Columbian Pastor Assassinated by Presumed Paramilitaries

A Colombian pastor was assassinated in his home last Sunday by three masked gunmen, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide. Forty-one year old Rafael Velasquez, pastor of the Foursquare Gospel Church in Marañonal, died instantly. The attack took place on the evening of September 6, after a church service in a Montelibano hamlet. The armed and masked men broke into Pastor Velasquez's home and shot him dead in front of his wife and six young members of his church. Paramilitary groups vying for power in the region are thought to be responsible for the pastor's murder. At least fifteen pastors in Córdoba have come under threat over the last six months. A number have been forcibly displaced as a result of the threats against them and their families. The situation in Córdobais part of a larger pattern of severe violations of religious liberty inColombia.