Recent Events - not so much fun

The assasination of Alto Bonito Humanitarian Zone Leader, Dairo Torres, on this past Friday the 13th really shook me. I had never met Dairo, although he is well known by anyone I ask here in the community, so I am not feeling the extreme personal loss that comes with knowing a person whose life has been taken. But the way he was killed and the events leading up to his assassination and the feeling here in the zone since, is eerie and not very comforting.

The two paramilitary gunmen who killed Dairo,were seen the day before on the road between Apartadó and San José. They were looking for someone and they were doing so in broad daylight, on a well traveled road, in extremely close proximity to the police post that is permanently set up on the road as it leaves Apartadó. They were dressed in civilian clothes, carried small guns and told the chivero that they stopped at one point that they were members of the Aguilas Negras (Black Eagles – one of the resurgent paramilitary groups that has formed all over Colombia after the supposed “demobilization” of all paramilitary forces”).

Earlier that week, FARC guerrillas had dressed up as members of the Colombia military, entered the soccer court in the center of San José around 8:45pm and shot at Colombian policemen from close range, injuring two officers, one – Hernán López Cardona died soon after from his wounds. It wasn’t quite a combat, more like volleys of shots from both sides, lasting only minutes but resulting in the death of Officer López who was soon to complete his service with the National Police and return home to his family. The guerrillas ran off into the mountains, aided by the dark of the night and so far, no captures have been made. The shots could not be heard from La Unión but the community members living only 20 minutes walk away from San José had quite a scare as the shots were easily heard ringing through the night. This is precisely why the community displaced in April of 2005 as the police post was installed, they refused to be used as civilian shields, never mind share space with an armed group. The astuteness of that decision was made clear soon after in June of 2005 when the FARC first attacked the police post, injuring three officers and leading to subsequent smaller attacks.

A few days after this fatal shooting in San José, the two paramilitary men appeared on the main transportation route. The next morning, Friday, they were seen sitting with the police officers at the already mentioned police post. This post is a routine part of our weekly trips to Apartadó as we pass it while riding on the only public service vehicle – the jeeps or “chiveros” that run up and down the road to San José. The police are always present and lately, have taken to stopping the jeeps and doing cursory searches of people and bags. On this particular morning, the police and paramilitaries sat and talked and then about three hours later, the chivero carrying Dairo and a few others made its way past the now empty police post and, only minutes after, stopped by the 2 paramilitary men, dressed in civilian clothes.

The two armed men told Dairo to get out of the jeep, Dairo refused. One of the men then shot at Dairo, hitting him in the shoulder and leaving the bullet lodged in the jeep. The men then forced Dairo off the jeep and told the driver to continue on. Dairo’s body was found at the same spot in the road when the next jeep came up soon after. The next day blood was still visible in the spot of the assassination.

The last time that we came up on the jeep, the police were at their post and there were no suspicious gunmen along the road. But there is a heightened military presence and everyone here seems to be more on edge than usual. These events have been a definite jolt to the calm that I have felt in recent months as I truly settled in to the oftentimes, deceivingly tranquil life of this rural community. There has been a large and international response to Dairo’s assassination (you can still send some emails if you’d like, the info is found in the previous post) and we continue to analyze our security and safety at every moment. It is times like these when the model of international accompaniment is most put to test. Our deterrence is more needed than ever as things heat up and my faith in this model remains solid and sure. But I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t a little bit freaked out, which I think is only natural.