John Fredy Gil Franco, councilor of Jamundí (Valle del Cauca), was murdered in the last few hours by a hitman who was traveling on a motorcycle. The news was confirmed by the mayor of the municipality, Paola Castillo Gutiérrez.
“We reject and repudiate this vile act that ended the life of our councilor. We express our deepest condolences to all of his family and friends,” said the local leader.
In the official account of X of the Jamundí Mayor’s Office, the administration also rejected the attack: “This is a cowardly act that attacks democracy and our institutions. “I ask the national authorities for all their support so that this fact does not go unpunished.”
Gil Franco, better known as Paloma or Palomita, arrived at the Jamundí Council in 2023 as a candidate for the Indigenous and Social Alternative Movement, in a campaign in which he obtained 1,300 votes.
For its part, the Cali Metropolitan Police assured that all the capabilities of the entity have been deployed to find those responsible. The mayor of Cali, Alejandro Eder, also spoke out about the murder.
Through his X account, the president wrote: “I strongly reject the murder in Jamundí of councilor John Gil of that municipality. We will work tirelessly with the Cali Police and Mayor Paola Castillo, until we find those responsible. All solidarity with his family and with the Jamundeño people.”
The murder of Gil Franco joins two other similar acts of violence in Valle del Cauca. On April 19, in the municipality of Tuluá, Carlos Arturo Londoño, councilor of that city, and Clarivet Ocampo, an official from that same municipality who was with the murdered man, were murdered.
Furthermore, on December 31, councilor Eliecid Vargas was murdered, whose house was broken into by hitmen who murdered him on New Year’s Eve. The governor of the department, Dilian Francisca Toro, has asked for help from the government to strengthen the security of the territory.
However, Gil Franco’s crime calls into question the measures that the authorities have taken to protect the population.
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