Débora Barros

Débora Barros Fince is a Colombian human rights activist. A member of the Wayuu people, she became known as a prominent indigenous leader within the Colombian peace process after several of her relatives were killed or disappeared during the Bahía Portete massacre in 2004.

Early life and education Barros was born in Bahía Portete, a town in the Uribia municipality of the Colombian department of La Guajira. She was born into a Wayuu family, an indigenous group native to the Guajira Peninsula.

Barros obtained a diploma in civil procedural law, with a focus on human rights and international humanitarian law. After her graduation, she worked for a time as a police inspector in Uribia.

Activism On 18 April 2004, a group of around 40 paramilitaries from the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia's Wayuu Counter-Insurgency Bloc, led by Rodrigo Tovar Pupo, shot and killed 12 members of the Wayuu community living in Bahía Portete. This included Barros' maternal aunt, Rosa Fince, a community leader; Fince's sisters Diana and Reina were forcibly disappeared. Barros was not in Bahía Portete at the time of the massacre, due to her working in the week in Uribia. The killings led to the displacement of 600 people living in the area, including Barros, who received death threats from a paramilitary identified as Pablo. She went on to create Mujeres Tejiendo la Paz/Wayúu Munsurrat , which supports victims of sexual and domestic violence, with her sister Telemina Barros. Through MTP, Barros also has campaigned for women to be included in national reconciliation efforts in Colombia, as well as to keep the story of the massacre and its victims in public consciousness. In 2021, Barros stood as a candidate on the Conservative Party list for the Chamber of Representatives, in the municipality of Maicao.