Armed men shoot at a boat in Piedras Cantan

From Piedras Cantan, today Saturday at 6:05 p.m., armed men in civilian clothing shot at people who were traveling in a boat that refused to stop when ordered to do so by those men because the boat was passing by a place that is under their control.

Although the tide was in, there was no presence of the Navy in the sea where the movement of boats was visible. Punta Icaco is a street in the barrio of La Playita, a traditional site of embarking and disembarking for fishing, lumber, and Afro-Colombians coming from the Cajambre, Naya, and Yurumangui Rivers. The street ends at the Plaza Artesanal where Afro-Colombian women provide food services. For the last two years, criminal structures, paramilitary successors, have been maintaining control over the people through extortion, pressure, and threats to make them keep quiet. On many occasions, the neo-paramilitaries have accused the residents of being guerrilla collaborators. 


Bogotá, D.C., May 9, 2015

Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz

Interchurch Justice and Peace Commission