The scourge continues: Yorelys Beltrán, a signatory of peace, was assassinated in Mutatá, Antioquia

Violence continues to escalate in the country, since week after week crime strikes both social leaders and former combatants of the extinct FARC. On this occasion, there is a new case of murder against a signatory, the incident was recorded in the department of Antioquia, where a companion of the victim also died, who belonged to a native community in this region.

The regrettable event occurred in the municipality of Mutatá, located in the Urabá subregion. The victim was identified as Yorelis Antonio Beltrán Ramos, belonging to the new reincorporation area of San José Leones, a settlement of the place.

Together with Beltrán, they found the body of Cristian Camilo Arboleda, an 18-year-old man belonging to the native community of San José, an original group that lives in this area of incidence. As Caracol Radio was able to establish, the Representative to the House for the Commons party, Omar Restrepo, explained that the bodies were found on the road that leads from Mutata to Medellín, in the vicinity of a toll that is under construction.

In turn, the commander of the Urabá Police, Colonel Oscar Cortés, told Caracol Radio that all investigations are being carried out to collect the evidentiary material, which would allow us to determine the whereabouts of the criminals. In addition, he noted that some witnesses to the crime were found that will allow in the coming days, to throw an official part on this issue.

According to Congressman Restrepo, this fact becomes the first murder of a signatory in the year of 2022 in Antioquia, for his part, Indepaz points out that there are already 14 signatories killed in the country this year, setting a figure of 313 since the signing of the agreement in 2016, a situation that sets off the alarm for the few that measures that are being used by these actors of peace, who seek to re-socialize in the midst of a heightened situation.

The early warning 004-22 issued by the Office of the Ombudsman highlights the intimidation and the absence of security conditions faced by ex-combatants, bringing up the case of the Old Territorial Space for Training and Reincorporation of Saint Lucia, Antioquia, which in 2020, was harassed by armed groups , a situation which led the former combatants to move out of that territory and then seek to settle in Mutatá. However, for some, the fear of revictimization led them to abandon the process, delegitimizing the conditions that were agreed in Havana.

Senator of the Comunes party Julián Gallo also denounced another similar event in the department of Meta. The information provided by the congressman was updated and indicated that a signatory was attacked in the Medellín del Ariari area, the victim is in recovery, Gallo said: “We are informed that they have just attacked peace signatory Duberney Herrán in Granada, Meta. We hold Iván Duque's government responsible, its neglect and stigmatization condemns us to death.”

Regarding social leaders, the last case occurred in the municipality of Toro in the north of the Valle, when the peasant leader and representative of the Municipal Committee of Coffee Growers of this jurisdiction, Luis Alfredo Castaño Gómez, was killed by armed men in the village of El Roble, a rural area of this place, becoming the 51st victim in the year 2022.

The calls for attention to the government of the various organizations guaranteeing the Peace Agreement have been constant, as indigenous leaders and opposition political leaders, as well as former combatants of the extinct FARC, have been systematically killed and threatened day by day, a situation that worries about the lack of effectiveness in implementation of the Agreement in terms of guarantees for former combatants and the territorial social leaders themselves.

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