Armed men in two vehicles stopped Gloria Buitrago and shot her in El Plateado, in the mountains of Argelia, Cauca. Her name now sits on a list of 117 social leaders killed in Colombia this year, according to Indepaz, a private research group in Bogotá. No group has claimed responsibility. Authorities haven’t said who did it.
Buitrago was the fiscal, or oversight officer, of a Junta de Acción Comunal, an elected neighbourhood board that runs local projects and represents villages to the state. She also led the local committee of bar owners. El Diario reported the attack’s details.
The Numbers
Indepaz publishes every victim’s name, date and place. The Defensoría del Pueblo, Colombia’s human rights ombudsman, keeps its own count: 112 social leaders killed from 1 January to 31 August 2026. That total included 91 men and 21 women. August was the deadliest month, with 22 cases.
The longer record is grim. Since January 2016, the year Colombia signed its peace deal with the FARC guerrilla, the ombudsman has recorded 1,777 such killings. It also counted 10 former FARC fighters who signed the deal and were killed by August. The deal is now 10 years old.
Indepaz’s list shows 187 killings in 2025, with more than 150 recorded by the end of September that year, and 173 in 2024. This year’s count is lower than the 2025 total. Even so, at the pace described in the report, a social leader dies roughly every two to three days.
The violence reaches beyond individual targets. The ombudsman counted 86 massacres with 326 victims in the first eight months of 2026. Colombia defines a massacre as three or more people killed together.
Cauca and the Contest for Territory
Cauca, on the Pacific side of the Andes, had the most cases in both counts. El Diario put the department’s 2026 total at 26, including six in September. Indepaz’s list names James Flor and María Ovidia Palechor, an indigenous leader, killed in Cajibío on 1 September. It also names Jacob Guacheta Zambrano, another indigenous leader, killed in Morales on 10 September, and Manuel España, a community board member, killed in Argelia on 29 August.
The region lies on routes used for cocaine, weapons and illegal gold. Armed groups fight over those routes and pressure community organisations.
Leonardo González, director of Indepaz, named three armed forces operating around El Plateado. They are the Carlos Patiño structure, a faction of former FARC guerrillas who rejected the 2016 deal; the Diomer Cortés front of the Segunda Marquetalia, another group of former FARC fighters; and the ELN, described as Colombia’s largest remaining left-wing guerrilla. González told El Diario the groups “maintain disputes for territorial control and exert pressure on community organisations”.
Where the Violence Falls
Most killings occur in rural areas far from Bogotá, Medellín and the tourist coast. Many victims worked on land claims, environmental issues or community boards. The ombudsman issues early warnings for specific risk areas, including parts of Cauca. Indepaz updates its list as it confirms cases. El Diario reported the 117 figure on 30 September.
Why This Matters: A state that can’t protect an elected village board officer in a place like El Plateado hasn’t secured the ground on which ordinary civic and economic life depends. The facts point to a contest over territory, with three armed groups fighting over routes for cocaine, weapons and illegal gold, not isolated crimes. Early warnings from the ombudsman exist, yet killings continue in the same regions. From a center-right view, the central question is whether the government can restore its monopoly on force and enforce the law in the countryside.
Small businesses can’t plan or invest where armed factions set the terms. The 2016 peace deal’s 10-year mark also invites scrutiny. Some groups now operating around El Plateado are factions of former FARC fighters who rejected it.