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There is commotion in Colombia over the murder of Juana María Perea Plata, a Colombian-Spanish businesswoman and activist. His lifeless body was found in the municipal seat of Nuquí after the community alerted the unfortunate event.
Perea’s murder was confirmed by the mayor of Nuquí, Yefer Gamboa, who said that the citizen “has a gunshot wound to the head.”
This information was also confirmed by Marco Antonio González, commander of the Chocó Police, in an interview with W. He affirmed that when the authorities went to the place they found that the body had a gunshot wound.
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“We strongly reject the fact that occurred in Nuquí. An intelligence body is already working to clarify what happened,” said González, who also during the radio interview assured that in the area where the crime occurred, the peaceful structure of the Clan commits crimes. from the Gulf “.
Gamboa added that Perea Plata “was working on tourism issues” in that Pacific region, located about 50 minutes by plane from Quibdó, the capital of Chocó, and known for being one of the best places in the world for whale watching. .
We strongly reject the fact that was presented in Nuquí. An intelligence body is already working to clarify what happened
“Juana Perea had been leading a tourism issue; she had been working now, due to the covid issue, with protection issues and biosafety protocols for tourist inns, and she was the leader of the hoteliers union in the municipality of Nuquí,” he added.
The victim’s cousin said that Perea and her husband, a US citizen who works as a contractor firefighter in Afghanistan, had bought ten hectares of land in the Termales area, where “As a good Basque, she began to change the situation there, which is very precarious” due to the proliferation of drug gangs and paramilitaries.
“They bought those ten hectares in the most beautiful and paradisiacal place in the world (…) but where everyone watches you, that is the kingdom of the paracos (paramilitaries), there is no government there, there is nothing”, said Restrepo, who was at the scene twice.
She added that her cousin also opposed the construction of the Tribugá port, a controversial project whose license was not finally granted by the Colombian government to the interested society, and although “they finally managed to stop it, she could not remain silent as a good Basque and they murdered her. “
The family does not know if Perea Plata had received threats for his activism, and the mayor and Commander González said the same.
“I spoke continuously with her because of the role she played; she had not told me that she had threats. She told me about her concern about some pamphlets (which were circulated recently in various municipalities of the country but no particular threat,” said Gamboa.
They bought those ten hectares in the most beautiful and paradisiacal place in the world (…) but where everyone watches over you, that is the kingdom of the Paracos
The president also recognized that “the security situation in the municipality is complex” due to the presence of illegal armed groups and the weak presence of the State, since until recently in Nuquí they had “only nine police officers for a community of more than 6,000 inhabitants. “.
“For a long time we have been making requests to the Ministry of Defense, the National Police and the Navy about an increase in the force, and that we have a Prosecutor’s Office unit. The truth is that here in Nuquí there is no one who investigates the crimes and the the situation becomes complex, “declared the mayor.
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Faced with this situation, Commander González said that on Tuesday of this week he was present in Nuquí to reinforce the presence of soldiers in the municipality. He assured that at this time there are already 17 members of the Police and confirmed that between this Friday and Saturday 50 more will arrive.
For the moment, the authorities are advancing the investigation to find out clearly what happened to Perea and who is responsible for his murder.
The unfortunate figures of murdered environmental leaders in Colombia
Since 2012, when the British NGO Global Witness presented the first report of murdered environmental leaders in the world, the Philippines, Brazil and India had topped the list of the most dangerous places for environmental defenders.
For the first time, Colombia occupied the shameful first place of the countries with the most assassinated environmental leaders in the report presented this year. The chilling figure is 64 deaths in 2019. So far, the figure for Colombia is the highest registered by the NGO.
(You can continue reading: They are the 64 environmentalists killed in 2019)
ELTIEMPO.COM and EFE
