President Juan Manuel Santos states that assassinations of peasant leaders who support land restitution for those displaced by violence must not be permitted and will not halt the process, the government reported Friday.
“Those assassinations, there have been nine this year, are assassinations by people that wish to hinder the government policy of returning land to peasants that were displaced by violence,” said Santos.
The president said that the objective of the government is to return land “by way of the law and of justice,” that was taken from peasants by force.
He said that the government will enact a plan to protect those who support the restitution process, so that they may work hand-in-hand with public forces to ensure that the process goes smoothly and to arrest those responsible for the murders.
Santos claimed that “we will not permit the perpetrators of violence to halt a process that is fundamental for us.”
He also denounced the recent murder of Arauca judge Gloria Constanza Gaona, stating that “she not only embodied the dignity of justice but also was a director of the Asonal Judicial union.”