La Gabarra Massacre

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La Gabarra massacre
Location	La Gabarra, Municipality of Tibú, Norte de Santander Colombia
Date	June 16, 1996
Attack type	shooting, mass murder, massacre
Weapon(s)	small arms
Deaths	43
Perpetrator(s)	AUC paramilitaries and FARC guerrillas

La Gabarra Massacre (Spanish: La Masacre de La Gabarra) was a massacre that occurred on June 16, 1996 near the Colombian village of La Gabarra, Municipality of Tibú, Norte de Santander near the border with Venezuela. It was perpetrated by members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC guerrilla) against alleged members of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC paramilitary group). Both groups were at war, struggling to control the territory which they used for cultivation and processing of coca. Some 35 people were massacred.^[1]

[edit] The massacre

At 5 AM in the morning an undetermined number of FARC guerrilla members arrived to a hacienda were some 43 peasants were working on a coca plantation owned by paramilitaries. A survivor said that they were sleeping when the FARC members stormed in, they tied town everyone and threw them onto the floor. Almost immediately the FARC members began shooting all of them one by one. The witness said he had managed to survive because he had faked his death after being shot. He also mentioned that the guerrillas constantly accused them of being paramilitary aiders, when they were just there for the money.^[2]