Solidarity with Those Fighting for Peace and Coexistence in Buenaventura

Team WOLA

April 8, 2025

We strongly condemn the wave of violence that overtook the port city of Buenaventura on the weekend of March 29. Five youths were killed in a series of settling of accounts perpetrated by the urban illegal groups, the Shottas and Espartanos. Since the start of 2025, 50 persons have been murdered, many of them youth. Along with the violence comes curfews imposed by the armed groups, extortion, and the fear of being harmed. This has paralyzed the city’s economic and social life. Stores and schools are closed, and people are shut inside their homes.

It is particularly alarming that violence persists despite the existence of a social-legal table aimed at negotiating the dismantling of the warring Shottas and Espartanos. These two groups have approximately 1,700 members. This negotiation table between the national government and illegal armed groups was established in July 2023. Before this, a truce was brokered that reduced homicides between the groups but failed to stop all violations and criminal activities. On March 13, an important agreement was signed in which the illegal armed groups committed to ceasing the recruitment of minors into their ranks.

While essential, the socio-legal process lacks a framework for dismantlement that would provide adequate legal protections for the negotiating parties. The humanitarian and other assistance allowing actors to cease their illicit activities for survival is insufficient. The structural causes of the problem that incentivize young people to join illegal groups and engage in criminal activity remain intact. It is structural racism, classism, extreme poverty, and a lack of opportunities that drive youngsters to join these groups. The 2017 civic strike agreements and the Special Comprehensive Plan for the Development of Buenaventura 2040 were developed to address these inequities.

On March 31, 23 women’s organizations said no to violence and yes to peace. They state that “the women of Buenaventura will not give up. We will continue to work tirelessly for peace, equality, and the well-being of our families. We reject any act that threatens life, and we reaffirm our commitment to building a Buenaventura free of violence. We stand in solidarity with the women of Buenaventura, civil society, local government, and the Catholic Church, which are working hard to pacify the port, improve the living conditions of its inhabitants, and protect their rights.

We urge the Shottas and Espartanos to reinstate the truce and return to the negotiating table.

We urge the national, regional, and local governments, the private sector, and the international community to support Buenaventura by backing the socio-legal process, enhancing its civil society, and delivering humanitarian, development, and other assistance.

Another Buenaventura is possible.

Signed:

ABColombia, London, UK
Agir ensemble pour les droits humains, France
Ángela Aguilera Morales, Resuena, Bogotá, Colombia
Andrew Morehouse, human rights & peace supporter, Massachusetts, USA
Antonio Albareda Tiana, CooperAcció, Barcelona, Spain
Bibiana Peñaranda, Red Mariposas de Alas Nuevas, Buenaventura, Colombia
Camila Reyes, Directora, Bogotá, Colombia
Cristina Espinel, Washington, DC, USA
DKA Austria, Austria
Eric Duncan, Washington, DC, USA
Francisco Ramírez Cuéllar, Boston, USA
Fundación Oxfam Colombia, Colombia
Gimena Sánchez, Director for the Andes, WOLA, USA
Gisela Cujar Tenorio, Alianza Nacional de Periodistas Afrocolombianos, Washington, DC, USA
Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights, Washington, DC, USA
Linithd Aparicio, Fundación FICAMAZONÍA, Washington, DC, USA
Liz Enriquez Poveda, Americas Deputy Team Leader, CSW, Bogotá, Colombia
Louise Winstanley, ABColombia, London, UK
Maria A. Avendaño, Yoga Instructor, Body and Brain Yoga and Tai Chi, Miami, USA
Maria Alejandra Rivera Maldonado, Coordinadora Nacional del Programa Colombia, Mensen met una Missie (MM), Buenaventura – Valle del Cauca, Colombia
María del Rosario Vásquez Sepúlveda, La Colectiva de Mujeres Refugiadas Exiliadas y Migradas, Barcelona, Spain
Ofunshi Hernández, President, Colombia Acuerdo de Paz NGO
Patricia Novoa, Pacto Histórico, Washington State, USA
Pax Christi International (PCI), Pax Christi International (PCI), International
Plataforma Colombiana de Derechos Humanos Democracia y Desarrollo, Plataforma Colombiana de Derechos Humanos Democracia y Desarrollo, Colombia (135 orgs)
Santiago Rivera Maldonado, Contratista Ministerio de Vivienda, Bogotá, Colombia
SOLdePAZ.Pachakuti, Asturias, Spain
Vicki Gass, Executive Director, Latin America Working Group, Washington, DC, USA
Vicente Vallies, Coordinator, OIDHACO (European network Oficina Internacional Derechos Humanos Acción Colombia), Brussels, Belgium
Yesid Blanco, Corporación Regional Yariguíes, Colombia