country. Until the national government takes action and takes into account everything that is happening in the country, the murders will continue to occur more and more, and democratic participation will remain only an ideal rather than a reality for many within Colombia.

*Article written by Luis Porras, Sofia Martinez, Nayelis Melendez & Yuliana Martinez

Bibliography

Alcaldía ofrece $15 millones por sicario que asesinó a líder social (16 December 2019). Diario del Cesar. Retrieved from: https://www.diariodelcesar.com/archivos/67351

CCJ, I., & Cinep, U. N. (2018). ¿ Cuáles son los patrones. Asesinatos de líderes sociales en el post-acuerdo. Bogotá. Retrieved from: http://www.nocheyniebla.org/wp-content/uploads/u1/docs/cuales_son_los_patrones_final. pdf

Gobernación de César. (n.d.). Departamento del Cesar. Retrieved from: http://cesar.gov.co/d/index.php/es/mainmeneldpto/mendeppre

Helliwell, J, Layard, R & Sachs, J (2017). World Happiness Report 2017. Retrieved from: https://s3.amazonaws.com/happiness-report/2017/HR17.pdf

Instituto de estudios para el desarrollo y la paz, INDEPAZ (2019). Líderes asesinados al 26 de julio de 2019. Retrieved from: http://www.indepaz.org.co/informe-lideres-y-defensores-de-ddhh-asesinados-al-26-de-julio-de-2019/

Líder social asesinado a tiros en Curumaní desistió de medidas de protección, según Policía (13 December 2019). Caracol News Tv. Retrieved from: https://noticias.caracoltv.com/caribe/lider-social-asesinado-tiros-en-curumani-desistio-de-medidas-de-proteccion-segun-policia

Lonely Planet (2016). Best in Travel 2017: top 10 countries. Retrieved from: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/best-in-travel-2017-top-10-countries

Matan a tiros a líder social en Curumaní (13 December 2019). El Heraldo. Article and image retrieved from: https://www.elheraldo.co/cesar/matan-tiros-lider-social-en-curumani-687225

Municipios del Cesar, entre los más pobres del país (1 february 2020). El Pilón. Retrieved from: https://elpilon.com.co/municipios-del-cesar-entre-los-mas-pobres-del-pais/

Ofrecen recompensa por asesinos de líder social en Curumaní (16 December 2019). RPT news. Retrieved from: https://www.rptnoticias.com/2019/12/16/ofrecen-recompensa-por-asesinos-de-lider-social-en-curumani/United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2020). Situation of human rights in Colombia. Retrieved from: https://www.hchr.org.co/documentoseinformes/informes/altocomisionado/A_HRC_43_3_Add.3_AdvanceUneditedVersion-2019-2.pdf

Magdalena: Caribbean Paradise Plagued by Violence

Almost 15 years after AUC demobilisation, neo-paramilitaries exercise control over large parts of Magdalena (with tragic consequences for leaders such as Yoryanis Berna, Maritza Quiroz & Wilton Orrego (pictured top to bottom)

While the first Article of the Political Constitution of Colombia states that our country is “democratic, participatory and pluralist, founded on respect for human dignity, on the labor and solidarity of the persons constituting it and on the primacy of the general interest”, these characteristics are not reflected in the reality of our society. Here, many people feel they are Colombian only by name; that the State and its institutions are so far away from them, they seem foreign. This sentiment is mainly present in the “peripheries” of our country; those places far away from the thoughts of the major cities, where vulnerable communities such as afro-descendants, indigenous people or campesinos (those involved in small scale farming) live.

All of the above is a consequence of the power vacuum due to the absence of the State, where the protection or social development policies, if there are any, do not have a real impact on the communities they are meant to benefit. Colombia is a country where the investment in education, health, work or economic development projects is not enough to tackle the problems the population is facing, or where the resources for such projects simply never make it to the intended populations because of corruption in the power pyramid. In our country, State power is so concentrated in the center of the country (and in the hands of the same small minority who have had it throughout Colombian history), it has practically turned its back to any place it does not perceive as important enough. We live in a reality where the alienation and the distrust towards the State has gotten so bad, people try to extricate themselves from the political narrative of the country. This power vacuum has been exploited by illegal groups, either paramilitary, guerilla groups or even BACRIM (an acronym for Criminal Gangs; groups formed by former paramilitaries following the demobilization of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia in 2006), in order to seize power over the population who reside in those vulnerable areas. This situation has led to violence against social leaders; citizens who fight for the rights of their communities because the interests of these illegal groups far from benefit the population. These leaders must then claim their rights without the protection of the State and in the presence of dangerous illegal groups. Not only do these assassinations obey social, economic or political reasons, but they also create a cycle that perpetuates them: someone raises their voice to claim the fulfillment of their rights, they get killed and the crime is either never solved or attributed to another reason; the government does not intervene and the original problem is never addressed, thus making it necessary for someone else to speak up. These situations may vary from region to region, and even from department to department, but the dynamics are the same. In this article we will focus on Magdalena, a department important for its tourism (mainly in Santa Marta and the Sierra Nevada areas), and its agricultural, livestock and port activities. The department is home to four main indigenous groups and two protected natural areas. This article will explore the issue of illegal groups in Magdalena and focus on three cases of leaders being killed in the region in order to understand the dynamics that ultimately explain why social leaders are absolutely crucial to the growth and welfare of their communities, and why the government should be doing more to not only guarantee their welfare but also to ensure that their requests are heard.

Context of violence in Magdalena

The terrain of a region largely determines its value for illegal groups. Magdalena not only has large extensions of fertile soil and the Sierra Nevada mountain range, where many illegal activities can be concealed, but it also has a strategic geographical location in Colombia, ideal for trafficking towards other countries. The main problems within this department are the cultivation of illicit crops, the links between illegal groups and politics, the occupation of some properties by landowners who have in the past had links with paramilitary groups and whose lands are now either protected wildlife areas or being claimed by indigenous and other campesino communities, and the displacement of families and communities related to all of the above.

The conflict in Magdalena is not a recent problem; it has been a reality for decades, stretching back beyond the formation of the guerrillas and years later when paramilitary groups were formed. The former, upon consolidation, built a drug trafficking empire near the lands of the country’s bananas companies, taking advantage of the perks provided by the fertile terrains and their isolated location to cultivate their crops. Among the guerrilla groups, we can highlight the FARC and the ELN, which proclaimed themselves to be the legitimate authorities of these territories given the evident vacuum of state power. On the other hand, the paramilitary groups appeared in the 90s, with their goal being to counterbalance the guerrillas’ influence in the region by fighting them. They were mainly integrated by families with a broad territorial power who sought to protect their properties and businesses from the abuses of such groups. We can highlight the predominance of the Giraldos, the Rojas Clan, Los Paisas, Los Chamizos, the William Rivas Front and the actions of alias “Jorge 40”; as being examples of paramilitaries who sought to overthrow the guerrillas in Magdalena, but later became associated with drug trafficking, murder services, parapolitics, and created a curse of violence much worse than the one experienced with the guerrillas.

In the 1970s, the Rojas and Giraldo families settled down near the Sierra Nevada´s territory, uprooting indigenous communities that had lived there due to their desire of getting their fertile lands for agricultural and livestock ends. However, because of the guerrilla presence they were often threatened and sabotaged, inciting them to hold up arms in order to protect their lands and eliminate the insurgents. As a result, both families decided to join into this cause and created the first paramilitary group in the department called Los Chamizos, which took control of the Sierra for almost 20 years. Later on, this new coalition got involved in drug trafficking, murders, blackmailing, and the displacement of multiple communities all over the region. Nonetheless, in 2000, the Rojas Clan, “Jorge 40” and Los Castaño brothers (Carlos and Fidel Castaño were the leaders of this paramilitary group, created as revenge for the murder of their father at the hands of the guerrillas) got in a dispute with Giraldo and a grim war covered Magdalena, in which hundreds of people died. Since the previously mentioned forces had much more power, Hernan Giraldo was defeated and an agreement was made stipulating that a new paramilitary group needed to be created synthesizing Los Chamizos with their forces. Here was born the Tayrona Resistance Force with alias Jorge 40 as their chief and Giraldo as the commander. This paramilitary force was responsible for some terrible acts of violence which created cases of mass displacement of communities in Magdalena and surrounding areas. Based on the Fiscalía Novena de Justicia y Paz data, The Tayrona Resistance Force is responsible for more than 2.900 assassinations all over the Sierra Nevada due to their extreme resentment of the guerrillas and anyone perceived as being sympathetic to them. By 2006 Giraldo, as part of the AUC demobilisation process, submitted to the justice process and the paramilitary groups went into conflict due to their ambition to fill the power vacuum left by him. As a result, they divided into factions forming some of the today’s organizations such as Las Águilas Negras, Los Paisas, el Clan del Golfo and Los Pachencas. The last one (Los Panchecas but now being identified as the Conquistador Heroes of the Sierra Nevada) in particular are suspected of carrying out much of the modern day violence in Magdalena, being in possession of a lot of territories inside Magdalena and all over the Caribbean region.

Crimes against leaders and activists

The alarming presence of violence and the transgression of human rights has led some individuals to take a step forward in order to fight for the safety of their communities. In this case, due to the complex situation that Magdalena is going through, social leaders have emerged to represent the interests of these communities. Nonetheless, they are constantly jeopardized by armed groups that intend to establish fear among the population of the region in their desire to maintain their monopoly of power, causing the cruel assassinations of social leaders in the department. Recently, Los Pachencas has become one of the most powerful paramilitary groups in the Caribbean region, mostly in Magdalena and La Guajira where nearly all their operations are done. This armed group is dominant in the region from the area of Cienega to Dibulla in the department of La Guajira, filling the void that was not only left by Hernan Giraldo, but also the one felt due to the absence of State presence. The activities of this organization are focused on drug trafficking, illegal commercialization of gasoline, blackmailing and they are suspected of responsibility in the assassination of social leaders the region; in fact, 2 of the 3 cases which this article will highlight are suspected to have been perpetrated by this group.

The first case to look at is Maritza Quiroz, a 60-year-old social leader who was a deputy on the Victim´s Board (representing victims of the conflict in the region) in Santa Marta. Her work was focused on helping Afro-Colombian women who suffered displacement and being the leading voice of her community with the government. Maritza suffered displacement in her native land in Valledupar and years later her husband was murdered by insurgents in San Pedro de la Sierra, which forced her to flee to Santa Marta. In 2013, Maritza applied to a governmental program where she received help from the National Agency of Lands, which assigned her (along with nine other women) a piece of land in San Isidro de la Sierra. There, she decided to be a voice not only for her new community but also to all the people who experienced displacement or violence, and likewise to defend women’s rights around the city; that’s how she became a social leader. Nevertheless, even though Maritza contributed a lot of hard work and improvement to the community, there had reportedly been threats by insurgents due to her willingness for making change in her village. In January 2019, Maritza was murdered at her home, reportedly by neo-paramilitary structures operating in the region. According to a local news source, this unique woman was a victim of Los Pachencas, because she had dismantled a structure on her land in order to protect her homeland from drug trafficking, and also the fact that her current social work was a risk to the intimidation that this organization wants to prevail inside the communities. Furthermore, national papers and other researchers believe that Maritza was another victim of the dynamics of assassinations of social leaders in the region. From that perspective, this brave woman was one of the other five social leaders that were killed in Colombia in just the first five days of 2019 owing to their work as human rights defenders, environmental protectors and local leaders, among others.

The next case is Wilton Orrego, a park ranger inside the National Natural Park of the Sierra Nevada who safeguarded the natural territory of the region, its natural beauty and the biodiversity of Santa Marta. Also, he reported the illegal uses of land near La Lengüeta such as drug trafficking (according to some researchers, the Sierra Nevada, where Wilton was murdered, is one of the natural parks that has illegal coca and marijuana crops due to the presence of armed groups in the zone), the pollution by industries, illegal occupation of the zone and illegal building inside the protected areas. In this case, this social leader was centered on the preservation of the department’s environment from illicit activities such as the ones mentioned. Reportedly, he too became the prey of Los Panchencas, owing to their intention of acquiring more presence in those territories for their further exploitation, or for them not wanting to see changes in the area which may affect their interests. La Lengüeta is a strategic zone for its fertile lands to farm coca leaves and for trafficking wood and cocaine, very lucrative ventures for these organizations; because of this, Orrego was murdered. Wilton was shot dead near the area of Perico Aguao. Curiously, this is also where the bodies of environmentalists Natalia Jimenez and Rodrigo Monsalve were found in December 2019. That case was judged to be a robbery but it seems strange that both these crimes occurred in this specific area; an area which is under the control of illegal groups such as Los Pachencas. Indeed, the killings in this particular stretch of Magdalena continue to occur with environmental and local leader Alejandro Llinás, who had submitted complaints over the handling of tourism within the protected areas and had also spoken out against the influence of neo-paramilitaries in the area, was shot dead at his farm near Calabazo on April 14th 2020.

Finally, there was the case of Yoryanis Isabel Bernal, an indigenous social leader of the wiwa community and a member of the Golkushe Human Rights group. Even though she was killed in Valledupar, Cesar, her work involved representing valuable indigenous communities in Magdalena. This woman was not only a bridge between the government and multiple indigenous communities, but also a passionate defender of women’s rights and a guardian of nature. Undoubtedly, her death can be linked to the dynamics of repression that paramilitaries and guerrillas demonstrate; since the beginning of the conflict in Magdalena, indigenous communities have been probably the most affected ones, considering their territories are located in key zones that facilitate the illicit practices of these groups and the lack of importance that they are really given by the State. Yoryanis was killed by an ex-member of Los Paisas, who allegedly tried to make it look like a robbery to mask the case so it would not be linked to the organization. It can be inferred that her death was planned because of how she encouraged indigenous communities to defend themselves and fight against every armed group that might try to harm their environment through practices such as the cultivation of drugs. Based on the three cases we looked at, it is pertinent to conclude that people who represent victims rights, protect biodiversity in the region and represent indigenous rights are viewed as an obstacle by the illegal powers in the area; something which should worry us all and should draw the attention of the State to make a proper intervention.

Patterns of social leaders deaths

The violations of the right to life of social leaders tend to be focused on certain areas of the country that have one or more of the following characteristics: A high correlation with the presence of paramilitary groups, correlation with zones affected by forced displacement, correlation with warned areas in risk reports and alerts from the Ombudsman’s Office and finally, a correlation between violations of the right to life and voting in the 2016 peace plebiscite.

The profile of some murdered social leaders highlights evidence of their participation in various organizations. Some of the previously mentioned cases before have these patterns, like Maritza’s case as she was a victim of displacement and then became a defender of female victims of displacement. The common pattern that we saw in all of the cases is somehow the involvement of paramilitary groups, either for threats to victims or for allegedly committing the crime. Another pattern that has not been mentioned before is that some of the deaths took place within the same area (area of Perico Aguao) and near to each other, as in the Wilton Orrego, and Natalia Jimenez/Rodrigo Monsalve cases. The area where these cases occurred is reportedly owned by an important landowner in Magdalena who has in the past had links with paramilitary groups. The protection of the natural resources of the Magdalena department is also hugely relevant because in the region, there can be found different types of resources that are only found there, and not in other parts of the country. Many social leaders such as Wilton Orrego and Yoryanis Isabel Bernal are defenders of nature of their region. Across all the country these patterns are a common denominator; other regions such as Cesar and Cordoba suffer the same problems that affect Magdalena too, such as criminal competition which means that one or more illegal groups tries to take down the main illegal group that has the hegemony in the territory. Another pattern that can be visible in those departments are that they are marginalized from the central government and that explains why those are regions left behind by the state and living a power vacuum. The central government knows that these regions are very rich in natural resources for the country, and yet they continue to leave them behind and this causes all the phenomens that those departments suffer. This power vacuum from the central government continues in Magdalena even though, in the 2016 plebiscite, the departments that were mostly affected by the conflict voted yes to the signing of the peace treaty because of what they had suffered due to the war. Such was the case with many parts of the Magdalena department. But those who voted no, which were located in the urban areas and did not suffer as many consequences as those who lived in rural areas, won the plebiscite. Since then the government continues leaving behind those actors that were the victims. Such actions do not take into account future consequences, such as the murder of social leaders in these forgotten regions.

The way forward?

We have seen that the central government has a lack of presence in the department of Magdalena, allowing different armed groups such as the ELN, paramilitary groups, and BACRIM to be present in the region. Social leaders deaths are the result of the lack of presence of the State, because this gives armed groups the opportunity to commit their crimes without any pressure of the State and also permits them to get away with their crimes. If the government would take necessary action whenever a social leader was at risk and threatened, many deaths could be prevented, but the absence of protection of social leaders around Colombia is a daily fact. Those social leaders that continue with their jobs of protecting their communities and denounce criminal activities in their region, live in constant fear for their lives. Because they never know if they are going to be the next victim.

Different groups have economic and political interest in this region due to geostrategic location in the country and all of the natural resources that are found in the department. That’s why many social leaders are at risk, due to the groups that have interest in the area, so those who denounce the things that are wrong such as Maritza Quiroz, Wilton Orrego and Yoryanis Isabel Berna face fatal consequences.

These social leader killings can be solved, but only if the government take more account of the work of the social leaders and give them the attention they deserve because of the labor they do in their communities. The government could create a special law that investigates and sanctions those crimes against social leaders. With this, the number of cases of killings related to social leaders could be reduced and people could understand how and why social leaders are being killed.

Finally, the department has one of the most important national parks in the country that carries a lot of cultural heritage of the country, a lot of natural landscapes that are unique in the country; for example the Sierra Nevada and the pristine beaches. The indigenous groups that are found in the region are an important part of Colombia’s past and present cultural identity. Therefore, the government needs to make sure that those social leaders that fight for the department are safe and are allowed to accomplish their work without any problem.

*Article written by Natalia Beltran, Maria Paula Corona & Maria Camila Martinez

Information for this article came from the following sources:

https://www.elheraldo.co/magdalena/en-el-magdalena-hay-mas-de-300-lideres-amenazados-652983

https://lapazenelterreno.com/lider-social/yoryanis-isabel-bernal

https://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-860838

https://www.elheraldo.co/magdalena/las-nuevas-guerras-de-las-bacrim-para-expandirse-en-la-costa-649541

https://www.elespectador.com/noticias/nacional/asesinan-pareja-que-fue-secuestrada-en-la-sierra-nevada-de-santa-marta-articulo-906920

https://www.elheraldo.co/el-dominical/los-pachenca-y-los-agc-guerra-por-el-control-territorial-de-la-sierra-705353

https://lasillavacia.com/silla-llena/red-caribe/situacion-actual-de-los-grupos-armados-ilegales-caribe-colombiano-72177

https://www.lafm.com.co/colombia/director-del-parque-nacional-sierra-nevada-de-santa-marta-denuncia-amenazas-de-muerte

https://www.unidadvictimas.gov.co/es/ruv/37385

https://www.dane.gov.co/files/investigaciones/condiciones_vida/pobreza/2018/Region_bt_pobreza_multidimensional_18_caribe.pdf

https://indicedetransparencia.org.co/ITD/Gobernaciones

The Dynamics of Violence in Cordoba

María del Pilar Hurtado was one of the social leaders to have been killed in Cordoba

Can you imagine living in a context where the barriers of legality and illegality are intertwined to the point that it becomes impossible to differentiate between them? Where fighting for your rights makes you a disturbance for both legal and illegal forces? Where, even though a Peace Treaty has been adopted, in which your rights are guaranteed, your conditions of existence still continue to be the same or worse.

That is the reality for social leaders in Cordoba who have to coexist with these particular dynamics that are present in the territory and that are endemic to the region. Dynamics such as the State’s abandonment of territories, the link between defense of land rights and the murder of social leaders and, finally, the relationship among illegal groups in the region. In this article we propose that the endemic dynamics present in the territory have not changed since the adoption of the Peace Treaty of 2016 and, in some cases, they have worsened.

Before continuing on, it is important to provide some brief contextual information about Cordoba. The latter is a Colombian department located in the North-West region of the country. Thanks to its fertile lands and extensive plains, cattle raising and crop plantation play a huge role in the economic life of the territory. Additionally, the department is home to Monteria, also known as the “Capital Ganadera de Colombia”, or the Livestock Capital of Colombia. The department is divided into 7 subregions: The Alto Sinú, The Bajo Sinú, The Medio Sinú, Costanera, Centro (Center), Sabanas (Savannah) and San Jorge. Furthermore, as a war-torn territory, Cordoba’s populace have grown accustomed to high levels of violence at the hands of illegal groups. According to the Defensoria del Pueblo, or Ombudsman’s office, in Colombia (A national government agency in charge of overseeing the human and civil rights of the Colombian people), out of all the municipalities of Cordoba, the most affected by violence are Tierralta, Montelíbano and Puerto Libertador due to presence of the Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia (AGC) and the Nuevo Frente 18 (FARC dissidents). Moreover, the department is home to strategic places, such as the Nudo Del Paramillo, that serve as a corridor for drug trafficking and a hiding place for the drug factories. The latter causes illegal groups to fight among themselves for control over it. Having a clear understanding of the context surrounding social leaders, it is possible to continue on with explaining the difficult dynamics they face.

Firstly, Cordoba continues to be one of the most abandoned territories of Colombia, a point which is evident by the high presence of inequality, the lack of infrastructure and the high levels of corruption. For instance, the Technical Bulletin of Multidimensional Poverty on the Caribbean Region Department of emphasis: The Guajira [Boletín técnico sobre Pobreza Multidimensional Región Caribe Departamento de énfasis: La Guajira] (DANE, 2018) found out that Cordoba is one of the poorest territories of the Caribbean region with a score of 36,7%. The Index used in this study was The Multidimensional Poverty Index [Índice de Pobreza Multidimensional] which measures the proportion of the population that does not have access to decent education, living conditions, health services, work opportunities and public services. Therefore, the higher the score the bigger the proportion of the population that lives in precarious conditions.

Furthermore, the GINI coefficient for Cordoba in 2015 was 0.465 and in 2017 was 0.468. The significance of the GINI coefficient is that it measures the wealth distribution/inequality inside a nation. Hence, the absence of a decrease in the score between 2015 and 2017 indicates that inequality has not changed even after the Peace Treaty entered into force in 2016 with Cordoba being a zone of interest. Thus, demonstrating that the authorities have had a lack of interest in the region. Moreover, corruption is rampant in Cordoba as it has been the breeding ground for multiple corruption scandals. For example, through the years the department has seen the Cartel de la Hemofilia (A political scandal that involved government officials creating false cases of patients with hemophilia, in order to receive royalties from the State that then were used to finance political campaigns), Cartel del Baston (An embezzlement of 3.400 million pesos in which money was diverted to give “assistance” to senior citizens that did not exist) and the Escandalo de las Tucson (A fraud that involved a judge ruling in favor of the ex-workers from Telecom -a state-owned telecommunications enterprise- and ordering the company to pay for the economic benefits of those ex-workers, to which they were not entitled) have occurred in this territory and, in each case, it demonstrated that corruption is endemic to the region. What is more, when all of these conditions of poverty, lack of investment and engrained corruption arise; violence has tended to increase as well. In addition, where violence is rampant, there are bound to be people who speak up and in this case it is the social leaders who have raised their voices and for that they have paid a heavy price.

As previously mentioned, Cordoba is a department with complex dynamics of violence that were expected to settle down after the adoption of the The Peace Treaty. Nevertheless, as stated by “¿Quiénes son los patrones? (a report that provides data about the dynamics of Social Leaders and their persecutors and an analysis about the violations to the right to life), from the approval of the Peace Treaty until July 2018, there were a total of 16 murders against social leaders inside the territory.

In addition to what was stated above, the report mentioned that the reasons behind these killings can be attributed to social leaders announcing the violation of land rights and crop substitution programs. Hence, by doing so they become a target for paramilitary groups that benefit from illegal crop plantation. It is essential to remember that these places were formerly areas influenced by the FARC, where they developed coca leaf farming as a means of financing. When they left, after the adoption of The Peace Treaty, a power vacuum was formed in Cordoba that is nowadays being filled by paramilitary groups. For example, the power vacuum present in the south of Cordoba has been filled by groups such as the “Clan del Golfo” and other unidentified paramilitary groups (Fundación Paz & Reconciliación, 2017). In 2017, under the regime of the paramilitary groups, in Cordoba there were 2668 hectares of illicit crops that end up being denounced by social leaders.

The most concerning point that was brought up in the report was the lack of interest from Cordoba’s political class, which can be explained by the overlapping interests shared with paramilitary groups or their alignment with illegal para-political activities; for example, Miguel A. De La Espriella, Cordoba’s representative in National Congress, was accused of para-political related policy and illegal crop businesses due to the ex-Senator being linked with “Mancuso” and Carlos Castaño, both notorious former paramilitary leaders. Additionally, there has been the case of Eleonora Pineda, an ex-Congresswoman prosecuted for her relationship with para-militarism, and the case of Carlos Nader Simmonds, an ex-congressman prosecuted in the United States for drug trafficking (El Tiempo, 2017). These cases are just some examples of the long list of politicians linked with illicit activities and paramilitary groups in the region.

All of the above showcases that there is an incentive for the political class to cooperate or, at least, to ignore the actions carried out by the paramilitary groups, as in some cases those actions align with their interest or help them perpetuate their position in local government. Hence, when a social leader calls out the actions carried out by the paramilitary groups and is then murdered for it, there is no real motivation from the political class to look for the perpetrator. For example, when the social organisations of the south of Cordoba defended illegal crop substitution, one of its social leaders was killed. As of the time of writing, the perpetrator has not been found. The rise in quantity of illicit crops has not only made social leaders speak out against them, but has also made the clashes between illegal groups increase.

The fight for land is not exclusive to social leaders. Since the departure of FARC fighters from the region, the power vacuum left behind has been a source of conflict between the illegal groups that fight for control over the abandoned territories, causing an increase in violence. Undoubtedly, other causes exist in addition to the control of illicit crops and more recently for the issuance of mining titles. According to the report “Quienes son los patrones?” the Neo Paramilitaries (former members of the armed groups) represent the group that dominates the best part of the region. Since 1994, The Castaño brothers (the founders and leaders of the AUC Paramilitaries) always disputed the territory with the FARC but, after the Peace Treaty dissolved the latter group, the groups which have evolved from the AUC paramilitaries have gained even more power in the region.

Furthermore, certain areas of the department tend to be more violent than others, such as the case of southern Cordoba, in which the most notable dispute is between former paramilitaries the “Clan del Golfo” (Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia/AGC) and a splinter group, “The Caparros” (to further complicate matters, this group operates with the support of the FARC Front 18 dissidents and reportedly has links with Mexican drug cartels) for control over the land suitable for illicit crops. Proof of this, are the statements made by José David Ortega, leader of the Association of farmers of the South of Cordoba, who claimed that illegal groups take away the land from farmers in order to use them for the plantation of coca leaves. The numbers of illicit crops have increased, as evidenced by a study made by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, which revealed that in Cordoba, the cultivation of coca grew from 2,688 hectares in 2016 to 4,780 in 2017. This means that the increase of illicit crops in that department was 2,112 hectares. In fact, according to figures from the Office of the Attorney General, between June 2011 and April 2018, 7 land claimants were murdered in Cordoba. As a result, there is a strong correlation between increased crops and increased rates of violence and death. At that time, the situation was tense, and the main victims belonged to the National Program for the Substitution of Illicit crops (PNIS), as indicated by the General of the Police of Cordoba, Jairo Baquero Puentes, when he stated: “We finished a year with an increase in deaths and during the first months we had on average 3 to 4 weekly homicides”.

In contrast with the situation in the southern region, where only one actor dominates, in Tierralta all the armed actors converged, para-political ties are heavily present, and thousands of people have been displaced. After the demobilization of the AUC, this territory was filled with different armed groups: Los Rastrojos, Los Paisas, Águilas Negras, Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia (AGC) and others. Therefore, creating a problem of who controls the land, and there is a constant fight for power. It is important to understand that this is a strategic zone for war and drug trafficking.

One social leader murder that managed to move the country was that of María del Pilar Hurtado on June 21, 2019. Hurtado was part of a group of families that established a settlement in Tierralta and her role was that of a negotiator who dealt with the restitution of land and with the landowners. This role made her become its community leader. In her last months of life, she was threatened by the paramilitary group the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Clan del Golfo/AGC), as reported by human rights defenders. In addition, the threat pointed out that anyone who had been in the settlement since June was automatically considered as “military objectives”. The above is a clear example of a leader who never looked for problems with the self-defense groups or drug traffickers, but who was killed for simply defending her land rights and the rights of her community. Around this case, there was a lot of national controversy, not because of the death and its causes, but because of the video that circulated on social networks, where the leader’s son is seen crying by the corpse of his mother.

According to The Territorial Table of Guarantees for Social Leaders and Rights Defenders, Hurtado is one of the 32 leaders that have been assassinated in Cordoba since the adoption of the Peace Agreement (between 2016 and 2019). From these figures, many analysts show a correlation between the implementation of the Comprehensive Rural Reform, the plantation of Illicit Drugs and the implementation of the Peace Agreement with the murders of social leaders. In summary, a large number of the assassinations of social leaders in Cordoba are related to the interest of illegal groups in owning land for illegal crops and despite the efforts of crop substitution programs and the signing of the Peace Treaty, this situation continues to persist.

In conclusion, the State´s abandonment of territories, the link between defense of land rights and the murders of social leaders and the relationship between illegal groups reflect the complex dynamics social leaders have to deal with when trying to fight for a better future. In the end, it seems like Cordoba is on the path to becoming a para-state, where law and order is imposed by illegal groups. If the latter is achieved, the amount of violence and displacements will increase even further. Social leaders will be at the mercy of paramilitary groups that, taking into consideration what has been previously stated in this article, do not care for their rights and well being. Therefore, it is important to bring light to the situation so more people take part in defending social leaders. It is important to remember that these people are Colombians with dreams and prospects for a better future. From a moral standpoint, it is our duty to protect them.

Although the situation is deplorable in Cordoba, it is certainly not the only department in trouble. Such a situation, unfortunately, occurs in several regions where there is an abandonment of the state. Therefore, more visibility and media attention is required to identify the negative impact it has. By solving this problem, the economy and social welfare can be better developed, not only in these regions, but also in the entire Colombian territory. For example, a decrease in violence can translate to more income destined to fight against illegal groups, and more being used for the betterment of the living conditions for the inhabitants of Cordoba. Hence, economically speaking, that is why the death of a social leader must be a concern for all citizens.

The killings of social leaders should not be a debate of whether they did something to deserve it or if they were involved in suspicious business. Instead, it should be a source of worry for a life that has been lost and a future we will never know. Just like your family members, they are people fighting for what is rightfully theirs. If we have a hint of human empathy, it is within our responsibilities to help them.

References

El Espectador. (2019). El Espectador. (2019). Tierralta está controlada por los paramilitares. Retrieved from http://elespectador.com/colombia2020/territorio/tierralta-esta-controlada-por-los-paramilitares-articulo-868658. Retrieved from http://la-violencia-esta-despoblando-el-sur-de-cordoba-articulo-857821

El Espectador. (2019). Tierralta está controlada por los paramilitares. Retrieved from http://elespectador.com/colombia2020/territorio/tierralta-esta-controlada-por-los-paramilitares-articulo-868658

El Tiempo. (2017). Parece maldición: cárcel ronda a congresistas de Córdoba. Retrieved from http://eltiempo.com/politica/partidos-politicos/congresistas-de-cordoba-que-han-ido-a-la-carcel-por-parapolitica-o-corrupcion-124996

W Radio. (2020). En Córdoba habrían seis zonas rojas por orden público. Retrieved from https://www.wradio.com.co/noticias/regionales/en-cordoba-habrian-seis-zonas-rojas-por-orden-publico/20170127/nota/3368647.aspx

Perez, J. (2020). En Córdoba hay reporte de 270 líderes sociales amenazados. RCN Radio. Retrieved from http://rcnradio.com/colombia/caribe/en-cordoba-hay-reporte-de-270-lideres-sociales-amenazados

¿Cuales son los patrones? Asesinato de líderes en el post acuerdo. (2018). Bogotá.

Vargas, C. (2018). Así se robaron la plata del cartel de la hemofilia en Córdoba. El Espectador. Retrieved from https://www.elespectador.com/noticias/judicial/asi-se-robaron-la-plata-del-cartel-de-la-hemofilia-en-cordoba-articulo-800991

Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística. (2018). Pobreza multidimensional Región Caribe Departamento de énfasis: La Guajira. Retrieved from http://dane.gov.co/files/investigaciones/condiciones_vida/pobreza/2018/Region_bt_pobreza_multidimensional_18_caribe.pdf

Fundación Paz & Reconciliación. (2017). EN QUÉ ESTÁN LOS TERRITORIOS QUE DEJAN LAS FARC; ESTADO DE LAS ZONAS DE CONCENTRACIÓN Y LAS AGRESIONES A LÍDERES SOCIALES (p. 14). Retrieved from https://www.pares.com.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Informe-en-qu%C3%A9-estan-los-territorios-que-dejan-la-FARC.pdf

Image retrieved from https://latinamericanpost.com/28651-this-is-the-case-of-maria-del-pilar-hurtado