The first victim in March was Julio Gutierrez Aviles, the president of a local community action group in Campoalegre, a small town in the rural, mountainous department of Huila in western Colombia. Gutierrez had taken part in recent protests to support Huila’s farmers, trying to make a difference in a region that has long been seen as strategic by various armed groups in Colombia. According to local news, he was on his way home when he was attacked by a group of men, who shot him without saying a word and then left his body on the road.

In the days that followed Gutierrez’s killing, a social leader from the troubled southern region of Putumayo was also murdered, along with two indigenous leaders from departments along Colombia’s Pacific coast, a women’s rights activist from Bolivar in the north, and two local politicians and three ex-councilors from across the country. Later in March, there were three more murders that appeared politically motivated: of a trade unionist; a former combatant from the recently demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, who was helping other ex-combatants reintegrate into society; and an activist who was trying to help local farmers switch from coca, the base ingredient for cocaine and one of Colombia’s most lucrative exports, to alternative crops. ...