Event Summary
In recent events, the murders of two prominent leaders in the north-west of the country have been reported. In Antioquia, the body of Wilmer Benítez, a well-known social, community and sports leader from Caucasia, was found on 11 March 2026 in the Cauca River, near Nechí. The body showed signs of torture and was tied to sacks filled with stones. In Chocó indigenous governor Eutimio Valencia Duave, of the Wounaan people (Alto Tarena community, Tadó), was found dead on 10 March 2026 after being reported missing on 7 March. He had been intercepted by armed men on a road leading to Tadó.
Both victims were recognised leaders in their communities and for their fight to defend the land and the rights of their peoples in Colombia.
The killings of Wilmer Benítez and Governor Eutimio Valencia have deepened the security crisis in Antioquia and Chocó by dismantling community leadership, weakening local governance and ethnic autonomy, enabling the control of illegal armed actors in strategic mining regions, and severely eroding civil society’s capacity to organize, resist, and pursue peace.