Surge of Murders in Colombia

miamiherald.com reported / Jim Wyss Hugo Cuellar was walking home from the wake of a murdered colleague with his young daughters last weekend when he was approached by two men on a motorcycle. Without saying a word, they shot the 50-year-old community leader in the stomach and fled.

Although the bullet ripped through Cuellar’s pancreas and large intestine, he was one of the lucky ones: He lived.

Over the course of four days, at least five community leaders have been murdered and attempts have been made on the lives of at least three more, according to Colombia’s nonprofit Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights. Since January, 70 leaders have been targeted and murdered, the group said. Read Article