How campaigners' slayings hurt environmental protection in Colombia

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By Oliver Griffin

PUERTO GUZMAN, Colombia (Reuters) — Darkness had descended on Colombia's southern Putumayo province one February night last year when gunfire roared through the air, shattering the peaceful dusk.

Villagers attending a meeting scattered and fled. Leidy Mendoza watched in horror nearby as her teenage son rushed to save his five-year-old brother, who ran off when the shooting started.

«Hit the floor!» Mendoza shouted as bullets slammed into the buildings. But it was too late – one hit her oldest boy's leg.

Mendoza, a former fighter for the now-disbanded Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas, dragged her children back inside the house.

«I started screaming like a mad woman, 'help me, Jorge!'» Mendoza told Reuters. «I didn't know they'd killed him already.»

Her husband, Jorge Santofimio, an environmentalist who led a network of tree nurseries across Colombia's Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) region, was shot several times in the abdomen from close range and died instantly, according to at least three witnesses and Colombia's attorney general's office. His killing remains unsolved.

In response to Reuters questions about Santofimio's death and other killings, the Environment Ministry said conservationists are often targeted because their work poses a threat to illegal activities and acknowledged that environmental projects «can be affected and slowed down due to security risks.»

Globally, at least 1,910 environmentalists were killed for their efforts to protect nature against business and criminal interests between 2012 and 2022, according to British advocacy group Global Witness. Last year, Colombia had the heaviest toll, 60 killings.

Colombia's government is working to protect