A small farmer in front of one of the humanitarian zones

Jaime Martínez and Andreas Riemann, volunteers from Spain and Germany (2007-2009)

Ualberto Hoyos was a well-known leader from the Curbaradó River Basin (Chocó Department). 

On 14 October 2008 we travelled to the communities of Curbaradó with the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission (CIJP). The area was unsafe due to the recent threats made against CIJP and the communities, and by the recent abduction of a CIJP member. However, because of the perseverance of the communities and CIJP, we continued to accompany in this area. We spent the day at the Humanitarian Zone on farmer Don Petro’s land in the midst of African palm. The persons we accompanied were preparing some activities. At four in the afternoon, we were informed that Ualberto Hoyos had just been killed in the Caño Manso community. Two men had shot him point-blank in front of witnesses in the middle of the day.

We knew Ualberto was a well-known leader for the Curbaradó communities and several of us had also met him. We remembered that just a year ago, one afternoon in September 2007, he had been previously attacked. A hit man had attempted to kill him and his brother while they sat in front of their house, which was near to where Orlando Valencia, another leader from the communities in the Lower Atrato region, had been disappeared two years before. On this occasion, Ualberto and his brother were seriously wounded by the gunshots and had to leave the area due to security concerns as well as to physically recover. However, a few weeks previous to his assassination, Ualberto had returned to the area of Curbaradó with security detail provided by the State: armed bodyguards and an armoured car. The message of his murder provoked a deep fear among the people from the communities and CIJP asked us to accompany them to immediately leave for Caño Manso.

Up to July 1997, between 80 and 90 families inhabited the Caño Manso rural community. Their sources of subsistence were rice, corn, cassava, plantain, yam, and fishing. In July 1997, all the farming families left the area, fleeing armed groups. On 5 August 2007, after ten years of displacement, a group of families decided to return to their territory.

Although Caño Manso is presently occupied by extensive cattle ranching and lumber extraction, several families had returned in October 2008 and Ualberto played an important role in this return. Moreover, he was also a witness in the legal investigations regarding the illegal appropriation of land in the region and in the case of the disappearance and homicide of the community leader Orlando Valencia. Precisely one day before his murder, the First Criminal Court of the Specialised Circuit Court in Antioquia had summoned Ualberto to provide testimony in the trial being undertaken against two well-known paramilitaries for the homicide of Orlando. Ualberto had also been granted provisional measures of protection by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and within this framework had received a security detail from the Ministry of Interior and Justice. Nonetheless, the persons in charge of his security were not with him during the week of his murder as they alleged there was damage to the vehicle they used to protect him 1.

We had to travel to Caño Manso by motorcycle at night. On the way, we crossed paths with the Army and the Police, who first tried to hinder our journey. Finally, at eight in the evening, we arrived to Caño Manso. We went to the community, which seemed abandoned. Silence reigned and you could feel the fear in the air, even though we could not see anyone. The CIJP member yelled: «Hello. Good Evening. Is anyone there?» We heard a reply that came from a house: «Justice and Peace?» When they heard «yes», people began to come out of their houses little by little and we met the beautiful and admirable people of Caño Manso. They quickly told us what happened and asked if we wanted to see the deceased body of Ualberto. The woman from CIJP looked at us and with difficulty said: «I suppose so». A boy grabbed Andreas’s hand and said: «Come on, the man is over here». Ualberto was lying face up with six candles set up around him. Some of the gunshots could be seen.

The Police, the Army and the Technical Investigation Unit (CTI) of the Public Prosecutor’s Office arrived some five hours after the incident was reported. Then the Public Prosecutor’s Office received testimony for several hours and the procedures took the entire night. They also gathered some nine bullet shells next to Ualberto and took his body. At dawn, a woman from the community made coffee. After serving us, we witnessed another example of the integrity of the people from these communities: despite her fear and mistrust, the woman approached the police and also offered them coffee. It was a long and strange night. The two of us had never experienced such a tragic and sad situation. The people from the community gathered together and supported each other, remembering Ualberto. Someone read the Bible and together they reflected on the aggressions they faced and if they should continue forward. Through the songs they sang and their readings, we understood the decision was to continue with the struggle in their territory. They spoke about creating a Humanitarian Zone, which we believe was achieved a few months later.

The next day, since other PBI volunteers came to relieve us, we exchanged emotional farewells with the people from the community and the CIJP member, who had impressed us so much with the support she provided to the community. For Jaime, it was the last time he was in Caño Manso with PBI, though he hopes to see these people again. We also hope some day for there to be justice in the murder of Ualberto, the attack against him and his brother the year before, and the disappearance and murder of Orlando Valencia, in addition to the countless violations the Caño Manso community and the other communities from Curbaradó and Jiguamiandó have suffered and continue to suffer. Forced displacement has banished them from their territory for so many years.

1 «Informe 93: Curbaradó, Asesinado Ualberto Hoyos, Paramilitares asesinaron a líder de Curbaradó»,  Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission, 14 October 2008