{"id":34529,"date":"2025-11-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/csw-yeo.1wp.site\/blog\/despite-government-promises-total-peace-remains-elusive-in-colombia-today-7506\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T22:08:57","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T21:08:57","slug":"despite-government-promises-total-peace-remains-elusive-in-colombia-today-7506","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/blog\/despite-government-promises-total-peace-remains-elusive-in-colombia-today-7506\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite government promises, ‘Total Peace’ remains elusive in Colombia today"},"content":{"rendered":"

On 4 April<\/strong>Maribel Silva, Isa\u00edd G\u00f3mez and Isa\u00edd\u2019s uncle, Carlos Valero obeyed the summonses of an illegal armed group operating in the Calamar Municipality of Colombia\u2019s Guaviare Department. The next day, James Caicedo, Jes\u00fas Valero, Maryuri Hern\u00e1ndez, Nixon Pe\u00f1alosa and Oscar Garc\u00eda did the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the individuals failed to return home<\/strong>to their families in<\/strong>the hamlet of Agua Bonita in Pueblo Seco their family members reached out to representatives of the illegal armed group who had issued the summonses, but the group denied that any summonses had been issued. Later, the family members were indirectly warned that they should stop looking for their loved ones and \u2018consider the case to be closed.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So their families were left waiting, in the horrific uncertainty of what might have happened to them, wondering whether to sit tight, holding onto hope that their family members still might return home, or to flee the region out of fear of reprisals and for the safety and protection of the lives of the children and parents of the disappeared individuals.\u202fAll eight individuals had already relocated and settled in Guaviare after being displaced from Arauca Department due to violence and severe violations of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), including the closure of churches and the targeting of Protestant pastors by illegal armed and criminal groups over the past decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Several days after their disappearance, churches from both affected denominations began to hold prayer vigils.\u202f\u2018Fear is in all of us,\u2019<\/em><\/strong>\u202fa source told CSW,\u202f\u2018and although we trust that God is righteous and never abandons us, there are circumstances that can happen, such as the death of our brothers and sisters.\u2019<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Left to right, top to bottom: James Caicedo, Maryuri Hern\u00e1ndez, Nixon Pe\u00f1alosa, Carlos Valero, Isa\u00edd G\u00f3mez and Maribel Silva.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Early on, Pastor Fabian C\u00e1rdenas, president of the Evangelical Alliance of Colombia Denomination (DEAC), called on the Colombian government to intervene to clarify the location of the group of eight, which included four leaders and members of his denomination. His calls\u202fwere repeated by Farid Casta\u00f1o Garcia, mayor of Calamar<\/a>, who also expressed concern that he had received no response from the Guaviare Department or national governments to his requests for an urgent meeting of the national Security Council, and by the Evangelical Confederation of Colombia (CEDECOL)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is clear that any investigations were not carried out with any sense of urgency. The government appeared to be dragging its feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It took almost three months before the families\u2019 worst fears were realised on 1 July when the Attorney General\u2019s Office called to inform them that their bodies of their loved ones had been found in a shallow mass grave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Obey us or suffer the consequences\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to the Attorney General\u2019s Office, the Central General Staff (EMC) were responsible. The EMC is a dissident faction under the command of Nestor Gregorio Vera Fern\u00e1ndez, alias \u2018Iv\u00e1n Mordisco\u2019, which broke away from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group in rejection of a 2016 peace agreement between the FARC and the Colombian government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During Colombia\u2019s decades-long internal conflict,\u00a0the FARC, a Marxist-Leninist guerrilla group, maintained\u00a0a strong presence in Guaviare\u00a0where it\u00a0imposed severe restrictions on\u00a0FoRB. In September 2009 Manuel Camacho, a\u00a033-year-old\u00a0Protestant pastor, who had defied FARC orders to cease sharing his faith in\u00a0Choapal, Guaviare, was shot six times in the face by\u00a0guerrillas in front of his young children and left to die.\u00a0His wife\u00a0and\u00a0children were\u00a0subsequently\u00a0forced to flee the area after\u00a0receiving\u00a0threats for having reported the crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The demobilisation of the FARC created a vacuum in Guaviare and other regions. The EMC and the Central Staff of Blocks and Fronts (EMBF), a separate FARC dissident faction, maintain an active presence in Calamar Municipality. The two groups are in conflict with each other and other iillegal armed or criminal groups, all vying for territorial control of the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the government claims the EMC is responsible, any known motive for the assassinations of Maribel, Isa\u00edd, Carlos, James, Jes\u00fas, Maryuri, Nixon and Oscar has not been shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

What is clear, however, is that the families no longer feel safe in their respective churches. Their church communities and other local religious leaders are acutely aware of what has happened, and what could happen to them, in turn, should they defy any future demands or requests made by illegal armed or criminal groups.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A clear message has been sent: \u2018obey us or suffer the consequences\u2019. A culture of fear threatens to further take root, tearing apart the social fabric of communities, and fulfilling the aims of the illegal armed or criminal groups in their efforts to gain total control over these areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In practice, this means that church leaders must practice self-censorship, being cautious about preaching and praying on subjects that might inadvertently \u2018upset\u2019 the groups \u2013 such as peace or justice, or a call to avoid illegal activities. If the groups impose strict curfews or restrictions on movement, as they almost always do, the people in these areas may find their ability to worship curtailed or stopped altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u5b8c\u5168\u548c\u5e73\uff1f<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When President Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego, a vocal supporter of the 2016 peace agreement, came to power in August 2022, hopes were high that his key policy, \u2018Paz Total\u2019 (Total Peace), would bring a reduction in violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The objectives of Paz Total were ambitious, to say the least. Three years on, illegal armed and criminal groups continue to have significant influence or control in parts of the country, and key components of peace, truth, justice and reparation have been neglected. A disconnect between security and peace policies, leniency towards some illegal armed groups including the FARC and the National Liberation Army of Colombia (ELN), and a lack of suitable policies to incentivise members of the armed groups to renounce violence and surrender their weapons have meant that these hopes have been left unfulfilled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The collapse in monetary value of\u202fcoca leaf\u202fand paste, on which many of the illegal armed and criminal groups rely for money, has incentivised a huge increase in extortion, kidnappings for ransom and child recruitment. These groups have also continued to expand their activities beyond the cultivation and trafficking of narcotics to other areas of business, such as illegal mining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Despite the failure of the final report of the Truth Commission of Colombia, presented in June 2022, to include any reference to violations against individuals based on religion or belief, the assassinations of the eight individuals in Calamar, Guaviare did not occur in isolation.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

On 29 December 2024 Protestant Pastor Marlon Lora was assassinated in Cesar Department, along with his wife and adult son and daughter. Around ten days later, Protestant Pastor Iv\u00e1n Garc\u00eda was also killed in Madgalena Department after being shot six times, including twice in the head. In July, Catholic priest Father Carlos Sa\u00fal Jaimes Guerrero, was apparently abducted in Cundinamarca Department and held for around ten days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Pastor Marlon Lora, his wife Yorley Rinc\u00f3n, and their children \u00c1ngela and Santiago.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

These incidents evidence the urgent need for a policy that includes specific safeguards for religious leaders and which recognises the important work they carry out, often extending far beyond the confines of a church building or a Sunday meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet, in 2023 the Colombian government removed religious leaders from an official list of categories of particularly vulnerable populations. In practice, this means that even in cases where religious leaders have received credible and serious threats, they are no longer able to access official security mechanisms and protection programs designated for those considered to be vulnerable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any policy which purports to be working toward \u2018Total Peace\u2019 must guarantee real protections of the right to FoRB. The reinstatement of religious leaders under Decree 1066, recognising the unique vulnerabilities they face, to ensure they are afforded their rightful access to government protection programs and security mechanisms, is far overdue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By CSW\u2019s Latin America Deputy Team Leader Emily Featherstone<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Featured Image: “Peace Steps on Social Movilitation<\/a>” by Alexasinomas is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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