Violence in Colombia claims another social leader life

Another indigenous leader lost his life on Monday in Colombia, when unknown armed men broke into the San Andrés de Pisimbalá municipality's reservation in the municipality of Inzá, department of Cauca, and attempted the kidnapping of four community members.

During the action, the leader Gilberto Findicue Achicue was killed, and another of the community members was wounded.  The remaining two managed to escape from their captors, according to local sources.

The indigenous authorities of the San Andrés de Pisimbalá reservation issued a communiqué expressing their most energetic rejection of this event, as well as the presence of irregular armed groups in the area.

We strongly condemn the murder of Gilberto Findicue Achicue and the aggressions against 3 other community members.  We call on the National Government to protect our communities and on human rights organizations to make visible and denounce the violence we suffer.  pic.twitter.com/xyI31W4yaH

Likewise, the Departmental Asanblea of Cauca made a statement condemning this fact, and calling on the central authorities to act to eradicate the manifestations of violence affecting the department.

According to the Instituto de Estudios Para el Desarrollo y la Paz (Indepaz), the case of Findicue Achicue is the 35th case of murdered social leaders in Colombia so far in 2021.