Previous Story
Bodies of journalists will be buried after 93 painful days
Posted On 28 Jun 2018
Ecuadornews:
Relatives of Javier Ortega, Paul Rivas and Efraín Segarra demand that Ecuador and Colombia continue with investigations into the death of their loved ones. The Government arranged on Wednesday, June 27, for the Ministry of Justice to take up the case.
The Angel de Luz notes never before have sounded sadder. The violin strings woke up their lyrics inflamed in nostalgia. “My chest is a sepulcher of withered roses …” A letter that accompanied the sentiment of the loved ones who came to the Memorial Necrópoli.
There the visitation of Javier Ortega, Paúl Rivas and Efraín Segarra was carried out, kidnapped and murdered by dissidents of the FARC. A giant poster was deployed in the mortuary establishment. To one side of the entrance a poster with their photographs was placed, where the people expressed condolences.
“Forever alive in the memory of those who defend peace”; “It is good to know that you are with our Heavenly Father”; “Three angels in heaven,” were sentences written on paper a few centimeters from lighted candles.
After 93 days of uncertainty, the bodies of the three workers of the print media arrived in Quito on a direct flight from Cali (Colombia). On March 26, Walter Patricio Arizala, alias “Guacho”, leader of the Óliver Sinisterra Front, assumed the kidnapping of the Ecuadorians. On April 13, President Lenin Moreno confirmed the murder of the three workers, starting a long way until the location and recovery of the bodies that took shape this Wednesday, June 27.
At 10:00, a ship of the Ecuadorian Air Force (FAE) arrived at the Mariscal Sucre airport, which also transferred its relatives. An arc of water driven by tank trucks opened the way for the ship, an act witnessed by Mauro Toscanini, Minister of the Interior and José Valencia, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Minutes later a procession removed the coffins covered with the flag of Ecuador, to place them on floats, which took them to the Memorial, with the shelter of a caravan of vehicles. Three cars carried giant photographs of Javier (journalist), Paúl (photographer) and Efraín (driver). The musical notes of the National Police band accompanied the heavy steps of their friends and relatives who arrived with white roses and t-shirts with the caption “# NosFaltan3” (3 are missing).
“In the fight nobody gets tired,” intoned with words cut Galo Ortega, Javier’s father, to remind the authorities that with the funeral things do not end. The relatives hope that the authorities of Ecuador and Colombia will continue. “Now a new stage is opening to find those responsible,” reiterated Ortega. “You have to go to all levels of justice. And reach the sanction of accomplices, perpetrators, intellectuals and all those actions or inactions of the State, “added Yadira Aguagallo, Paúl Rivas’s partner.
“Let this fact only allow that the death of our three relatives does not remain in impunity,” added Cristian, son of Segarra. Until the close of this edition, the mortal remains of the communicators were transferred to the facilities of El Comercio newspaper, in San Bartolo (south of Quito).
This Thursday, June 28, another vigil is planned at La Dolorosa Church, on the Mariana de Jesus Avenue. On Friday, June 29 there will be a Mass with a body present in the Church of La Dolorosa. After the mortal remains will move to the Memorial where they will be buried. The relatives expressed their wish that the three bodies be buried together. They indicated that it is a symbolic act, since until the end of their days they remained united. (I)
