Spanish
Colombian social leader Yeimar Gamboa Yépez, candidate for the Municipal Youth Council (CMJ) for the right-wing Democratic Center party, was shot dead in the municipality of Chigorodó, in the department of Antioquia (northwest), reported this Wednesday the Institute for Development and Peace Studies (Indepaz).
The organization, which warned that with the death of Gamboa the number of social leaders murdered this year rises to 149, explained that the social leader was attacked during a shootout in which a young woman was also injured, while they were walking with friends through the El Bosque neighborhood.
Gamboa was recognized in the region for his work in reconciliation processes and for accompanying vulnerable populations.
He had also gained prominence in local politics through the CMJ, a citizen participation mechanism that allows more than 10,000 young people between the ages of 14 and 28 from all over the country to be elected to act as interlocutors with public administrations and private organizations on youth issues.
Gamboa was part of the Democratic Center party, founded and led by former President Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010), who rejected "firmly and emphatically" the assassination and expressed his condolences to family and friends.
The community stated that this crime "mourns the community and deprives the municipality of a young man full of leadership and hope".
In the area where Gamboa was murdered, local gangs and the Clan del Golfo, the main criminal gang in the country that formally began peace talks with the Colombian government in Qatar a week ago, operate.
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