Colombian Military Attacks Campesinos - Paramilitaries Continue to Be a Key Arm of the Colombian Government.

NORTHEASTERN ANTIOQUIA, COLOMBIA: "Here in the region we are living with the severe violence of the military and the paramilitaries," stated a peasant-farmer who did not wish to give his name. He continued, "At the moment we are being harassed by the military battalion 'Demolisher Platoon No.1, Calibio Battalion of the 14th Brigade', which is under the command of Sergeants Setina and Blanquiceth. The Battalion members present themselves as official military and then the next minute they change their armband and are the paramilitaries. Lately they have been detaining, intimidating, torturing, and assassinating local campesinos (peasant farmers) and community leaders."

On August 7th, 2005 the same Battalion Calibio assassinated a known community leader, Luis Sigifredo Castaño. A member of the community remembers him, "He was a kind man. We had known him for over 15 years. He was part of CAHUCOPANA, a new campesino human rights organization. Sigifredo was not an insurgent as the military accused." Denouncements made by a local campesino association, the ACVC, stated that, "[Sigifredo] was found dressed in camouflage, even though everyone in the region knew he was a campesino and was disabled."