The News
Colombia was the deadliest country in the world for land rights defenders and environmentalists in 2023, according to a report by UK advocacy group Global Witness. A record 79 people were killed in the South American country, out of 196 environmentalists murdered for carrying out their work worldwide, the group said.
The findings are in stark opposition to the promises of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who took office in 2022 pledging to protect local communities from environmental injustice and to end the country’s 60-year conflict against militant groups. Organized crime accounted for a suspected half of land defender murders in Colombia last year, according to the report. A government spokesperson described the situation as “dishonorable.”
SIGNALS
Killings of land defenders harm conservation efforts
Conservationists are often targeted as they pose a threat to illegal activities, a representative of Columbia’s Environment Ministry told Reuters. As one of the most resource-rich and biodiverse areas of the world, the Amazon rainforest is at the heart of the violence between legal and illegal mining and logging companies, paramilitary groups, and local indigenous communities who make up almost half of all victims, according to Global Witness. There is also significant evidence that deforestation increases following instances of violence, a Reuters investigation found last year. “Any pause in conservation projects tipped the balance in favor of deforestation and destruction,” the agency reported environmentalists as saying.
Paramilitary violence extends to Colombia’s oil industry
As well as activists in Colombia often being the target of, or otherwise caught up in, guerrilla violence over the past 60 years, rebels have also taken aim at the Colombian oil industry, Bloomberg reported. “The [National Liberation Army insurgency group] believes the oil companies have been able to get contracts that are very advantageous for themselves, but bad for the country,” said one former guerilla who fought for Colombia’s sovereignty over its natural resources. Violence has escalated recently, with at least 19 attacks on pipelines since late August. However, paramilitary groups often have more socialist goals than environmental, and oil companies can avoid being targeted by paying for schools and roads in local areas, according to a former Colombian energy minister.