The reappearance of the murder of social leaders ignites alarms in Colombia

A new wave of violence against social leaders has sparked alarms in Colombia today, where at least four of them were killed this week, raising fears of a resurgence of political attacks. .

The most recent victims Margarita Estupiñán, murdered in Tumaco, municipality of the department of Nariño, border with Ecuador which has one of the highest rates of violence in the country; Ana Maria Cortés, in Cáceres (Antioquia); Felicinda Santamaría, in Quibdó (Chocó), and Luis Barrios Machado, in Palmar de Varela (Atlántico).

The number of victims varies according to the body that counts them, but the director of the elite police corps for the protection of social leaders, Colonel José Restrepo, said that at least 178 These activists have been killed in the country since November 2016, when the peace agreement between the government and the FARC was signed.

However, the most disturbing balance is one of the ombudsman's offices, according to which 311 were killed between January 1, 2016 and June 30, 2018.

The Organization of The United Nations in Colombia has today "vehemently rejected and condemned these murders and considered that" the resurgence of violence "hampers the conditions for a stable and lasting peace.

According to the agency, the killings occurred mainly in the departments of Antioquia, Arauca, Ca uca, Chocó, Córdoba, Nariño, Norte de Santander and Valle del Cauca, "not to mention the rest of the territory that is also seriously affected. "

The situation of violence has forced the Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos, to order today the transfer to Nariño and Cauca of the army inspectors and the police to investigate what is happening. has pbaded and protect social leaders.

"I want to condemn once again in the strongest terms the murders of social leaders" said the head of state during a visit to Tumaco, where he inaugurated a regional center for victim badistance.

He added that the commission of guarantees would know the results of the investigation of the murder

For its part, the president-elect, Iván Duque, condemned from Washington, where he went, the violence against the social leaders and policies. He also promised that once he takes power on August 7, he will work on an "agenda of legality" with "exemplary sanctions."

"I take this opportunity to, from the City of Washington, categorically reject the violence that has taken place in recent days in Colombia with social leaders and also the violence that has been observed with people who exert political leadership " said Duque after meeting with US Vice President Mike Pence

Duque baderted that as president he will work " intensely for the protection of all social leaders, for the protection of all political leaders and for a rapid advance in the investigation and for those responsible for these crimes to be taken to court and also has exemplary sanction. "

Meanwhile, elected vice president Marta Lucía Ramírez has asked to protect "the leaders of land restitution, those involved in politics and communal leaders who protest against the protesters. omitted illegal. "

Despite the government's statements, Somos Defensores Movement coordinator Carlos Guevara told Efe today that " humanitarian crisis "

" The question of badaults against people who are dedicated to defending human rights in Colombia is already at another level "He also explained that the situation has reached this point because" there are actors in different territories trying to to end the life of each one of them ". that there is a response from the state to reduce the number of homicides.

Guevara said that the situation does not deserve an emergency plan but "an emergency plan, at least After the departure of the government of Santos" and demanded a greater effectiveness of the police force.

"It seems that there was a turtle plan by the public force in some areas and this allows many of the armed actors are relocated, reorganized and even reinforced," concludes . EFE