New massacre in Valle del Cauca: four people were killed inside a house

The Institute for Studies for Development and Peace (Indepaz) reported in recent hours the 26th massacre so far this year in Colombia. The events took place in the early hours of this Friday, March 25, in the village of La María, a rural area of the municipality of El Águila (Valle del Cauca), leaving four people dead.

The first reports suggest that the victims (three men and one woman) were inside a house, located 20 minutes from the city center, when they were killed with a firearm. Indepaz assured that, apparently, two of the individuals killed would be a couple, although they have not yet been fully identified.

The inhabitants were the ones who noticed the multiple homicide, as the shots could be heard from a distance accompanied by shouts. Local media indicated that the shooting lasted about 30 minutes. A few minutes later, the villagers approached the house, encountering the harsh scene.

The authorities were unable to arrive at the scene at dawn, as there were fears of insecurity in the surroundings. Subsequently, the CTI of the Attorney General's Office was able to carry out the removal of the bodies, pending the progress of the investigations to determine the whereabouts of those responsible.

The mayor of El Águila, Yulian Daniel Gallego García, delivered statements to El Tiempo, and assured that the crime would be related “to issues of microtrafficking in narcotics.” Likewise, he specified that one of the young people killed was from that population, while the others were from other areas.

“In La María there have been some issues of insecurity because it is a populated center that unfortunately has no public force. We don't have a police station there, we don't have police officers there,” said the president.

According to Gallego, the safety tips that have been carried out in recent months show that most crimes are related to the sale of drugs.

“The territory located in the north of the department of Valle, and which is close to the department of Risaraldna, has the mobility of armed actors that generate actions in different municipalities” of the region”. In addition, the outsourcing of groups outside the law, such as 'La Cordillera' and 'Los Flacos', are present in this area, Indepaz warned.

With this new case, five people would have been killed in this town in less than two weeks.

The last massacre was reported on March 23 in the town of Usme (Bogotá). Three people (two men and one woman) were killed with firearms in a building located in the Compostela neighborhood.

The Office of the Ombudsman issued Early Warning (AT) 010/21 in which it assures that the actions of the authorities to counter illegal armed actors have been confusing in the country's capital. The entity indicated that no measures are being taken to prevent the impact and social and territorial control of these armed structures.

Since the signing of the Peace Agreement between the National Government and the extinct FARC, 1327 social leaders and signatories to the March 17 court have been assassinated. The study was conducted between November 2016 and March 2022, leaving a chilling figure, following an event that marked a historic milestone for the reduction of violence in the country and the social reintegration of many citizens, who at the time only knew about weapons.

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