What happened to Estefanía Maldonado, the young woman captured by the police in Cartagena during FICCI

Those who witnessed what happened that morning still retain the frenzy of the moment in the tone of their voices. They tell everything as if it were a crime film in which you don't really know what is happening and why. “It all happened very quickly.” It was 1:25 in the morning. The party, which brought together a large number of artists, filmmakers, producers and directors, was the perfect moment to close what, until then, had been a wonderful day at the Cartagena de Indias International Film Festival (FICCI). The Selina Hotel in Calle Larga, in the center of the city, was the place that hosted the mysterious scene. “Why are they taking her? What's going on? Don't take her away!”

A police van parked in front of the place. Two or three men went down and after breaking into the hotel, they located a young woman who was in the middle of the party. They took her by force and set out to take her to the van. “Why are they taking her?” There was no response and, on the other hand, there was confrontation. “Don't take her away!” the crowded people shouted. “What are they going to do to him?” The police didn't say a word and were beginning to be impatient. They passed in front of everyone, to the pushes, to the stumbles. The goal was one: to get the girl out and take her away. The question: Because of what?

“At that time they were already evicting the party,” tells me Carol Ann Figueroa, who was present when everything happened. “They had asked us to start dating. I went downstairs and when I got downstairs I saw that there was a group of people surrounding one person. I didn't quite understand the situation. What I could see was that they were taking someone to the back of a police patrol. There were about 6 men in uniform. I came to see to understand why people were being upset, why they were resisting. Then, I saw how they put a bald girl in the patrol car and that's when everyone started screaming, why they were taking her, that it wasn't fair, that she was a 19-year-old girl and they didn't want me to be alone in that patrol car. People complained to the officers, but they didn't say anything. Everything was getting very aggressive. I was able to see a policewoman out of the situation. She wasn't doing anything. He didn't get on patrol with the girl. He let the men take over. They didn't answer any of the questions and set out to start the van. At that time, all of us who were trying to understand what was happening, went to the front of the van so as not to let it go forward, however, it kept moving. We were there, almost glued to the engine of the van. When we saw that they were not stopping, several people sat on the ground, right in front of the van. It was maybe 6 0 7. The rest of us are in the back. We were like 15 people. The police reacted badly to this and there were a series of screams and pulls. People were asking for explanations. Quickly, several policemen began to arrive. About 10 came in at one point. They were located on the side of the van. Others were behind. More and more were arriving. There were already a lot of them. People were still resisting. We started demanding that she be released. We all agreed that it was dangerous for her to be in that van with only men and for no reason why they were taking her away. The cops didn't have ID. Many people asked for them, but they either didn't have them, or they just didn't show them. They started to look very rude. People were mocked, and there was confrontation. Basically, what was wanted was an explanation of why they were taking her away. Everything got very tense. It was about two hours that we lasted there, standing there, waiting to see how the thing could be solved. Many of us began to share information on networks, seeking help. No one came. It was almost 3 in the morning. We sought help with the people at the festival, with people in Human Rights, with people who could somehow resolve the issue. At one point, there was an announcement from the police informing us that ESMAD could arrive. Efforts to resolve the situation increased there. It was agreed that the girl should be accompanied by a delegation. Elizabeth Castillo was chosen, who in addition to being a writer is a lawyer. She joined the situation to understand what was going on. Consuelo Castillo, who was in charge of the event by DOCCO, Elkin, from the Film Academy, and a person I don't know who he was. When that was agreed, people calmed down and turned away. You can go with her, then. So they left, but about 40 minutes later it began to be said that the police had breached the pact. The delegates were separated from her. Until then I had information firsthand. I know that the next day the FICCI organizers were able to take charge of the situation.”

Carol Ann Figueroa is a screenwriter and is the content creator of the YouTube channel 'La Pildora'. She agreed to talk to me when she saw Infobae's interest in expanding the news. Like her, two other people, attending both the festival and the party, say that the police never agreed to people's requests and when they agreed to the delegates, it was only to remove the crowd. The authorities indicated that if the young woman was transferred to the station everything would be resolved quickly. But, according to several sources consulted, once there he was not allowed to see anyone. It was later reported that she had been transferred to the Canapé Prosecutor's Office.

“I was already in the hotel room at the time of the party. I looked out the window and saw something going on. I went to see what was happening and what I see is this patrol car and a lot of people sitting in front of the van asking to release the person they had taken. What is this, I thought. I met several people who were at the event I was participating in, a creation laboratory named DocuLabs. I asked what had happened and they told me that the police had taken a girl, they had put her on the patrol car, that the Major had given the order. I asked, then, what was the Major's place. I went to see where the man was, greeted him, introduced myself, told him that I was at the hotel and told him what could be useful for him to see how we managed to resolve the matter. The guy was completely hostile. It was rude, pedantic, aggressive. People were upset, yes, but there was no need to put themselves in that violent attitude. All the time he was yelling and calling on the radio, asking to be sent to ESMAD and I don't know what else. It was an absurd thing. A nonsense of everything, a reaction completely out of proportion. The guy said that the girl had assaulted him, slapped him and that was a disrespect for authority. I agreed it was inappropriate behavior until later on, I saw her. He's 30 centimeters shorter than that man. He couldn't even touch his face by jumping. It was very clear to me, later, that all this was a typical case of abuse of authority. But coming back, no one had any idea who was in the car and it seemed to me that we should stay there to see what was really going on. After several minutes, the tension was rising. The Major's attitude did not help and more and more people were arriving. We agreed with three people who were there, including Consuelo Castillo, on behalf of DOCCO, that we would go with the Major on the patrol to accompany the person who was in there and thus try to resolve the situation to calm down a little the spirits that, by that time, were already very warm. And the Major asking ESMAD was doing nothing but disturbing the hornet's nest. There, Consuelo says she and Yesid are leaving. I tell him I'll go with you. Neither one of us is a lawyer. We got in the car and arrived at the first police center in the old city. We got off and the Major came shouting that what was going on, what were we doing there, that they needed to take that girl somewhere else fast. That's when I knew who the person was in the car. I had no idea. I greeted her and told her that we were going to accompany her to where they took her, told her not to worry. I am a lawyer and I will represent you in whatever you need. From there, from that first station, we went to a second one. I left with the girl in the back. She was obviously very nervous. We went talking and I asked him his side of the story. She told me about it and I reconfirmed that I was going to be with her, not to worry. When we arrived at the second station, which eventually ended up being the headquarters of the Prosecutor's Office, the Major was already there and ordered that the girl had to go in handcuffs. I didn't understand why she hadn't done anything and so I told the man. You don't have to handcuff her to get in. She started screaming, asking to be brought in quickly, the cops went to execute the order and at that moment there is a terrible struggle. They push me and prevent me from being with my defendant and she gets into the brave, although they don't handcuff her in the end. Until that moment I knew about her, but we were still there and no one was right about anything. The thing ends in that she leaves at 5 in the afternoon on March 21.”

That's what Elizabeth Castillo, an activist, politician and lawyer, told me. She is incisive in the fact that the police had no arguments for arrest. And like her, another of the sources consulted, remains firm in this regard. Cases like this, in which the Police abuse their authority figure, occur more often than we think in our country. We all know that. The mistake is to pretend that nothing is happening. Precisely about that, one of my sources said: “From the first moment everything was too violent. The police began to behave as if everything that happened at the party was illegal. Unfortunately, this kind of thing happens constantly. A lot of people around the hotel said that it was normal in the neighborhoods, that when it wasn't screaming then it was shooting. We witnessed a case of strong police violence and what it means to put yourself ahead of the authority to defend a woman.” She herself has a more complete version of how it all started and her words show that everything revolves around the egos of an officer with a longing for greatness.

In fine detail, he says: “I go down to the door of the hotel and the party is already full. I came down to see what's going on and if there was anyone outside who wanted to come in. There I see a guard completely overflowed. No one comes in. There are a lot of people outside. At that moment, I see in front of a naked man running from one side to the other. The police ask him for documents and he starts to take off his clothes and tell them things. He ends up jumping into the sea after a few minutes, on the sides of the pier de los pegasos. There's no police tracking for this guy. Apart from the fact that it is the most scandalous thing that happens in those moments on the street, nothing happens. I'm in the hotel lobby and just as I'm going back to the party I see the police coming into the hotel. They start asking for documents and permits, and they complain about the party. What appears to be is that the person in charge did not have the keys to the room in which these documents were kept and the police made the decision to break the door of the room in order to get those papers out. That's when everything started to get upset. At that moment, the officer in charge starts talking to the people who are at the party and asking for identity documents and so on, threatening that the place will be evicted, assuming that what happens there is illegal. Right there I go to the back of the room and tell the people I'm with not to come down, that the police arrived and they closed the door. They weren't going to let anyone out. More people begin to come down and the police, with a very accusatory attitude, corner them and demand papers from them. By then, the cops were standing there, showing themselves imposing, filming the faces of people leaving the party and it seems that this is when this girl pushes the cell phone to one of the officers who records her without their permission. Then, they subdue it, they push it away and then everything becomes complex.”

Estefania, or Stephania, Maldonado Vergara, in the different official publications her name is written in different ways, she has been the most recent victim of police abuse in our country. Although his release took place in a relatively short period of time, the process itself was not the right one. On social networks, several of the FICCI attendees are still questioning the authorities and the organizers of the different participating groups are appalled, terrified by a reality that, although difficult, could not be more true. It's not possible to feel safe anywhere. There are also several people who urgently request to review the procedures applied by the police for the detention of women, not only in Cartagena, but throughout the country.

The organizers of the Film Festival and ANAFE Colombia have spoken out about this and thank all the people who opposed the abuse, implying that they disagree with these behaviors. It is worth noting, as we have already mentioned in a note published in Infobae, that during the month of January the international organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) presented an annual report in which it denounced the lack of commitment of President Iván Duque's government to comply with the recommendations on reforming the National Police, in order to that further abuse on their part be avoided. The document recalls the bleak panorama that the country experienced between the end of April and June 2021, when 25 people were killed by police action.

Colombia cannot continue on this path. I hope they take action on the matter. The officers involved in the Maldonado case did not reveal their names and surely rejoice in the midst of their abuses. No details are known about what happened to the girl while she was in a cell occupied only by men. We don't know what actions the police took on his case, what they told him, or how they managed to get rid of it. The truth is that we cannot continue to turn a blind eye to ourselves, our police system is not working as it should be and it is time to consider a total and exhaustive process of reform. I hope it's done the right way. We'll have to see.

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