A basketball team plays for the transsexual girls of Cali - Cali - Colombia

Brenda Correa, Sarai Ocampo, Bianca Arango, Catalina de la O, Shaira Valencia and Stacie Zamora move like a fish in water at the Alfonso López neighborhood sports center.

There, in this sector of northeastern Cali, they seek to achieve the greatest number of baskets on the basketball court.

But this is not just another team in this discipline.

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Each basket they mark is done with their opponent in mind: knocking down homophobia and highlighting respect and tolerance for transgender women, as well as those who are members of the city’s LGBTQ+ community.

That is why the team is made up of members of the LGBTIQ+ community, who carry out activities, seeking a link in the sports field.

Stacie Zamora says that she has been an activist for gender equality and the rights of the LGBTQ+ population for 10 years, with the slogan of changing collective imaginaries.

A year ago he joined the Sports Secretariat and since then his conviction for inclusion has expanded, thinking of sports as the alternative.

Although the process has not been easy, little by little, transsexual women, like the nine players of Las Divas, as well as lesbians and gays have been opening space in the sector, despite situations of intolerance that they intend to leave behind, showing the importance of a healthy coexistence.

He said that the team was formed last year and its nine members had two names: Las Alfas and Las Divas, voting for the second.

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According to Stacie, basketball is the best path to integration and inclusion. They chose this sport because of the game conditions that involve less contact.

This work of inclusion began in commune 21, in eastern Cali, and has now moved to commune 7, where the Alfonso López neighborhood is located.

They do it in the neighborhood because they found the support of a coach who gives them advice every Wednesday afternoon.

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The manager of the Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation of Valle del Cauca (Indervalle), Carlos Felipe López, highlighted the work that this community does in northeastern Cali.

“From Indervalle, through the Development Sub-management, we have established a line of community social sports with the LGBTIQ+ community, with activities that allow this population to have a link in the sports field as recreational athletes, coaches, monitors and as workers of the entity”, highlighted the official.

CALI

Magangué: Bodies of three missing girls found after accident - Other Cities - Colombia

The Colombian Navy located and recovered on the morning of this Tuesday four lifeless bodies in the Magdalena River, at the height of the municipality of Magangué (Bolívar), which correspond to three minors and one adult.

In Magangué, authorities and the community continue the incessant search for two more girls who have been missing since Sunday night, after two boats collided. Both boats had violated all safety regulations and were traveling without lighting, in the middle of the night. Passengers were not wearing life jackets.

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“Around 4:30 in the morning, search and rescue work resumed, like this, on the corregimiento of Tolu, very close to the place of the collision, the location and recovery of two bodies were achieved, corresponding to two minors. Then, 6 kilometers downstream, on the corregimiento of San Sebastian de Buena Vista, a third body was recovered, also a minor. Finally, in the Barbosa sector, 17 kilometers downstream from the point of collision, we managed to recover the body of an adult…”, said Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel David Melo Ramìrez.

Tragedy in the same family

The girls who died after the collision of the two boats they are Carolina Castro Muñoz, 4 years old; Yomadis Castro Muñoz, 8; Solangie Guzmán Retamoza, 10; Dioselin Muñoz Guerra, 10; and Marcela Muñoz Guerra, 13. The five minors are members of the same family. In addition to the girls, the body of 23-year-old Vinson Barranco was found dead.

Boat was traveling without lighting and
passengers without life jackets

“The search and rescue activities are concentrated from kilometer 0 to kilometer 8, linking three vessels of the municipal administration in which the Civil Defense and the Red Cross. In addition, it has the support of 14 canoes belonging to fishermen in the region,” reported the The national army.

Nelviz Gutiérrez, mother of Vinson Barranco, recounted that they were returning to their town on the Magdalena River, but in the dark of the night they did not see the other boat. The woman said that the fury of the water dragged her several meters while I heard people’s cries for help.

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However, 12 of the 18 passengers managed to swim to shore. But the current of the river and the darkness of the night swallowed the five children of the Muñoz family and the young Barranco, who lived in Barranquilla and had reached Magangue to visit his mother.

This is the fishing boat ‘El Cipriano’, which would have collided with that of the 18 travelers and caused the tragedy.

There are two fishermen captured by the accident

A few hours after the accident, and already with daylight, the authorities located two fishermen, hidden in a house in the corregimiento of Toluwho apparently would be the crew of the boat driver identified as The Cyprianwhich -loaded with groceries- was involved in the collision on the night of February 6.

The two fishermen were captured and they are identified as responsible for the crash against the boat where 18 people were traveling between the corregimientos of San Sebastián del Coyonal and Buena Vista, municipality of Magangué.

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“With the use of slings and artisanal means used by the fishermen of the region, it was possible to find the place where the boat named La Niña Natalia, where people were travelling, was sunken,” assured the National Navy.

“With the support of fishermen from the sector, it was possible to refloat the boat ‘La Niña Natalia’, during the maneuver no bodies were found on board the boat, the hypothesis of the presence of bodies trapped in the tent of the boat was handled, which was dragged by the current of the Magdalena River”, underline sources from the National Navy.

The vessel was towed to the San Sebastián de Buenavista sector, where it was placed at the disposal of the National Police.

Cartagena

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