Women assaulted by ruthless cattle-ranch company occupants

The three women that were attacked, one of them with intent to be drowned and another with knifes, form part of the terror techniques executed by the workers that operate under the command of the illegal occupants in the region of Curvaradó and Pedeguita Mansilla.


Molano is benificary of paramilitary operations, including those run by Sor Teresa Gómez.

The serious incident occurred in an area where since the first week of November paramilitaries are located and in which they strongly restricted the free movement of the inhabitants by installing checkpoints to control the people and their goods and by charging a war fee. The paramilitaries installed their checkpoint within the villages Cetino in Curvaradó and Las Menas in Jiguamiandó.

The paramilitaries detained a motorcycle-taxi driver and a member of the Community Council of Jiguamiandó for more than six hours. The detention occurred at the point known as La Ye on the border between Curvaradó and Jiguamiandó.
The paramilitaries established their checkpoint in a place where they remained, dressed in plain clothes and armed, from midday until 6 o’clock in the evening. There, they threatened two persons and stated that it was not permitted to transport more than 18 gallons of gasoline. Since the beginning of November the paramilitaries established a checkpoint to control people and their good, demanding receipts, in some cases charging taxes.
Last Friday afternoon, in the collective territory of Curvaradó and Pedeguita Mansilla, workers of the illegal occupant and ex-military Luis Felipe Molano destroyed the bridge that enables the members of the Community Council of Caño Manso, collective territory of Curvaradó and Pedeguita Mansilla, and the humanitarian support for them to enter and leave the area by motorcycle or truck.

In continuity with the agressions against the members of Community Councils that reclaim their lands, the leader of Pedeguita Mansilla, Rocío Rueda, was physically attacked by the so called “El Paisa”, one of the illegal occupants.
Yesterday on Saturday in the morning hours, on the lands of the Community Council Nueva Unión, collective territory of Pedguita and Mansilla, one of the illegal occupants that hid his face expressed death threats to the members of Council Luis Mercado and Katerine Torres.
Close to the place a command of the 17th brigada was located and dispite their knowledge about the constant threats they did not interfere. Besides that, a military stated “Let these sons of bitches kill each other”.
At sunrise today, eight workers of the entrepreneur and cattle rancher Luis Felipe Molano, illegal occupant, expressed death threats against the family Mercado and later destroyed three provisional housings of the family Mercado, that they were seeking to reconstruct.
One of the illegal occupants tried to assault a member of the Community Council of Ana Tuirán with a machete, that luckily managed to defend himself with a plastic tap of a water tank.
The so called “El Paisa” manifested that they had received the order to kill those who stand in their way, as it happened in the past. The worker of the cattle-ranch entrepreneur and ex-coronel Luis Felipe Molano, said that they count on the support of the military that would not show up if called but call him instead.
Furthermore, they were acting in complete tranquility to demonstrate the power that the coronel Luis Felipe Molano maintains.
According to the testimonies, two of the suspects were carrying hand guns and the 17th brigade, even though located nearby, negated to act.
Minutes later various workers of Molano violently penetrated into the house of Katerine Cuesta, dragged her out and threw her into a canal, trying to drown her.
In the midst of the attack Narciso Diáz, administrator of Luis Felipe Molano, affirmed that the military will not come because the orders “came from the very top”, so they should stop complaining.
The serious incidents occurred in between a high militarization and the non-compliance of the orders implemented by the Constitutional Court.
During the last years the aggressions often addressed women, without any reactions shown on the part of the Colombian government to ensure their rights.
Durante los últimos días las agresiones se han dirigido a mujeres, sin que exista reacción alguna del gobierno de Colombia para garantizar a ella sus derechos.

Bogotá, D.C. 17th of November, 2013

Interchurch Commission for Justice and Peace