A land restitution organization on Friday denounced threats made against its director and three workers from another association working to reclaim land in the northern department of Antioquia.
Gerardo Vega, the director of the Fundacion Forjando Futuros, an organization currently working on 500 cases of land restitution in Antioquia and three workers of another organization, Associacion Tierra y Vida, all received threats on their lives intended to stop their work of reclaiming land, according to a statement released by Vega on Friday.
The Fundacion Forjando Futuros had received a threatening letter at an event named “Proyecto Victimas” in Bogota on Wednesday, demanding that “Gerardo Vega be dismissed from the organization because he is the person impeding the evacuations.” According to the foundation, the message was sent by a group of banana and cattle herding companies acting as fronts for illegal groups.
Vega revealed on Friday that he had received death threats in several personal messages and that a pamphlet had been delivered to the offices of Associacion Tierra y Vida, making threats on the lives of three more workers: Carmen Palencia, Carlos Páez and Manuel Mercado.
The director concluded by calling on the government to take the necessary measures to protect the lives of the threatened workers, and emphatically declared that both the affected organizations will continue supporting the government in the land restitution process.
Sources
- En Antioquia aumentan las amenazas contra los reclamantes de tierras (Caracol)
- Denuncian nuevas amenazas contra reclamantes de tierras (Semana)
- Denuncian nuevas amenazas contra reclamantes de tierras en Antioquia (El Mundo)
