Colombia: Ex-FARC Member and Peace Deal Signatory Assassinated

By teleSUR

27 January 20

So far, including Vargas, another four ex-FARC members and peace agreement signatories have been murdered in 2020.

ormer Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) member and peace agreement signatory John Freddy Vargas was murdered Saturday after attending a meeting in a church in Huila.

Vargas, 42, was shot multiple times while he was on a motorcycle with his girlfriend, after the meeting with officials from the Agency for Reincorporation and Normalization (ARN).

"The event took place when the victim was riding a motorcycle and two subjects hit him twice with a firearm, dying immediately on the spot," the Deputy commander of the Huila Police Nestor Florez informed, adding that Vargas "was in the process of being reinstated with the RNA."

#Attention Fredy Vargas Rojas, Peace Agreement signatory and associated with Cooagropaz, was murdered yesterday Jan. 25 in Pitalito, Huila. #NoMorePeaceSignatoriesMurdered

The former combatant, who was accredited by the National Reincorporation Agency, was developing agricultural projects in the rural area of that town.

For his part, Ramiro Duran, a representative in Huila of the Common Alternative Revolutionary Force party (FARC) , rejected this crime and indicated that as ex-members of FARC they fear for their safety.

Colombia continues to be one of the most unstable countries in the region due to the insecurity experienced by social leaders and former members of armed groups who signed the peace agreement.

In 2020, more than 20 social activists have been murdered in Colombia,  and according to the United Nations, since the peace agreement signing, more than 300 murders of human rights leaders have occurred.

So far, including Vargas, another four ex-FARC members and peace agreement signatories have been murdered in 2020.