AMERICA/COLOMBIA - The "horrible night" of Tumaco: abandonment, violence and death, invisible borders, drug trafficking

Friday, 13 October 2017 drug trade   violence   poverty   human rights   peace  

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Tumaco (Agenzia Fides) - "All these acts of violence and death that have occurred throughout the history of our region, in addition to abandonment and marginalization by the State, have created the propitious scenario for the emergence and growth of armed groups in our country, also favoring the entry of corruption in our institutions": this is how the statement of the diocese of Tumaco (Colombia) sent to Fides begins, which denounces the "horrible" situation in which the population lives.
"The Bishop, the clergy and pastoral operators, aware of what happens - abandonment of the State, violence, drug trafficking, indifference, poverty and marginalization - invites us to analyze our situation and discover hope, dialogue and order as way to overcome this horrible night", says the statement.
The statement then informs of a reality that media do not report with due evidence: "there are selective deaths, the re-activation of the "invisible borders", there is once again the social control of illegal armed groups, there are missing persons, increased drug consumption among young people, forced displacement and forced recruitment of children: boys and girls". "That is why - continues the text - the death of 6 people on October 5 in Tandil becomes even more serious. All this is for us a cause of indignation" (see Fides 12/10/2017). The statement denounces drug trafficking as the main sin in society, which has upset the reality and destroyed families and personal, family and community life projects".
Mgr. Orlando Olave Villanoba energetically invites the authorities to clarify all situations of violent clashes, especially that on October 5 in Tandil. He therefore asks the central government to submit development projects for the abandoned area and finally encourages the community to continue to hope for order and security that come from the force with which everyone breaks ties with any illegal or violent activity, in order to build together with others an authentic community.
The so-called "invisible borders" have long been a nightmare for the population. If it is relatively easy to locate them in cities, as every neighborhood is under the power of a criminal gang and it is therefore dangerous to venture out if you do not live in the countryside, abandoned by the State, the situation was and still remains very different. In some parts of the country, the FARC (Colombia's Revolutionary Armed Forces) or other groups of guerrillas or armed groups of drug trafficking, establish boundaries that divide and close entire populations, small inhabited centers or groups of farmers, who would like to live in peace and instead find themselves being targets of the violence among armed criminal groups. (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 13/10/2017)


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