Ninth FARC Member Killed in Colombia Despite Peace Process

By teleSUR

16 September 17

A social leader is killed every four days despite the peace process agreed between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

member of the former Colombian rebel group, the FARC, has been killed in the town of San Vicente del Caguan, in the southern department of Caquieta.

The Foundation Lazos de Dignidad issued a statement which said Maicol Guevara was a young fighter who had taken part in the demobilization following November's peace deal signed with the government after decades of armed conflict.

Guevara was killed on Tuesday. Witnesses say he was shot seven times by men on an unlicensed motorbike as he made his way home.

Caqueta's Federation of social, environmental and rural organizations, COORDOSAC, warned that the killing “represented an imminent risk for those who those who believe in the peace process.”

The foundation also demanded the government stepped up security for demobilized FARC fighters, as well as social leaders.

Since the signing of the peace agreement in November, the violence by paramilitary groups against the former rebels has left eight dead along with 10 family members.

Paramilitaries have been filling the void in rural areas vacated by the FARC.

55 murders of community leaders and human rights activists have been recorded so far in 2017.

The former rebel group has now transitioned into a political party called the Revolutionary Alternative Forces of the Commons.

Their leader Rodrigo Londono, also known as Timochenko, said the murders of former members and the security vacuum remain a key concern.

His sentiments were echoed by the chief negotiator for Colombia's last remaining rebel group, the National Liberation Army as it moves towards a cease-fire in October.

In an interview with teleSUR's EnClave Politica show, Pablo Beltran, urged the government to end the killings of social leaders.

Beltran said the deaths are contradictory during a peace process.