What the murder of two female social leaders tells us about critical structural issues in Magdalena

Patricia Perez & Cristina Cantillo were two of the 145 social leaders and human rights defenders murdered in Colombia during 2021.

Article written by Daniela Rincon & Elizabeth Jiménez

Studying violence directed towards women in Colombia will always leave a sour taste in the mouth of those who read their stories. The department of Magdalena is not far from that reality, and in the two cases that we want to share with the reader, this will become evident. Patricia Perez Ríos and Cristina Isabel Cantillo were two social leaders who were murdered in 2021. Both fought for the rights of their community and received threats because of this work, but they did not give in until their lives were cruelly taken away. Patricia's case shows the struggle of those who were displaced from their lands, while Cristina wanted a better life for LGBTIQ+ people as a transwoman and leader. Their lives may have been brutally extinguished, but their stories are not, and the struggles they were immersed in will not cease. In this article we want to share their stories, alongside the geo-socio-political context in order to highlight the issues regarding violence towards female leaders in Magdalena, and by extension throughout Colombia.

Firstly, it is important to note that Colombia is no stranger to the systemic mistreatment that the LGBTIQ+ community faces every day. According to Medicina Legal (2021), only in 2021, 293 people of the LGBTIQ+ community were victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) and more than half of the victims were women. Data from Defensoría del Pueblo, the Ombudsman's Office, (2021) states that in 2021 alone, there were 35 trans women murdered, with most of these cases classified as hate crimes. Magdalena has serious issues with structural violence that the LGBTIQ+ community is victim of, and this is shown through the lack of protection provided by the government in relation to the community, violence rates in the territory, and the discrimination they face on a daily basis. Between the start of 2020 and June 2021, there were 6 homicides related to hate crimes against the LGBTIQ+ community registered in the department (Caracol Radio Santa Marta, 2021). Given the situation, the work of social leaders becomes a necessity in these territories, where the communities' rights are being violated as a result of the dangerous political power vacuum in the department. However, such work in defense of communities brings danger in Colombia.

Caribe Afirmativo, an NGO dedicated to the protection and promotion of LGBTIQ+ rights in the Colombian Caribbean region, denounced the murder of Cristina Cantillo, a social leader and promoter of LGBTIQ+ rights in Santa Marta. She was also an advocate of land restitution processes through her work with Calidad Humana as the former head of the organization. Her work showed support not only for the community, but also for women’s rights: she made sure to publicly condemn violence against women in political structures alongside other women on January 9th, 2021, and actively participated in the defense of human rights in Santa Marta (Alarcón, 2021). Unfortunately, her work and denouncements made her a target of armed organizations, and her life was threatened on two occasions, which pushed her to demand a security scheme provided by Unidad Nacional de Protección (UNP), the National Protection Unit, especially designed for social leaders under threat like her. However, this was not enough to prevent her murder, as the security detail did not extend to when Cristina was at her house, as it was considered a safe place for the social leader; budget restrictions ruled out 24 hour protection. Cristina was resting in her house’s terrace on the night of December 7th, or the Día de Velitas; a popular religious holiday, when two men approached her on a motorcycle and shot her three times, instantly causing her death (Pacheco, 2021). Her death brought back the stark reality of hundreds of crimes committed against women and the LGBTIQ+ community in Magdalena, restarting the conversation about the lack of protection and guarantees for these social leaders, who often put their lives at risk in order to protect a territory that has not received enough attention from the national government in terms of the presence and influence of illegal armed actors. Unfortunately, this case will not be the last one where a female social leader gets murdered for advocating for her community’s rights.

If the situation facing the LGBTIQ+ community is gravely serious, other dynamics in Magdalena and throughout the country are immersed in a sociopolitical and territorial reality with critical characteristics. From a national perspective, according to the Human Rights Watch Report, in 2021, Colombia has been facing major problems in respect to the implementation of the 2016 Peace accord (HRW, 2022). Referring to violence against community activists, the report addresses the ineffective measures taken by the government to guarantee leaders human rights through collective protection programs, that as of 2021 had not been implemented in totality. Thus, this issue affects different communities, including those victims of forced displacement who, in order to avoid violence related to the armed conflict, fled their homes. This situation has created a dangerous legacy as these communities, and those who represent them, seek to reclaim their lands or reparation. The HRW report highlights the issues regarding internal displacement and land restitution processes. It states how more than 8 million Colombians have been displaced by conflict-related violence since 1985, as well as how the “implementation of land restitution under the 2011 Victims’ Law continues to move slowly” (HRW, 2022). From a local context, Magdalena is considered as one of the worst-affected regions in terms of displacement due to the presence of BACRIMS (organized criminal organizations) which evolved from paramilitary groups; examples of such groups include the Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia (Clan del Golfo), which descended from the Castaños’ AUC paramilitaries, the Rastrojos and Paisas (Stone, 2017), all of whom have a presence in Magdalena, in addition to the so-called Autodefensas Conquistadores de la Sierra Nevada, an illegal armed group which evolved from the paramilitaries led by Hernan Giraldo, a notorious paramilitary leader who is in custody in Colombia having served a prison sentence in the US. Historically, this region has been disputed going back beyond the armed conflict. For example, there was the case of ethnic conflict with the nation of Chimila in colonial times, and later the massacre of Banana workers in Ciénaga fifty years before the arrival of guerrillas and paramilitaries unleashed a violence that “annihilated the community” and reinforced the violence in the territory, including “the reproduction of intimidation strategies against the population and criminal practices such as extortion, threats to leaders and human rights defenders, and forced displacement” (Silva-Vallejo & Franco, 2019). Issues over access to land and forced displacement caused by the armed conflict have created a situation where a significant number of the local population have to struggle through drawn out legal processes in order to reclaim land, work that demands constant activism on behalf of social leaders and social organizations.

Patricia Perez was one such activist attempting to navigate the difficult waters of land claiming in Magdalena and throughout Colombia. Patricia experienced firsthand the problems in the region outlined above. Her husband had been murdered in June 2021 in Ciénaga Magdalena for disputes related to land ownership problems. Just four months later, on October 1st, Patricia was leaving the office of her attorney when two men intercepted her and shot her dead at the age of 30 (HOY Diario del Magdalena, 2021). Referring to this case, Indepaz (2021) mentioned that before this situation in the Ciénaga area, there had been an “early warning” from the Defensoría del Pueblo (Ombudsman's Office) addressing the risk that claimants, social leaders and signatories of the peace agreement were facing in the zone, due to the threats from illegal and armed groups which operate a range of illegal actions from “micro trafficking, urban control and contract killers”. In 2019, noted social leader and victim's representative Maritza Quiroz was shot dead on land that had been awarded to her in the Sierra Nevada, demonstrating the problems faced in returning land to its rightful owners in a region where various dangerous illegal armed groups operate. Many more obstacles are complicated by economic interests whereby "big landowners and investors in large-scale projects" pressure in debted farmers to sell their lands (Stone, 2017). Finally, among other problems, the region is affected by drug trafficking, as was mentioned above, a situation which is aided by a “complex system of rivers, streams and riverside swamps” that facilitates transportation of illegal merchandise (Caracol Radio Santa Marta, 2020). Within such a culture of illegality, leaders such Cristina and Patricia face huge threats for the valuable work they do.

To conclude, violence against social leaders, especially women, represents one of the main problems in the department of Magdalena in Colombia, affecting vulnerable communities and infringing rights such as land ownership, life, expression, gender and sexuality. On one side, the historical culture of violence showed through gender inequality, intrafamilial violence and discrimination, and on the other side, the emerging problems regarding the territory while addressing the ownership of the land, displacement and land restitution, are considered some of the main issues impacting the region. As evidence of this situation, the cases of Cristina Isabel Cantillo and Patricia Pérez Rios, two brave leaders who were cruelly silenced, were presented in order to spread awareness of the situation facing women social leaders in Magdalena, and the importance that they have in terms of sticking up for their communities' rights. In that sense, through these cases it is clear that there is still a long way to go regarding the true institutional presence of Colombian state in zones impacted by armed conflicts and illegal activities. There are also the emerging needs for social recognition from the state and the establishment of a better decision-making system where the community interests prevail over the interests of certain groups. Therefore, recognizing the issues faced by social leaders in Magdalena could make room for new strategies for the social understanding of this problem and the state action needed to face it.

References

Alarcón, R. (2021, December 8). Asesinan a lideresa social Cristina Isabel Cantillo Martínez en Ondas del Caribe, Santa Marta. AlCarajo.org. https://www.alcarajo.org/2021/12/08/asesinan-a-lideresa-social-cristina-isabel-cantillo-martinez-en-ondas-del-caribe-santa-marta/

Caracol Radio Santa Marta. (2022, June 28). Magdalena, una de las regiones con mayor asesinato hacia población LGBTI. Caracol Radio. https://caracol.com.co/emisora/2021/06/28/santa_marta/1624878760_734407.html

Caracol Radio Santa Marta. (2022, August 19). En alerta el sur del Magdalena por presencia de grupos armados ilegales. Caracol Radio. https://caracol.com.co/emisora/2021/06/23/santa_marta/1624450422_491047.html

Caribe Afirmativo. (2022, January 19). Rechazamos el recrudecimiento de la violencia en el departamento de Magdalena - Corporación. https://caribeafirmativo.lgbt/rechazamos-el-recrudecimiento-de-la-violencia-en-el-departamento-de-magdalena/

HOY Diario del Magdalena. (2021, October 10). Asesinada otra mujer a bala. HOY Diario Del Magdalena. https://www.hoydiariodelmagdalena.com.co/archivos/575285/asesinan-a-una-mujer-en-cienaga/

Indepaz [@Indepaz]. (2021, October 3). Patricia Pérez Ríos Fecha: 01/10/21 Lugar: Ciénaga, Magdalena Patricia Pérez Ríos actualmente hacía parte de algunos procesos de reclamación de tierras en el municipio de Ciénaga, Magdalena. Twitter. https://twitter.com/indepaz/status/1444843594435735553?lang=en

Human Rights Watch. (2022, January 13). Colombia. Events of 2021. https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2022/country-chapters/colombia#c278b9

Pacheco, M. (2021, December 9). Sicarios mataron a líder social LGTBI. HOY DIARIO DEL MAGDALENA. https://www.hoydiariodelmagdalena.com.co/archivos/604305/

Silva- Vallejo, F., & Franco, D. (2019). The central zone of Magdalena department (Colombia): from the begining to the setting up of chaos. Jangwa Pana, 18(3), 538–552. https://www.redalyc.org/journal/5880/588066551012/html/

Stone, H. (2017, October 6). InSight: Colombia’s Land Reform Plan Targets Trouble Spots. InSight Crime. https://insightcrime.org/news/analysis/colombias-land-reform-plan-targets-trouble-spots/

UNFPA Colombia. (2022, June 29). Igualdad de derechos para las personas LGBTIQ+, ¡ya! https://colombia.unfpa.org/es/news/igualdad-de-derechos-para-las-personas-lgbtiq-%C2%A1ya