In a grim display of violence, Colombian security forces opened fire on demonstrating farmers last week in southwest Nariño state.
The farmers were protesting the eradication of their coca fields when the shootings occurred.
The actual number of dead and injured remains in dispute. The Prosecutor’s Office puts the number at seven dead and 30 wounded. Rights groups representing the farmers put the tally at 16 dead and more than 50 wounded.
And the death count might be even higher. Families report several people are still missing, including a 13-year-old boy. Victims allege police are “hiding evidence,” and that additional corpses have yet to be recovered from the scene of the “massacre.”
In the wake of the shooting, critics charge government officials also attempted to cover up the circumstances so as to deny responsibility.
Three days after the shooting, police officers in the same region of Nariño again launched grenades and live rounds against unarmed civilians. This time targeting a team of journalists and human rights workers, led by a United Nations delegation, that had arrived to investigate the previous incident.
credit:thedailybeast.com
