Colombian authorities announced on Tuesday that indigenous governor Sandra Liliana Pena had been assassinated in the southeastern Caucasus, as the Latin American country faces a resurgence of violence despite a 2016 peace deal between the then government and the former government. FARC.
Gunmen shot and killed her near her home shortly after she left on a motorcycle to go to the village of Caldono, the Kauka Regional Indigenous Council said.
Another person was seriously injured in the attack, according to a senator and local community leader, Feliciano Valencia. He told radio station W that the victim had been threatened because he was “opposed to the illegal crops, which are most prevalent in the area”.
Indigenous and leading figures in human rights organizations often become targets of armed organizations funded by drug trafficking and clash over control of strategically important zones.
“We mourn the assassination of Sandra Pena, the indigenous ruler of the La Laguna protected area (…) who fought hard for the indigenous communities in this area where the main activities are agriculture, livestock and gardening,” he said. Twitter the Ombudsman.
The United Nations has condemned the deadly attack and called for “effective measures” to be taken to protect the lives of women who have taken office or taken the lead in the fight to defend communities or land.
According to the independent Indepaz Observatory, 52 community leaders and human rights defenders have been assassinated in 2021, and the number of victims of such actions has risen to 1,166 since the signing of the government-FARC peace agreement more than four years ago.
