Jorge Luis Quintero Villada was an environmental rights defender and president of the Junta de Acción Comunal (Community Action Board) in the village of Sabanitas in Dosquebradas, Risaralda, where he worked as a forest guard.
On 28 September, 2020, Jorge Luis was driving home when he was intercepted by two armed men who opened fire wounding him seriously. Jorge Luis was taken to hospital immediately but died later from his injuries. He had previously denounced the destruction of environmental protection zones and it is believed that his murder is linked to this work.
Jaime Gutiérrez, an advisor to the National Communal Federation of Colombia, stated that “once again, the community is dressed in mourning when murderous bullets target a great community leader such as Jorge Quintero, a hard-working, respectful man, a companion of the community’s struggles, who was always at the service of the community.”