Ángel Ovidio Quintero, 40, was a community leader, member of the Asociación de Mineros Artesanales, (Association of Artisanal Miners), and president of the Council of the Municipality of San Francisco in Antioquia.

On the morning of 19 March 2020, Ángel was in the Grillo area of the city with his nephew when gunmen opened fire.

In the middle of the shooting he tried to escape by jumping into the Santo Domingo River. Later that day his lifeless body was recovered from the river.

According to local reporters the situation in the east of Antioquia is a pressure cooker of violence waiting to explode. There is a renewed presence of the ELN and Frente 9 of the FARC who are competing for control of the territory.

While there is need for intervention by the state, communities also suffer from the excessive use of force by the army when carrying out their operations. People are caught between the violence of the state and the violence of the paramilitaries.

Ángel Ovidio Quintero, 40, was a community leader, member of the Asociación de Mineros Artesanales, (Association of Artisanal Miners), and president of the Council of the Municipality of San Francisco in Antioquia.

On the morning of 19 March 2020, Ángel was in the Grillo area of the city with his nephew when gunmen opened fire.

In the middle of the shooting he tried to escape by jumping into the Santo Domingo River. Later that day his lifeless body was recovered from the river.

According to local reporters the situation in the east of Antioquia is a pressure cooker of violence waiting to explode. There is a renewed presence of the ELN and Frente 9 of the FARC who are competing for control of the territory.

While there is need for intervention by the state, communities also suffer from the excessive use of force by the army when carrying out their operations. People are caught between the violence of the state and the violence of the paramilitaries.