Colombia: 6 People Killed in the Magdalena & Nariño Departments

Colombia’s Institute for Development and Peace Studies (INDEPAZ) denounced the assassination of three people in the Magdalena department and three citizens in the Nariño department over the weekend.

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According to Police Colonel Alfonso Reyes, the Nariño massacre stemmed from a dispute between wealthy landowners who usually pay thugs to intimidate farmers and gain their territories.

Reyes called on the community to remain calm since agents from the Technical Investigative Corps (CTI) are working to speed investigations and apprehend the culprits. "As soon as we have the results we will inform them to the community," he stressed. 

The murder in the Magdalena department was perpetrated by heavily armed men who entered a house located in the El Salon sidewalk in the Julio Zawady district and immediately opened fire against its inhabitants. The victims were identified as Jorge Hernandez, Patricia de Armas, and their 17-year-old son William.

This department’s community denounced that they have received threats, attacks, and pressures from the paramilitary groups Los Pachencas and the Gulf Clan, which demanded them to sell their farms and properties.

To counteract the operation of armed groups, the Ombudsman’s Office issued an alert order for this region in November 2021 and has follow-up it closely ever since. However, massacres against the population continue to occur since Colombian president Ivan Duque has not done much to prevent them.

“The first thing the State should do to eliminate paramilitary violence once and for all is to enforce the Peace Agreement signed with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in 2016,” Attorney General Francisco Barbosa considered.