Colombia's Beloved 'Doña Tuta' Is Shot Dead

On Tuesday afternoon, Jesusita Moreno "Doña Tuta", a popular and beloved Black leader, was shot to death in Cali city.

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"Doña Tuta was the vindication of the rights of the San Juan's Black and Indigenous communities, which live overwhelmed by the intensity and degradation of the armed conflict," the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission (ICHPC) stated.

"She received accusations, threats, and stigmas due to her forceful voice demanding respect for the peoples' lifes and territories. She was herself the voice promoting humanitarian agreements... She was the target of judicial set-ups due to to her community role. She managed to save hundreds of lives."

The attack against the 60-year-old Black leader occurred while she was leaving her son's house in the La Floresta neighborhood. Although Doña Tuta managed to be immediately transferred to a hospital, she lost her life due to the seriousness of her injuries.

After the crime, the National Police captured the alleged gunman, who would have a criminal history related to homicide, robbery, and prison escape.

"One day, the material and intellectual authors of her murder will recognize that she was only a concrete and real manager of peace," the ICHPC said, recalling that Doña tuta evidenced the different forms of the Colombian state's complicity in the structural violence against the poor.

"In her honor we continue to encourage and demand a Global Humanitarian Agreement and the construction of a Global Territorial Peace. Doña Tuta is a sign of the peace that the peoples of the Pacific deserve," it added.