“Here should be the president and the Police apologizing”

During the act of forgiveness and reconciliation in the Plaza de Bolívar in Bogotá, the victims were the protagonists. In the midst of their pain, several of them spoke up.

“We are living in a moment of sadness, pain, anguish. What we ask from the heart is that justice be granted because we know that there are many acts that have gone unpunished. We want these events not to generate more violence, ”said Bryan Baquero Rojas, 29-year-old brother of Angie Baquero, who was shot in the abdomen as he passed near CAI La Gaitana.

For her part, Flor Alcira Peralta, mother of the young Ferney Peralta, who was injured, said through tears: “Bryan is wounded, one of the bullets totally destroyed his femur. Speaking is difficult when there is pain, when it was not only our family member but those who fell, all those who have fallen among the police and civilians. I know that we must have a change as human beings we cannot allow ourselves to be influenced by anger, by rage, let’s all sit down and talk as friends ”.

And he added: “We need you to be our friends and we need to be your friends in order to advance peace in the nation. Do not forget our relatives ”.

Finally, Mayra Páez, 17-year-old Jaider Alexander Fonseca’s partner, who died of four gunshots and leaves behind a seven-month-old baby, demanded the presence of President Iván Duque and the National Police.

“The mayor should not only be here, the president and the National Police should be apologizing and acknowledging this act they did because, as she mentioned, there are many tests where it is seen that they are the ones who kill our youth. Why do they kill us if we are the example to follow? Who gave the orders for them to start shooting?

That is why he demanded “the national government that there be justice, that the full weight of the law falls on the National Police, what they did was murder. It wasn’t a stray bullet, it was four shots, they shot him. Today my pain is not only as a woman, it is also as a mother: my son is orphaned by this violent act by the National Police ”.