In an alarming episode of violence, FARC dissidents unleashed a series of attacks in southwestern Colombia, generating chaos and terror in the community.
On May 23, these violent actions included the detonation of a motorcycle bomb, attacks on police stations, and a bloody raid on Morales.
In the midst of these acts, hundreds of children and teachers found themselves under crossfire, being forced to evacuate their schools under the threat of armed criminalsaccording to information known to the Weekly magazine.
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During these barbaric events, which left six dead, members of the Jaime Martínez and Dagoberto Ramos columns broke into eleven small rural schools in Jamundí and four more in Cauca. Teachers were forced to suspend classes and evacuate immediately.
In some institutions, criminals blocked main exits, while in others they set up booby traps and shot at buildings.
At the Potrerito school, a teacher recounted how the children had to jump over the school railings to escape, since the only exit route was blocked by a bus possibly loaded with explosives. Students and teachers were forced to seek refuge in the mountains and on nearby farms.
Parents and human rights organizations went to the area, asking for permission to travel through internal roads and rescue the children. In Potrerito, two armed men from the Jaime Martínez column arrived with rifles.
One of the objectives of these criminals was to carry out massive recruitment, taking advantage of the distraction created by the attacks in Morales, where they murdered two police officers and two civilians, destroyed the Agrarian Bank, detonated explosives and kept the inhabitants captive for three hours.according to information collected by Weekly magazine.
The situation in Villa Colombia was equally tense. Eight armed men used a loudspeaker to order the immediate evacuation of the school. The teachers, when trying to leave, were stopped by rifle fire and were forced to hide until 11 in the morning.
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In San Antonio, 20 armed men forced the evacuation of the students, raising fears of possible forced recruitment, although relatives are afraid to report due to the threats received.
In the towns of Ampudia, Quinamayó, Villa Paz, Robles and Timba, more than 140 teachers and hundreds of students were affected. Faced with this escalation of violence, the Single Union of Education Workers (Sutev) called an extraordinary assembly together with Fecode and the Unitary Central of Workers (CUT) to analyze the situation and demand security measures.
Diego Morales, president of Sutev in Jamundí, declared: “Today we are in an extraordinary assembly within the framework of a cessation of activities with teachers and directors of educational institutions located in the rural area of Jamundí. “We met with staff from Fecode, the CUT, central Sutev and human rights to seek measures to safeguard the life and integrity of our community due to the conflict.” Likewise, they demanded that the municipal administration implement security protocols and contingency plans.
María Solandy Carabalí, director of Sutev, added: “The majority of Jamundí institutions are located in rural areas and have been affected by acts of violence that we reject today. We invite an end to violence. “Schools are territories of peace.”
Meanwhile, in the north of Cauca, armed groups of the FARC carried out attacks in Morales, Suárez, Timba, Cajibío and Buenos Aires. According to military intelligence information, about 30 men armed with rifles, explosives and grenade launchers took over Morales, while another group from the Jaime Martínez column attacked the rural schools in the other towns.
The result was the capture and kidnapping of several children, forcibly taken by the criminals. A local official, on condition of anonymity, reported: “That day they took several children. It was a disastrous day, they killed police officers, prevented the Army from entering and walked through towns, while they took the minors out in vans.
