Photo: Asuncat member Freiman David Velásquez.
Infobae reports: “On May 19, there was a massacre in a rural area of the municipality of Tibú, Norte de Santander, in which union leader Freiman Velásquez, his sister [Yidy Smith Velásquez Benítez] and two of his bodyguards (Sebastian Murillo and Robinson Carvajalino) were killed.”
El Pais and other news sources identify Freiman David Velásquez as a member of the Association for Peasant Unity of Catatumbo (Asuncat).
RCN Noticias adds: “According to the UN Human Rights Colombia report, social leader Iván Stiven Camacho Castillo of the Association for Peasant Unity of Catatumbo, and Mayerlis Yoselín Hernández Ramírez and Yidy Smith Velásquez Benítez [Freiman’s sister], members of the same association, were also killed in the massacre.”
The Infobae article adds: “The murdered leader [who was inside a National Protection Unit vehicle] was a beneficiary of the state protection program due to previous threats against him, related to his community work and defense of human rights. The authorities reported that the attack took place while the social leader was carrying out activities in the sector, and although the bodyguards tried to repel the aggression, they were overtaken by the attackers, who fled the scene after committing the crime.”
Asuncat
The organization describes itself as being “founded as yet another expression of the Catatumbo people’s struggle and resistance.”
It was founded in 2019.
Peace Brigades International-Colombia has accompanied humanitarian missions in Catatumbo and further amplified the concerns of the Campesina Association of Catatumbo (Ascamcat).
Unionized protection workers killed
Infobae highlights that Giovanni Galló from the National Association of Security Workers (Analtraseg), a union representing National Protection Unit members, commented: “It is known that armed groups use high-caliber rifles to carry out these attacks, but these vehicles that are sent … only support pistols or submachine guns, those vehicles do not support those higher calibers of arms. …It has been insisted that for these areas of the country superior armour must be used, which resist and that exist for this type of area. Glass has been found to hold up more than even minimal armor material. Obviously, it is expensive, but they are going to protect people’s lives.”
The perpetrators
El Espectador reports: “Although the authorities have not yet confirmed who would be behind the events, the Police said that members of the Camilo Torres Restrepo Front of the National Liberation Army (ELN) commit crimes in the Catatumbo sector.”
And Semana also notes: “According to Indepaz, members of the Camilo Torres Restrepo Front of the GAO [the Gulf Clan organized armed group] ELN and members of the EM BMM [Magdalena Medio block] Gentil Duarte commit crimes in that area.”
Presidential candidate comments
In response to the killings, Iván Cepeda Castro posted: “My solidarity with ASUNCAT and with the peasantry of Catatumbo. I have said it and I reiterate it: there cannot be peace dialogues if social leaders are assassinated.”
The first round of the presidential election in Colombia will be held on May 31 with a possible second round on June 21.
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