Authorities have already begun investigations to find those responsible for the hit on two Venezuelan activists in the Cedritos neighborhood, Usaquén, in northern Bogotá.
On the afternoon of Monday, October 13, Luis Alejando Peche, a Venezuelan citizen and political analyst, and Yendri Velásquez, a human rights defender, LGBTIQ+ activist and asylum seeker in Colombia, were leaving a residential complex on Carrera 19 and Calle 134.
They were on their way to take a ride when three individuals traveling in a vehicle shot at them repeatedly in the middle of the street.
The car and the same residential complex
Judicial sources informed EL TIEMPO that, apparently, the car left the same complex from which the victims left, which is why an investigation has already been opened to determine whether the hitmen knew the activists beforehand or what the reason would be for them to have been in the same place.
After opening fire on the citizens, the alleged hitmen escaped with the two firearms, according to this newspaper.
For now, authorities are already conducting investigations in the vicinity of the site where the hit occurred.
"At the scene, it was determined that the vehicle involved in the attack had left the same building minutes before the incident," said Lieutenant Colonel Ricardo Chaves, commander of the Usaquén Police Station.
Chaves confirmed that with the vehicle's characteristics fully identified, a lockdown plan was activated. It has already been located in the town of Suba, and the two pistols allegedly used in the attack were found.
In addition, the ammunition magazines were found in the same suitcase in which the firearms were found.
However, the three individuals in question escaped on foot and are currently wanted by authorities.
Meanwhile, the victims were transferred to the Reina Sofía Clinic for treatment of gunshot wounds to their lower extremities. So far, the two men are known to be alive and"stable." Yendri Omar Velásquez, the citizen human rights defender, underwent surgery.
The National Police confirmed that the victims"were not threatened in Colombia."
According to authorities, both activists have been in Colombia since September 2024, having left their country due to political persecution. One of them had been captured and released with a safe passage permit. In fact, he was applying for citizenship.
Nobel Peace Prize winner and Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado also condemned the attack. “I denounce and condemn the attack perpetrated this Monday in Bogotá against Venezuelan human rights activists Yendri Velásquez and Luis Peche, who are persecuted in Venezuela by the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro,” Machado wrote on her X account.
The opposition leader clarified that Velásquez is in Colombia "as a refugee after escaping from the regime's hands, following his kidnapping in August 2024 for his work as a human rights defender." Peche was also in Bogotá due to political persecution by the regime.
President Gustavo Petro, for his part, assured that the National Protection Unit (UNP)"will expand the protection of human rights activists from any country in the world to Colombia."
Similarly, the Ombudsman's Office urged the Attorney General's Office to"conduct a prompt and thorough investigation to clarify the facts and adopt urgent protective measures for the victims."
