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Natalia Jimenez & Rodrigo Monsalve
Violence has been a constant element in the history of Colombia. It claims many victims year after year. Two of the recent victims, Natalia Jimenez and Rodrigo Monsalve, were a young, newly-married couple who were killed and whose bodies were found with bags over their head and their hands tied. They had been shot dead. Their killers left their bodies abandoned much in the same way that the Colombian State has left forgotten many territories in peripheral parts of the country. In that sense, it is a fact that the State does not have the capacity to apply the law and use its power in all its territory. This is explained by factors such as corruption, paramilitarism, drug trafficking and the lack of political power.
The Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta is the area where the murder of the couple was committed and through recent history this zone has suffered not only for the same factors which were previously mentioned, but also by particular circumstances in terms of illegal mining, illegal crops and in particular, environmental conflicts in which economic interests tend to clash with indigenous and local interests. In contrast with the brutality of the crime, the beauty of the landscape of the area is world renowned with abundant vegetation, waterfalls, jungle areas, streams, hot springs, beaches and even snow-capped mountains. Also, there are natural riches such as gold, silver and fertile soil which have been ancestrally protected and valued by their native inhabitants, the indigenous peoples who inhabit the Sierra Nevada. In order to protect this natural and cultural wealth, there are many people like Natalia who focus their efforts on teaching communities how to preserve these resources and speak up for their rights. However, the goodness of their actions and the beauty of this paradise do not protect them from the clutches of the criminal agents who control this area. Natalia Jimenez and Rodrigo Monsalve were a couple, both born in the city of Bogotá, but living in Santa Marta, in the department of Magdalena. Natalia worked there as an ecologist in the region and Rodrigo was an anthropology student and a well-known DJ in the city.
The couple had married a week before their murder, although they had been in a relationship for 15 years. The murder caused a great commotion at a national and even international level, mainly through social networks where justice was demanded for the couple; the hashtag #RodrigoyNatalia was a trend for several days; especially seeing as the murder took place on their honeymoon, and that it was during the Christmas season and also because of the serious situation that social leaders in the country are facing. The couple were described as idealists who worked hard for the good of the communities where they worked and were also considered an example to follow for all Colombians.
According to her mother and friends, Natalia was working on the most important project in terms of conservation of fresh water in Colombia, named “Magdalena-Cauca Vive”, which was focused on the conservation of the Magdalena and Cauca river basins. The couple were on their way to the department of La Guajira to enjoy their honeymoon, when they were intercepted on the road by a group of armed men; total communication with them was lost and no more was heard until Monday December 23, when their bodies were found with their faces covered, hands tied and bullets in their heads, putting an end to this sad story that adds to other cases of murder of social leaders in Colombia. It must be stated that the place where the crime was perpetrated was far from the community where Natalia worked with the Natura Foundation, and furthermore the foundation declared that Natalia’s murder had nothing to do with the work she was doing at the foundation seeing as they had received no threats, yet Natalia´s mother has been adamant that the killing was related to her daughter´s community work.
The Colombian authorities carried out the pertinent investigations to solve the case and the only thing they found was the recording of a security camera that saw the couple at a tollbooth, but due to an electrical cut no more information could be obtained from the security cameras. Moreover, during the moment they were intercepted, both were threatened with death in case they did not hang up the cell phone since Natalia was talking to her father. It is also worth mentioning that both were traveling in quite a dangerous area controlled by paramilitary groups. The police indicated that neither their car nor the victims’ belongings have been found, which suggest that the crime was perpetrated by criminal groups that operate in the area and they pointed out the criminal organization “Los Pachencas” as possible authors of the crime, although they did not rule out other hypotheses. Shortly after the events the police managed to capture two men possibly involved in the crime, and later these men admitted to committing the crime and that the main objective of the crime had been to steal the couple´s vehicle. These two men were found guilty and sent to prison, although many people claim that this story of the robbery does not make sense, since a large number of illegal and dangerous armed groups operate in that area of the country, and that these could have been the main culprits of the crime. In order to understand what happened with Rodrigo and Natalia’s case, its fundamental first to know the territorial circumstances in the department of Magdalena, the main actors in the area, their activities and the political, social and economic dynamics that govern the area in question.
The department of Magdalena is a territory that has been directly affected by the violence which has plagued Colombia. The importance of the area is due to its strategic position for the cocaine trade. According to the Semana magazine, specifically the Sierra Nevada area is in the domain of Los Pachencas, a paramilitary organization that exports large quantities of cocaine to Europe and the US. This group has been responsible for the fear of the community and the constant criminal violence. On the other hand, there is the presence of the Clan del Golfo who have allied with Los Pachencas on several occasions although currently there is a break in the balance of power that they have maintained throughout the territory. In addition, the presence of the ELN is found in the vicinity of Minca, Dibulla and in the mountainous area of Santa Marta itself. According to Semana Magazine, the main disputes are over the control of the routes for the export of cocaine hydrochloride, the control of the port and the illegal income generated by extortion. The fact is that in a year and half, 11 of the 15 municipalities in the area have had manifestations of violence, six social leaders have been killed, and 42 people were displaced after the murder of a member of the community in Playa Salguero. In total, there have been eight armed actions and eight infractions of International Humanitarian Law were filed, according to a recent report by UNCaribe, an observatory from the Universidad del Norte.
Among these victims was Maritza Quiroz, who was shot dead on a farm that was donated to her and another nine people because they had been victims of displacement. Maritza Quiroz was social leader in Santa Marta, and was killed on the 5 of January last year in the Sierra Nevada. Maritza was a woman who worked as a representative of her community in the construction of wastewater treatment plants in the Sierra Nevada and Perijá. Despite being a victim of violence, she always fought for her community. Looking at other cases, we have Wilton Orrego who was killed near a village called Perico Aguoao (curiously, the same place where Natalia and Rodrigo were discovered dead), Wilton was a park ranger who, like Natalia, had interest in preserving the area.
For all these reasons, and keeping in mind the presence of these illegal groups and interests, it is clear to see why many people are not convinced about the official version that establish that the case of Natalia and Rodrigo was a simple robbery. As was previously mentioned, the department of Magdalena is a territory that has a presence of illegal groups and that has been affected by violence. With this in mind, it is necessary to understand what Natalia and Rodrigo did in their professional life in order to see if, like Maritza and Wilton, their murders were related to their work. Natalia was an ecologist from the Universidad Javeriana and anthropologist from the Universidad Nacional, and was the environmental manager of Fundación Natura, where she participated in the Magdalena Cauca Vive project. According to this organization, “the area where she performed her professional duties was the swampy complex of Zapatosa, between Cesar and Magdalena, as well as the swamp of Ayapel, in Córdoba. As was previously mentioned, the organization denies there was a link between her work and her death. Rodrigo had graduated from the National University as an anthropologist. However, he had discovered that in addition to his taste for nature and research, he had a deep passion for music, so at least eight years ago he decided to create his own brand as a DJ and play in clubs and private events. He had recently embarked on an international tour of the United States. It is important to consider that Natalia´s mother said that her daughter was a social leader because she defended rural workers rights, taught them how to farm sustainably, and did not allow them to be taken advantage of. In an interview with Caracol Radio she said:”My daughter was a victim, like the other social leaders. That’s why they were killed. That’s why. I’m sure of it. They weren’t mugged, they weren’t drugged for stealing their car. They were killed because she was a social leader who only defended these communities, who only taught them how to cultivate their land”-With this in mind, it is important to decide if Natalia was a social leader; the Truth commission in Colombia said that a social leader is someone who defends the human rights of those people who are vulnerable. In addition, the United Nations talks about the human rights defenders and said that a person who acts on behalf of a human right (or rights) of an individual or a group shall be a human rights defender.
These people strive to promote and protect civil and political rights and to achieve the promotion, protection and enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. In consequence of this, we could determine that Natalia was a social leader, because based on what her mother said, she was working to protect the rights of rural communities. In addition, she was working on a project with Natura Foundation and this means that she was an environmental leader.
In conclusion, despite the fact that the “Natura” foundation declared that neither Natalia nor this entity had received threats, this article identifies Natalia Jimenez as a social leader because of what was mentioned above. Also this article recognizes that the project in which she worked and her attitude towards the community were essential for the construction of a better social reality. This means, that she didn’t just defend people, she also defended the environment, and was focused on constructing a better society not only helping rural communities, but also helping nature and creating and being part of big projects to protect the environment. All this indicates that she was a social leader and environmental leader too.
Finally, analyzing this article and what is known, we can say that there are circumstances that indicate that the murder of the young couple was not the result of a simple robbery as the authorities maintain, but that this was a crime to silence the voice of their actions that were intended to help a community and protect its rights as well as contributing to building a better future. Until now there has been no further progress in the investigation into the killing of the couple, and everything continues to be attributed as a simple robbery, adding another curiosity to the situation facing social leaders in Colombia.
*Article written by Maria Ballesteros, Steffanie Cadena & Sergio Sarmiento
References
NA(26 diciembre 2019). Natalia y Rodrigo: el asesinato de la pareja de ecologistas colombianos en su luna de miel que conmociona al país. BBC NEWS. Tomado de: https://bbc.in/2WSGieD
NA(6 de enero 2020). Crímenes en la Sierra: el paraíso perdido en el que manda el grupo paramilitar Los Pachencas. Revista Semana. Tomado de: https://bit.ly/2wJnyDB
NA(17 de diciembre 2019).La nueva guerra criminal por el control de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Revista Semana. Tomado de: https://bit.ly/33OK4qY
NA(13 de enero 2018) ¿Qué es ser un líder social?. Alto Comisionado de la Verdad. Tomado de: https://bit.ly/3dIc6sv
NA(NA). Sobre los defensores de los Derechos Humanos. Naciones Unidas y Derechos Humanos, Oficina del Alto Comisionado. Tomado de: https://bit.ly/33XRpEP
NA(24 de diciembre de 2019) Caracol Radio. Tomado de: https://bit.ly/2UswsOY
NA (1 de junio de 2010)Con el crimen de Maritza, el 2019 inicia con el asesinato de un líder social por día. Revista Semana. Tomado de: https://bit.ly/3dXT55s
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