Murder on New Year’s Eve

A grenade attack in Atánquez ended much more than a New Year’s Eve celebration. It also ended the lives of Gloria, aged 66, Azael, aged 25, Marelvis, aged 45 and Maria-Teresa, aged 26. They are members of the indigenous Kankuamo people, a group under siege in a nation rocked by conflict. Since 1999 more than 250 people from this Indian group numbering 13,000 nationwide have met untimely deaths in Colombia. Injustice is a fully appropriate term to describe this illicit process that permits people with political and military power to target the powerless, and kill non-combatant women, children, and ordinary campesinos.

When I traveled to Colombia in November of 2007 I heard similar reports: husbands and sons murdered. Wives and daughters raped. Grandparents who had farmed for generations being forced into exile. Good crops fumigated by U.S.-funded spraying aimed at illegal crops. Story after story, heartwrenchingly reported to us, because somehow they believed that U.S. Lutherans care about making a difference.

That’s why LWR, on behalf of U.S. Lutherans, partners with Agenda Caribe, an umbrella organization that advocates on behalf of Colombia’s most vulnerable citizens, especially Afro-Colombians and indigenous folk, like these whose dancing was turned to mourning and the last day of the year became the final day of their lives.

Below is a recent video produced by our partner Agenda Caribe, illustrating the lives of the people in Colombia they serve.