• Live
    • Audio Only
  • google plus
  • facebook
  • twitter
News > Colombia

Colombia: Widow of Activist Peña Is Killed In Arauca Department

  • Citizens take part in a demonstration to reject paramilitary violence, Bogota, Colombia. Jan. 22, 2022.

    Citizens take part in a demonstration to reject paramilitary violence, Bogota, Colombia. Jan. 22, 2022. | Photo: Twitter/ @Cedano85

Published 27 January 2022
Opinion

At around 14:30, an armed man broke into the house of Rosalba Tarazona’s mother-in-law and started shooting at the widow, who died few minutes after. 

On Wednesday, the Colombian Institute for the Development and Peace Studies (INDEPAZ) denounced the murder of Rosalba Tarazona, widow of social leader Alvaro Peña who was killed on Tuesday in a rural area of the Tame municipality in the Arauca department.

RELATED:

Violence Displaces About 2,000 Colombians to Cali City

At around 14:30, an armed man broke into the house of Tarazona’s mother-in-law in the Saravena municipality and started shooting at the widow, who died minutes after. 

The Arauca Police Department already started preliminary investigations with the Prosecutor’s Office to find and prosecute the crime’s perpetrators, whose identity remain unknown.

Although Arauca is one of the most militarized zones in the country, at least 27 citizens have been murdered, 57 families have been displaced, and 50 people have disappeared since Jan. 3 in this department.

Most of these crimes are due to the disputes among paramilitary groups, which extort the population to gain new territories for drug trafficking and illegal mining activities. The Voragine outlet Director Jose Guarnizo condemned that President Ivan Duque’s administration is responsible for this situation since it has not done much to prevent or counteract it.

"The violence increasing in the Arauca department has counted on the indolence of a government that only serves for shows,” he stressed.

Over the last week, Colombian citizens took to the streets to demand that the State make effective investments to support communities and establish “humanitarian corridors,” which are demilitarized zones intended to allow the safe transit of internally displaced people out of a conflict area.

"Our country’s situation breaks sour hearts. We must change our system as soon as possible. Otherwise, much more blood will be shed,” the Comunes party said, stressing that the mission of every State is to protect its citizens above all.

Comment
0
Comments
Post with no comments.