Campesina leader Maria Magdalena Cruz Rojas, known to her loved ones as Elena, was assassinated at home in front of her husband and her son on 30 March 2018 by unidentified hooded hit men, according to the Foundation for the Defense of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Rights in Eastern and Central Colombia, (DHOC.)
According to a DHOC communique circulated by the Coordination Committee of Coca, Amapola and Marijuana Growers (COCCAM,) Cruz Rojas headed a governmental movement to grow alternatives to coca in Mapiripán, in the central region of Meta. The statement describes her as an “untiring fighter” when it came to improving the well being of the local community.