On 25 September 1993 a taxi carrying several armed men reportedly drove around the streets of the neighbourhood of Villatina. On 29 September armed men in a jeep shot at a group of youths who were talking in the street. No- one was injured. It is believed that these incidents form part of a continuing campaign of victimization of the young people of Villatina. Community leaders, students and unemployed youths in shanty towns surrounding the major cities have increasingly been targeted by “death squads”. These attacks increased dramatically after Pablo Escobar and several other leading drug-traffickers escaped from prison in July 1992. There has been no attempt by the authorities to put a halt to these attacks, nor to bring those responsible to justice.
