Ramón Ascué, an indigenous community member and defender of environmental land rights was gunned on the 14th of May, 2018. Followed and shot by a group of armed men on a motorcycle, Ramón Ascué was known as the “Liberator of Mother Earth” due to his activism.

Ascué was an active member of the Pan de Azúcar Indigenous Community of Cortino and Liberation of Mother Earth Movement, a movement that fought for the restitution of indigenous land and environmental protection rights.

As a photographer and recorder for the Liberation of Mother Earth Movement, Ascué used his video and photo documentation as a tool of denunciation against varied actors such as the police, the paramilitary and other armed groups to protect the indigenous community and the land.

Despite having expressed a desire to retire, and even having been threatened with his life, the indigenous community member was compelled by his passion and deep love for the cause which pushed him to continue his work that aided in expelling armed actors from the territories.