Choco Governor Nubia Carolina Cordoba said that her convoy was attacked while traveling through the province in western Colombia.
According to the governor, armed men opened fire on her caravan while she was traveling through La Troje, a rural sector of the capital Quibdo.
The governor traveled through La Troje after attending the commemoration ceremony for the victims of a landslide along the highway that connects Quibdo to Medellin.
While I was returning from the tribute for the first anniversary of the victims of the Quibdó-Medellin highway, accompanied by my mother, at the height of the village of La Troje, my caravan was harassed by men in uniform (unidentified) and heavily armed. There was an exchange of gunfire and we left the place unharmed.
Choco Governor Nubia Carolina Cordoba
Cordoba said that that she would continue to defend the people of Choco against violence perpetrated by illegal armed groups in the jungle province.
Vice-President Francia Marquez, who has suffered multiple attacks in the Pacific region over the past decade, asked authorities to “redouble the security of the governor and I join her in her message of never giving in to illegal groups and those who continue to violate the human rights of the people of Choco.”
Choco had been one of Colombia’s most affected by violence and armed conflict, and is currently subjected to violence between guerrilla group ELN and paramilitary organization EGC, which controls the north of the province.
The government of President Gustavo Petro has been trying to curb this violence through attempted negotiations with both groups and a peace process that involves the illegal armed groups that operate in Quibdo.
