Despite significant advances towards peace made by the left-wing government of President Gustavo Petro and a decrease in targeted killings of activists, paramilitary violence continues to cause suffering in Colombia. According to reports from the Colombian human rights organization, the Institute of Development and Peace Studies (INDEPAZ), between January 1 and July 23, 2023, 94 social leaders and 23 ex-combatants were assassinated, while 179 citizens were murdered in 55 massacres. INDEPAZ reported that between January 1 and July 31 of 2022, there were targeted killings of 117 social activists and 30 former guerrilla fighters, while over 196 people were slaughtered in 58 massacres.
During the past week, INDEPAZ reported the assassination of one Indigenous leader, one social leader, one former member of the FARC and the slaughtering of three people in a massacre.
On July 23, Tiberio Chepe Zeti, an Indigenous leader and traditional doctor of the Kwe’sx Yu Kiwe territory, was assassinated in the Florida municipality in the Valle del Cauca department. The day before, on July 22, social leader Ilder Díaz, who was currently a candidate for the Policarpa municipal council, in the Nariño department, was murdered in the municipality. According to INDEPAZ, Chepe Zeti and Díaz were the 94th and 93rd social leaders to be assassinated in 2023, and the 1,508th and 1,507th since the signing of Havana peace agreements in November 2016.
On July 21, INDEPAZ reported the murder of ex-FARC guerrilla Alberto Quintero in the Algeciras municipality in the Huila department. Quintero was currently working as a prosecutor for the association of signatories of Algeciras and was also a member of the Autonomous Roundtable for Reincorporation (MAR). According to INDEPAZ, Quintero was the 23rd ex-combatant to be killed in 2023, and the 379th since the signing of peace agreements.
Similarly, on July 20, the institute reported the killing of three men in a massacre in the San José de Cúcuta municipality, in the Norte de Santander department. According to the organization, the three men were first kidnapped and later murdered by unidentified armed men. This was the 55th massacre of 2023.
The Petro government, which took office in August 2022, has vowed to bring total peace to the country. The administration has been promoting peace agreements with all irregular paramilitary, drug-trafficking and rebel groups willing to submit to justice. According to INDEPAZ, around two dozen groups have expressed their will to lay down arms, engage in dialogue and accept conditions in exchange for peace and definitive non-repetition of violence.
The progressive government has already begun peace talks with at least five groups, including the Estado Mayor Central (EMC) and the Segunda Marquetalia, dissident groups of the FARC-EP guerilla group; and the drug cartels: the Pachencas, the Shottas and the Espartanos.
Petro’s government has also resumed the peace process with the National Liberation Army (ELN), the largest active guerrilla group in the country. Next week, on August 3, the Colombian military forces and the ELN will begin a 180-day bilateral ceasefire that will remain in force until January 29, 2024.
