“For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
This verse from the Bible was always the north of the remembered community leader Alfonso Hernando Medina, assassinated in Valledupar last Monday night. His gift of serving others kept him at the forefront of community leadership in his Villa Jaidith neighborhood for more than 20 years, where he came from Bogotá to settle and be adopted by the Vallenato land that baptized him ‘Poncho’, a renowned fighter who remained in the fight until the day of his death.
But unfortunately, what happened to this social leader is now the reflection for many who continue in the battle for community welfare in this capital. Today sadness invades them, but also the fear of feeling alone in a fight that they fear losing forever.
“We are alone, there are no guarantees of protection to continue carrying out our work, because we are persecuted by those who do not agree with the neighborhood struggles. It is time for the authorities to turn their gaze towards us, we need protection”, is the cry of Armando Rincones, President of Asocomuna Tres, who lamented the murder of his partner and assured that it is an irreparable loss for his family and the community.
He also demanded that the authorities not go unpunished for the crime and that they look for those responsible in every corner in honor of that great leader.
“Nobody protects us, community leaders are only useful in political campaigns. If we raise our voices in favor of our communities, they kill us. Today it was Alfonso Medina, tomorrow it could be any of us” said the Mayor of the fifth commune of Valledupar, César Ahumada.
For his part, Armando Varela, president of the Asocomuna Uno in this capital, stated that on several occasions he attended Medina as part of the Executive Secretary of Human Rights of the Federation of Community Action Boards, given the threats he had been receiving from some complaints made.
“We community members are dismayed, it is a difficult and alarming situation that we social leaders in Cesar and the country are experiencing. ‘Poncho’ leaves a great lesson, he was an innate leader who fought until the last day of his life, ”he assured.
Mayerli Camelo, president of the JAC of the Chiriquí neighborhood, who was a companion in the struggle of Alfonso Medina in the complaints about the invasion of the transfer area between the Villa Jaidith park and Chiriquí, has also been the object of threats, however, he assured fear and asked the authorities to take a serious look at the work of the community members, an army of people who come and go without any type of guarantee of life.
“I have no words to express the great pain that the death of this leader leaves us, who worked hard for the vulnerable families of his community. We had been fighting together for the recovery of the cession area for collective and not personal interests. I am also threatened, but I am not afraid to continue in the fight.
He recalled that in December of the previous year “we once again put pressure on the municipality and the Prosecutor’s Office with petition rights, so that they would adopt pertinent measures against the possible theft of cession areas. We received threats and requested support from the National Protection Unit (UNP), but there was no response regarding the security schemes”.
THE BLOODBATH DOES NOT STOP
Seferino Mosquera, president of the Colombian Communal Confederation, lamented the painful moment that the Valledupar community is going through, due to the loss of a great fighter.
“We have done everything before the national government and the local authorities, but the bloodbath does not stop and there is no respect for the lives of the leaders who fight for a collective good. They are killing us, every day more community members fall to the indolence of the authorities, ”he said.
He assured that they have opted for total peace and now they are victims of violence. “Nothing guarantees us to continue fighting in our communities, we need effective actions from the Government, they are killing us,” she assured.
According to the Institute of Studies for Development and Peace, Indepaz, in the department of Cesar this year three social leaders have been assassinated. The first case occurred in the municipality of Pailitas, on March 10, the victim being the community leader Yeisson Jacome. Then on the 23rd of the same month, the indigenous leader Albert Camilo Mendoza Corzo was killed.
In the country this year, 44 social leaders and signatories of the Peace Agreement have been assassinated.