Massacre of Trujillo

Massacre of Trujillo
Map location of the municipality of Trujillo
LocationTrujillo, Valle del Cauca Department
 Colombia
Date1988-1990 (EDT)
TargetTrujillo
Attack type
mass murder, massacre
Weaponsunknown
Deaths200-400
PerpetratorsParamilitary groups and Cali Cartel members (prominently Juan Carlos Ortiz Escobar and Henry Loaiza-Ceballos)

The Massacre of Trujillo (Spanish: Masacre de Trujillo) was a series of murders perpetrated between 1988 and 1994 in the town of Trujillo, Valle del Cauca Department in southwestern Colombia by paramilitaries and the Cali Cartel with the complicity of active members of the Colombian military and police.

Some 245 to 342 people,[1] including unionists and suspected guerrilla supporters, were tortured and dismembered. Among the more gruesome murders was the decapitation and castration of Father Tiberio Fernandez, the local Jesuit priest.[2] The murders were seen as a warning to other pro-guerrilla elements. Most of the corpses were thrown into the waters of the Cauca River.[3]

  1. ^ (in Spanish) La masacre de Trujillo fue escogida por la CNRR como eje de su informe sobre crímenes emblemáticos
  2. ^ David Adams, "Inching toward justice in Colombian killings," St. Petersburg Times 9 November 2008.
  3. ^ Clawson, Patrick (May 1998). The Andean Cocaine Industry. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 59. ISBN 0-312-17691-0.