One of the leaders of the Afro-Colombian communities in northwestern Colombia, Patrocinio Bonilla a.k.a Patrón, was assassinated on August 11, in a killing that has been linked to his support for agroecology and his struggle against the aerial spraying of glyphosate in the region, which is being pushed by the Trump Administration and the Colombian central government to control Coca crops.

Patrón was one of the founders of ‘Kinchas for Agroecological and Community Production’ in Chocó, northwestern Colombia, where 96% of the people identify as Afro-Colombian or as part of the Emberá Indigenous community.

Kinchas have been leading the fight against aerial spraying of glyphosate in the region, which is set to soon be used again by the Colombian government to control Cocaine production, after a 5 year ban of the practice following a 2015 court ruling.

Patrón was one of the leaders in the region who have found themselves fighting against the growing of Coca by drug traffickers at the same time as fighting against the use of aerial spraying of glyphosate – instead he and his colleagues believed there was a better way to save the flora, fauna and people of the region from the ‘toxic rain’ and the toxic drug trade at the same time, by teaching local communities how to support themselves through agroecology.