The events took place in the municipality of Chaparral. The first versions of the Departmental Police indicate that the massacre was related to the theft of 15 million pesos
Elizabeth Mendoza, 32 years old, became the 79th social leader assassinated in Colombia during 2022 and the action in which she died along with her relatives, is considered by Indepaz as the 44th massacre perpetrated in the country in run of the year.
On Tuesday, May 24, a group of armed men entered the home of social leader Elizabeth Mendoza, located in the municipality of Chaparral (Tolima), and they murdered her along with her son, her husband and a nephew. The woman was the president of the Community Action Board of the Calarcá village in that Tolimense municipality.
Mendoza, 32 years old, became the 79th social leader assassinated in Colombia during 2022and the action in which she died along with her relatives is considered by Indepaz as the 44th massacre perpetrated in Colombia. the country so far this year. After learning of these facts, the governor of Tolima, Ricardo Orozco, announced this Wednesday a reward of $50 million pesos for whoever delivers information that leads to the capture of those responsible.
This was confirmed by the local president on his Twitter account: “With deep pain we reject the vile crime of a family in rural Chaparral. We ask the authorities for results, we cannot continue allowing this to happen in our department. We are offering a reward of up to $50 million for information.”
The Ombudsman’s Office had issued Early Warning 16/19 for the municipality of Chaparral, which establishes the risks to the indigenous and peasant communities that live in the rural area of the municipality. And especially to the women who live there , on the occasion of gender-based violence in the context of the armed conflict to which they are exposed, including those that take place on the occasion of the establishment of voluntary, accidental or presumed relations with members of the Public Force.< /p>
Continuing with his communication, the governor of Tolima told the media that: “For truthful, timely and objective information that allows us to clarify this crime, we hope to give results very quickly. This has become a relevant case at the national level”, Orozco said.
According to what the regional authorities have been able to establish, for now, two other people remain missing who were in the village of Calarcá at the time of the attack on this family. “We await the capture of those responsible for this act so that they can be brought to justice and receive the full weight of the law,” said the governor.
It has also been established that the other fatal victims were identified as Marcos Tulio Molina, 51 years old. Carlos Andrés Molina, 16, and Fabián Ricardo Berján, 24. For now, it is expected that General Jorge Luis Vargas, director of the National Police, will arrive in the Chaparral municipality in the next few hours to follow the investigation first-hand.
In communication with Caracol Radio, Colonel Néstor Cepeda, commander of the Tolima Police, assured that the first information available on this fact is that the family had sold a cattle, for which the aggressors entered the home to steal 15 million pesos. “There may be too many hypotheses, but none can be ruled out, we sent a group of researchers to the site to do the respective investigation of this case,” he mentioned.
A In turn, Hugo Fernando Arce Hernández, mayor of Chaparral, declared that the authorities continue to investigate and denied that this type of act was being carried out in his municipality, even more so, against people seeking to build society through leadership. Social. “When we learned of this tragic event, we went to the authorities and located two bodies, Elizabeth’s and her son’s. We reject the death of these people and even more so that of social leaders.”