Married activists María Ovidia Palechor and James Flor were found murdered inside their home in Cajibío, Cauca department, on Monday 1 September. After the property sustained damage in the recent earthquake, they had been staying with a family member who went to check on the couple and found their bodies with gunshot wounds.
María Ovidia was a prominent and highly respected women’s rights and peace activist. A qualified psychologist, she was of indigenous heritage and an organiser in the Cauca Indigenous Regional Council (CRIC), one of Colombia’s most influential indigenous organisations, where she coordinated women’s and human rights programmes. She had won national awards for her human rights work. James was involved in victims’ committees in Cajibío and other forms of social activism. They were both members of the Historic Pact progressive party of former president Gustavo Petro, who left office last month, and election runner-up Iván Cepeda.
The double killing of the highly respected couple comes as new far-right president Abelardo de la Espriella took office last month after pushing violent rhetoric towards opponents, including a threat to ‘gut the left’, during a campaign in which he pledged to escalate violent conflict against armed groups. In the past, militarisation has provided cover for paramilitaries and security forces to target activists and trade unionists.
Many high-profile figures in the progressive movement condemned the crime. On his X account, Petro posted that María Ovidia and James were ‘personal friends of mine and militants of the Historic Pact.’ He warned that ‘new paramilitarism is taking shape in the area; the response is popular organisation at the highest level.’
Cepeda also denounced the crime on social media. ‘These murders of two recognised social leaders are taking place under the government of De la Espriella, who has decided to weaken indigenous organisations and their territories,’ he posted. Congress member Alirio Uribe posted footage of himself sharing a panel with María Ovidia four months ago, stating that ‘we hold the current government responsible for its warmongering policy, which today exacts the lives of leaders whose sole desire is to live peacefully.’
Since taking office, the far-right De la Espriella government has launched a series of military incursions allegedly targeting armed groups. His aggressive discourse towards the Historic Pact has been echoed by other extremists, including Conservative Party councillor Oswaldo Díaz who last month posted a video in which he brandished a gun and stated ‘any Petro supporter who shows up is going to receive bullets’. Subsequently, Historic Pact activist Naylea Barros survived an attack in Santa Marta on 24 August.
Colombia has a grim history of attacks on the electoral left orchestrated by far-right actors, most notably the murders of over 5,000 Patriotic Union party members and supporters in the 1980s-90s. Despite repeated warnings over the level of threat, De la Espriella appears determined to promote violence against his political opponents – just as many had predicted he would.