Armed Groups Attacking Protesters in Colombia

[Judi Lynn]

Concentration in support of the Colombian people held this Thursday in the Retiro Park, in Madrid. | Photo: EFE

Published 6 May 2021

The most recent attack occurred on Wednesday in Pereira, capital of the department of Risaralda, in the Eje Cafetero, where three young people were seriously wounded by unknown assailants who shot them from a vehicle.

Colombian social organizations and citizens have denounced that armed groups have attacked participants in protests against the Government. They demand an end to police brutality and measures to improve living conditions.

In several parts of the country, there have been reports of intimidation of demonstrators by armed men allegedly opposed to vandalism, and in some, they have even been shot at.

"Right now there are expressions of violence that completely aggravate the situation because we don't know who are the ones threatening, who are persecuting, who are shooting and who are killing," analyst Jairo Libreros, professor at the School of Government of the Externado University of Colombia, told EFE.

The most recent attack occurred on Wednesday in Pereira, capital of the department of Risaralda, in the Eje Cafetero, where three young people were seriously wounded by unknown assailants who shot them from a vehicle.

More:
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Armed-Groups-Attacking-Protesters-in-Colombia-20210506-0016.html

(Geez, you'd almost think there have been paramilitary groups operating in Colombia for decades, handling grotesque acts of terrorism against the people, allied closely to the right-wing military and right-wing politicians, called "paramilitaries" or more truthfully, "death squads." You'd almost remember learning sometimes they even act in tandem with the military, handling vicious tasks the military doesn't want to be associated with.)