A court on Monday ordered Colombia’s security forces to apologize for failing to apologize for failing to stop the execution-style slaughter of fisherman in the northeastern department of Magdalena in 2000.
The Administrative Tribunal of Magdalena’s Office ordered an official apology from the department for the Nueva Venecia Massacre, when 60 right-wing paramilitaries systematically shot dead 39 fishermen in the town of Nueva Venecia, and killed others in Buenavista and Bocas de Aracataca, for allegedly having ties to left-wing guerrillas, newspaper El Espectador reported.
The court criticized the army for not entering the towns until December 24, four days after the murders began, the newspaper reported.
Former paramilitary leader Rodrigo Tovar Pupo, alias “Jorge 40,” was sentenced to 47 years in prison for the massacre, according daily El Tiempo. Jorge 40 never did time for the massacre as he was extradited in 2008 to face drug charges in the U.S.
