They kill a Colombian student leader who had lost an eye in protests

Student leader Esteban Mosquera, who lost an eye during a protest in December 2018, was killed by unknown persons in Popayán, the departmental capital of the troubled department of Cauca (southwest), Colombialocal authorities reported Monday.

“I repudiate the homicide of which Esteban Mosquera, a music student at @unicauca, has just been a victim,” said the mayor of Popayán, Juan Carlos López, on Twitter.

The official added that he will not tolerate “any act that threatens the life and integrity of our young people” and asked the Prosecutor’s Office and the Police to carry out “all actions that allow the capture and prosecution of those responsible for this cowardly act.”

Mosquera had lost his eye on December 13 during the last day of student protests in 2018 in which they demanded greater investment by the Government for public universities.

That day in Popayán the demonstrations ended in clashes between the students and the Mobile Anti-Riot Squad (ESMAD) of the Police.

In the midst of the confrontation, Mosquera, a music student at the University of Cauca, was hit in his left eye by a stun bomb apparently thrown by members of ESMAD, causing him to lose his organ.

“We are hurt by the atrocious crime that blinded the life of Esteban Mosquera, a well-known student and social leader from the city of Popayán. We condemn all acts of violence and express our solidarity with his family”, expressed the Governor of Cauca, Elías Larrahondo Carabalí, on Twitter.

REJECTION OF CRIME

According to the Institute for Development and Peace Studies (Indepaz), Mosquera’s crime occurred in the La Pampa neighborhood of Popayán, where hitmen shot him to death.

The crime was repudiated by politicians from different sectors, such as the former mayor of Medellín Sergio Fajardo, who lamented that in Colombia “massacres and murders are accumulating.”

“The Government speaks of security at the same time that the entire country is filled with blood. Today we go to sleep with the murder of student leader Esteban Mosquera in Popayán. No more barbarism, ”Fajardo, a presidential candidate for the Coalition of Hope, said on Twitter.

The representative to the Chamber María José Pizarro, from the leftist Decency list, remembered Mosquera because she shared with him “several spaces”.

“This situation not only fills the academy with mourning but is worrying about the participation of young people and their leadership in the transformation of the country,” said the rector of the University of Cauca, José Luis Diago, in a statement.