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They were in a car heading to Forensic Medicine to do the paperwork to see the face of Osvaldo Muñoz Palacios for the last time, the man killed by three subjects on a TransMilenio bus, on Thursday, October 30. They, his family, had never seen each other is such an unthinkable scenario, less in the case of a human being so calm, so familiar, so hard-working and humble.
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While the vehicle was driving they tried to look for clues on social networks. They say that in this country the relatives of the dead are the last to know everything. So, on the web, It was that they saw this disgraced man on a TransMilenio chair, that is how they saw a path of blood where they think he was dragged, that is how they found the photos of the alleged murderers. At that time there was no certainty, only conjecture.
Luz Mery Muñoz Palacios, her sister, cried, looked out the window, reviewed papers and answered calls. No matter how overwhelmed, he said, his only hope was that the media would not forget the case, that it would not remain as one more figure, one more victim of the robberies in the city.
(Also: Doubts and stupor remain due to the crime that occurred on a TransMilenio bus)
His brother was 45 years old and this year, on December 7, he would turn one more. Osvaldo was born in Bogotá and managed to graduate from high school. “He worked for Aguapanelas Internacional. He was a tremendous worker ”. He was married, never had children and since that relationship ended he devoted himself to his brothers and nephews. He had one in a physically disabled condition whom he pampered, cared for, and supported. He was so loving with him that they have not been able to tell him the tragedy. “My sick brother is the oldest and the blow is going to be very hard- Osvaldo was 24-7 with him. ‘My brother’s only mistake was having the illusion of a new cell phone,’ “said Luz Mery.
They lived all their lives in the Villa Luz neighborhood. This small family went on alone because the parents died and they, their children, had to overcome life without the support of their parents. “Despite being alone we never took vices, always in the little house. Osvaldo was the mainstay, if he had to stay up late, he did it, he didn’t drink, he didn’t smoke, he didn’t like messy parties. It was really exemplary. ” During the pandemic, he was the only one who kept his job and who bore all the household expenses.
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It was not the first time that this man, seasoned from walking the streets in the north of Bogotá, had faced crime. It had already been stolen once two years ago. In a ‘tickle’ they had taken his mobile phone. “But this time they killed him, they killed me,” said his sister in front of the Forensic Medicine facilities, where they left all morning and afternoon while in the blackened sky he began to cry.
Osvaldo was the mainstay, if he had to stay up late, he did it, he didn’t drink, he didn’t smoke, he didn’t like messy parties. Was exemplary really
Luz Mery Muñoz Palacios and Nilxon Martínez Muñoz, Osvaldo’s sister and nephew.
Héctor Fabio Zamora.
Today, the only information they have is that the entire robbery began within a TransMilenio bus on 72nd street, that three men tried to steal Osvaldo’s cell phone and that before his resistance they stabbed him in the leg, that the help he could have received was not enough to save his life, that he bled to death and killers fled. “Nobody has told us anything else, they have not let us see the camera recordings, we have not been able to see my uncle’s face,” said Nilxon Martínez Muñoz, his nephew. Luz Mery cannot explain how they did not take him to the Country clinic just two blocks from the place where it all happened.
Osvaldo died for giving himself a simple taste in life after an eternity of work, for having made a single investment to be more agile in his daily tasks. He got into a credit card to buy a high-end cell phone and without having paid a single fee for it, it was stolen. The joy that overwhelmed him did not last long. Her sister thinks she could have resisted and that it would have triggered everything. “Seeing him lying there, lying there, thinking that they only took pictures of him and didn’t help him is very hard for us. I don’t want them to forget after the funeral that this happened, it would be a greater tragedy ”.
Today this family asks to see the videos and to hide from us who and how all those who surrounded the scene acted. “My uncle was a humble person, with values, a very funny person, he made us laugh, he looked for the game. We miss him a lot, ”said Nilxon, who recalled that the last time he saw him he had brought him a beer ornament because he knew he really liked collecting these types of objects.
Osvaldo is not only mourned by his family, but also by his co-workers. Mauricio Blanco, commercial manager of Connections and Entertainment, the company that owns the Autopista Norte event center, and the Agua Panelas brand, is still in shock. “I knew him 20 years ago. He came to the company very young to work as a waitress assistant, he was a messenger, then he was a group captain, he was an administrator, but in recent days, due to the pandemic, and since we had to close some points so that he had a job, he was helping us with several turns. He knew everything about the company ”.
My uncle was a humble person, with values, a very funny person, he made us laugh, he looked for us to play. We miss him so much
Osvaldo was an excellent worker, his bosses say that he never said no to anything.
The few times he retired from the company it was because he had a dream. He said he was saving to start his own business, a gastrobar, a bar or a pub. “But he always came back, he was a super kind man, dedicated to his work. He never told us no, if he had to go through town, he did. He always knew how to solve problems. He was a trustworthy man ”.
Another thing, his smile, he never looked angry or upset. His friends remember that when he served as a waiter, he was one of those who had very cultured gestures, put one hand in front and the other behind, made him come, waved with extreme courtesy. “Sometimes people thought he was joking but no, he was like that, he liked to be very, very decent with people,” said Blanco, who saw him the two days before the tragedy. Since everything happened they have called him not only employees but the companies that knew him, they do not leave astonishment. “Everything was so grotesque, so violent, that we really can’t believe it.”
His attention was so courteous that customers called him by name, he was proactive, people trusted his work, and he was also known by generations of workers who were coming and going all the time. “I don’t want to think that he resisted having a cell phone taken from him and that that’s why he was killed. This type of crime is affecting us all, it will not allow the city to resurface, it will keep the environment rarefied. I don’t want to believe that we are going to get used to that. There must be an exemplary punishment “Blanco said.
He was a super nice man, dedicated to his work. He never told us no, if he had to go through town, he did. I always knew the way to solve problems
On the day of the death of Osvaldo Muñoz Palacios, his family arrived at the scene, saw a crowd of unknown people, then realized that the secretary of security, the manager of TransMilenio, high-ranking officers had arrived. “But no one turned to look at us, we were there, alone, not knowing who had decided to kill my uncle. Then they will say that the figures have improved, that it is a matter of perception, and everything will continue the same or worse, we will have to go out into the streets hiding everything, being alert, that should not be the case. We are invisible, ”said Nilxon who, in the late afternoon, hugged his mother as they were allowed to see his uncle for the last time.
Nobody turned to look at us, we were there, alone, not knowing who had killed my uncle
CAROL MALAVER
SUBEDITOR BOGOTÁ
Write to us at [email protected]
