Tragically, as often happens with farmers and Indigenous peoples, the Yukpa chief Cesareo Panapera was murdered twice. The first time, he was shot with firearms on the afternoon of May 10, 2025. The second time, the following day, with the publication of news articles labeling him as involved in a cattle theft at a ranch.
According to press reports, a police minute, without directly stating it, framed the circumstances of his death as an armed confrontation, suggesting that “apparently” workers from the La Perijá ranch had caught a group stealing cattle. This initial version, filled with insinuations and implicit excuses, aimed to construct a convenient narrative.
It took about 40 days for the truth to start emerging with specific names: the rancher Arnoldo Martínez Romero, a former president of the Machiques cattlemen’s society, was the one who fired the shots. This crucial information, essential for uncovering the plot, has been disseminated through the publications of anthropologist and University of Zulia professor Lusbi Portillo.
Beyond the specific details of this crime, a superficial review of the events and their interconnections reveals a recurring pattern and the true determinants of this type of violence.
Arnoldo Martínez, the alleged murderer, comes from a family rooted in Machiques for generations. His father, also named Arnoldo Martínez, was the founder of the Machiques Cattlemen’s Society (GADEMA). Both he and his brother, Luis Elías Martínez, held the presidency of this entity, which unfortunately enjoys a dubious reputation, built on its public statements supporting violent practices to “defend” their interests.
In 2006, Luis Elías Martínez, brother of the suspected murderer of Cesareo Panapera, was killed in a kidnapping attempt. Initially, the event was attributed to members of the Colombian guerrilla. This version was immortalized in a chronicle published on July 22, 2006, in El Nacional, written by journalist Milagros Socorro. The account, epic and heroic, depicted the victims almost as mythical figures, a bias possibly derived from the author’s affinity with the same social class as the Martínez family.
However, behind the supposed epic, a much harsher and less glorious reality lies hidden. There are no heroes or villains, only the same actors in an endless cycle of violence. The killer of Luis Elías Martínez was not a guerrilla fighter but, paradoxically, a paramilitary recruited by ranchers themselves, in collusion with military forces (GNB) responsible for public safety and control of the vast Perijá area.
Ángel Antonio Romero Bracho, a veteran escort, driver, and hitman for the powerful ranchers in the region, was the actual perpetrator of that crime. The local GAES (Anti-Extortion and Kidnapping Group) unit employed him to carry out “special tasks” in conspiracy with the ranching guild. It was this same dynamic that led him to become the killer of Yukpa chief Sabino Romero Izarra, who was shot to death in March 2013. In 2015, Romero Bracho was sentenced to 30 years for this crime, but notably, none of his “employers” were investigated or prosecuted. It seems unlikely that this hitman, while accepting various contracts, was simultaneously collaborating in 2006 with both Colombian rebels and the ranchers, who were his natural enemies.
The prestige and influence of GADEMA cannot be underestimaded. Beyond constructing a narrative in their favor, it is worth noting that one of their former presidents is now the head of Fedecámaras (the national business guild) in Zulia state, demonstrating their reach and involvement in power spheres.
The “coincidences” do not end here: chief Cesareo Panapera, murdered in May of this year, was part of the organizational structure of chief Sabino Romero, who was killed in 2013. The connection between these crimes, the impunity of the intellectual perpetrators, and the continued criminalization of Indigenous and peasant victims, reveals a systemic pattern of violence in Perijá, where economic and political power intertwines to perpetuate a cycle of dispossession and death.