A total of 361 people were killed in Colombia since 2018, a new report by the PARES foundation finds, linking some killings to armed groups fighting for territories coveted for illegal mining and coca production.
More than 350 environmental activists have been killed since 2018 in Colombia, an NGO report said Wednesday, as the country played host to the world’s biggest nature protection conference.
The PARES foundation reported a total of 361 killings over the period in the South American nation, with 81 murders making 2023 the deadliest year.
Colombia has been struggling to extricate itself from six decades of armed conflict between leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries, drug cartels and the government.
Armed groups often come into conflict with local communities and activists as they engage in illegal mining and land clearance for growing coca — the main ingredient of cocaine, of which Colombia is the world’s biggest producer and exporter.
“The dispute between armed actors over territorial control of areas of interest to them has become one of the main risk factors for environmental defenders,” PARES said in a report issued in the city of Cali, host of the COP16 UN summit on biodiversity.
Cali has been placed under the protection of more than 10,000 police and soldiers after threats against the summit from the EMC guerrilla group.
(AFP)
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