Four people were killed in the Colombian department of Nariño, in a new massacre that shows the upsurge in violence ahead of next year’s presidential elections. In a statement, the Institute for Development and Peace Studies (Indepaz) warned that it is the 72nd massacre recorded so far this year and the second in less than a week.
A group of armed men broke into a fighting cock breeding establishment in the Municipality of Tumaco, in Nariño, and forced those present to throw themselves to the ground before firing indiscriminately. The victims were identified as Jaison Steven Angulo, José Francisco Mesa, Luis Carlos Sinisterra and Heider Jackson Cortés.
Indepaz indicated that 258 people died in the 72 massacres perpetrated this year. The departments with the highest rate of violence are southern Cauca (13 massacres and 43 deaths), central Antioquia (ten massacres and 36 murdered), Valle del Cauca (nine massacres and 38 victims) and Nariño (seven massacres and 27 deaths) .
For its part, the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) denounced the humanitarian crisis that indigenous peoples are going through in the country in the face of the growth of threats and crimes. ONIC warned that, so far in 2021, 43 indigenous leaders have been assassinated and asked the government to protect native communities.
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