In response to the murder of Florilba Ramos and Ferney Elago, peace signatories from Cauca, Colombia

Florilba Ramos and Ferney Elago were murdered on 14 July in the village of Valle Nuevo, in the municipality of Silvia (Cauca, Colombia). According to the information available at this time, the murder took place at night in their home. The National Corporation for Community Reincorporation has already recorded 472 murdered peace signatories, 28 of them in 2025 alone.

Florilba and Ferney were signatories of the Peace Agreement who worked daily towards peacebuilding in Cauca and across Colombia, for social justice and for territorial transformation. They were active leaders of the Cooperativa Multiactiva Ecomún Esperanza del Pueblo (COOMEEP), promoting with conviction agricultural production and reincorporation projects on the Los Pinos collective farm, a process built through effort and hope as a space for peace, dignity and reunion. In June 2022, Florilba took part in a training programme in the Basque Country on the social solidarity economy and community development, as part of a Hegoa project supported by eLankidetza.

Hegoa endorses the public statement issued on 15 July by the Cauca Platform of Community Organisations (POCC):

• We categorically reject this crime, which violates the fundamental right to life, to peace and to hope.

• We demand that the Colombian State provide real and effective guarantees for the lives of the signatories of the Peace Agreement, who are committed to peace, as well as full compliance with the provisions of the Final Agreement.

• We call on all armed actors to show absolute respect for civilians, the territories undergoing reincorporation and the community organisational efforts.

• We urge the national and international community, academia and social movements and organisations, both rural and urban, to protect the lives of those who are building peace, dignity and justice in their territories.

We express our solidarity with the families, the members of the COOMEEP cooperative and the community organisations of Cauca. We reaffirm that we will not give up on peace and remain determined to continue contributing to peacebuilding at the territorial level. To achieve this, the cruel murders of those who defend life and forge the path towards reconciliation in Colombia must come to an end.