Edier Adán Lopera was a community leader and coordinator of the Committee for Reconciliation of the Junta de Acción Comunal (Community Action Board) in the village of Urales, municipality of Tarazá in Antioquia.
He was also a member of the Programa Nacional Integral de Sustitución de Cultivos de uso Ilícito (National Programme for the Substitution of Illicit Crops) –PNIS, and the Asociación Campesina del Bajo Cauca (Peasant Association of Bajo Cauca)-ASOCBAC. ASOBAC in turn is part of the political movement, Marcha Patriótica.
On 15 June, 2020 Edier was shot dead by members of a paramilitary group in the village of Caracolí. The gunmen prevented the family from removing the body for medical examination for a total of 9 days as a way to intimidate the rest of the community.
Edier had been receiving direct death threats for some time.
For months prior to the shooting the local community had been complaining about the presence of armed groups in the area.
Bajo Cauca is highly unstable due to the presence of armed groups and the lack of a civilian state presence.
