Violence in Colombia hits local authorities

The violence that has left hundreds of social leaders murdered in recent years is now taking its toll on local authorities.

The murder of Elmer Abonía, mayor of Guachené (Cauca), marked the beginning of a wave.

It happened a week before the end of his term, at the end of December.

A few days later, on New Year's Eve, an attack ended the life of Eliecid Ávila, councilor of Tuluá, in the neighboring Valle del Cauca.

Like them, in different areas of the country, from mayors to representatives are targets of attacks.

A recent example of this was the 18-day kidnapping of Jefferson Elías Murillo, delegate of the Registry in Chocó.

Or the attack on the scheme of the mayor of Tumaco (Nariño), Félix Henao Casanova, on January 7.

This string of crimes has put public officials throughout the country on alert.

A fear that has been echoed by the Attorney General's Office, the local representatives - 36 municipal representatives have already been intimidated - and the Ombudsman's Office, entities in charge of ensuring human rights, which have asked the Government for urgent control measures.

“Silencing the voices of social leaders and wanting to deprive those who serve in the municipal Administration of their functions, as criminal conduct that violates human rights, results in a negative impact on the construction of the social fabric,” he said in a statement about the situation in Tumaco the Ombudsman, Carlos Camargo Assis.

The national registrar, Hernán Penagos (center), at the march to request the release of Jefferson Murillo, on January 11.-- (Colombia National Registry/EFE)

After the murder in Guachené, the Colombian Federation of Municipalities revealed that since 2011 there had been no murder of a mayor in full office and at the hands of an illegal group.

"We urge that total peace, which the Government has announced so much, be a reality in all regions of the country and events such as the one that occurred today where Dr. Abonía Rodríguez lost his life and one of his bodyguards was injured is not known. repeat.

Being a public official should not be a risky profession,” said Gilberto Toro Giraldo, the executive director of the union of small municipalities.

The coordinator of the democracy line of the PARES foundation, Alejandro Alvarado, supports this concern, since his investigations show an increase in acts of political violence.

“Our fifth report on electoral violence showed that, month after month, attacks against candidates increased,” he says by telephone.

“And there are already 12 mayors, recently inaugurated, who have had to leave their municipalities due to different types of threats, which are now also received by officials such as representatives.

“This has to do with the activity of these types of positions, related to the protection of human rights and communities,” he adds.

The same Ombudsman's Office has been warning for months about the difficult context faced by public servants in the regions, before the assassination of the Caucano president marked a new peak.

In June of last year, that entity revealed that 12 mayors from seven departments were fulfilling their mandate outside their municipalities, intimidated by groups outside the law.

In the same report in which these data were revealed, the displacement of other local officials, including councilors, municipal representatives, mayors and presidents of Community Action Boards, was reported in 12 of the 32 departments of Colombia.

Attacks on public servants have been growing, like the conflict in general.

Abonía suffered the theft of some of the weapons and trucks that made up his protection scheme a year before he was murdered, a prelude to the attack.

And the regional elections last October took place in the midst of this violence in some areas such as Cartagena del Chairá, in Caquetá, where the candidates campaigned amid threats and with Edilberto Molina, their mayor at the time, dispatching from a neighboring municipality.

Edilberto Molina, former mayor of Cartagena del Chairá, who worked from the neighboring municipality of Florencia for security.Santiago Mesa

Now, the new leaders face the same problem.

The recently inaugurated mayor of Tuluá, Gustavo Vélez, has stated in several media outlets that he has received threats.

He was even elected despite the fact that he campaigned from his house due to the constant attacks and messages from La Oficina

,

the illegal gang that committed crimes in the city of 218,812 inhabitants under his control.

Such a panorama has strained the relations of the Gustavo Petro Administration with some local authorities, due to its ambitious policy of total peace.

An example of this are Molina's statements that he made during his mandate in Cartagena del Chairá.

The intimidation against him came from the dissidents of the extinct FARC gathered under the Central General Staff, with which the Government has initiated peace talks.

“Thanks to the benefits of the ceasefire and the beginning of the peace process with these dissidents, it has allowed them to grow economically and militarily,” he said.

The mayor of Tuluá took a similar view, calling for more protection and coordination.

“I need the support of the National Government.

I ask you to accompany us.

Until today we have not had any type of conversation with the National Government, only at the departmental level,” he expressed in an interview on the Blu Radio station.

This siege of officials has a very strong echo in the populations, already battered by violence, who feel that the State cannot protect even its most visible servants.

“What happens in Cauca is terrifying;

The murder of the mayor of Guachené is proof of what this society cries out of despair.

If a public official does not have guarantees, imagine the rest of the citizens,” says Edwin Capaz, an indigenous leader from Cauca.

Alvarado, the PARES researcher, details that behind the increase in violent acts against public servants is the strengthening of armed actors.

“They are structures that are much more determined to use violence, let's say also because of the degradation of these groups,” he details.

Electoral propaganda of the campaign for the mayor of Cartagena del Chairá and the governorship of Caquetá, on September 27, 2023. Santiago Mesa

So far, the Government has not created a particular protection strategy for public servants.

The person in charge of evaluating the risk and providing them with protection is the National Protection Unit (UNP), as is the case with the general population.

For the researcher, it is key that the Government improves this mechanism very soon.

On multiple occasions, officials have complained to that entity about the reduction in its schemes, the delay in the allocation or the poor condition of the cars.

This is what Ivonne Giraldo, councilor Jamundí (Valle del Cauca), did, who was intimidated during the campaign and, after being elected, when the harassment continued, she remained without protection.

“I especially ask the UNP to heed this alert and provide me with the protection that guarantees my safety and that of my family;

"We cannot normalize these acts against social leaders and representatives, who, on the contrary, must feel the trust and protection of the State to exercise our functions," cried the councilor, who has been demanded by armed groups to abandon her seat. .

Alvarado considers that dedicating efforts to reinforce these measures, while longer-term policies such as total peace give results, is urgent and crucial to prevent the country from returning two decades ago, to its worst periods of political violence.

“We cannot repeat past mistakes, they cannot kill a mayor, a councilor, a representative.

We must protect them, without differentiating their political origin,” he says.

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