Name/Title
Ramón BedoyaEntry/Object ID
PIE4271Description
When paramilitary assassins murdered his father in December, 18-year-old Ramón Bedoya inherited the family finca, a biodiversity zone, and an increasingly violent struggle against palm oil.
His home in Cocó is testimony to the surge of killings of human rights and environmental activists that followed the 2016 peace accord between the Revolutionary Armed Force of Colombia (Farc) and the government. That deal was hailed as an end to the world’s longest-running civil war, but paramilitaries and plantation owners have filled the vacuum with deadly consequences for campesinos and indigenous groups opposed to monocultures.
Bedoya’s father, Hernan had led local resistance to palm oil and used part of his plot to recuperate native ecosystems. He was shot 15 times while he was riding his horse to the vet in Pedeguita y Mancilla.
Ramon believes the killing was ordered by government officials along with the hired muscle of the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AGC), a narco-army that claims to be the country’s largest paramilitary group.
Concerns that the young man may be their next target have prompted the federal government to provide him with two bodyguards and a bullet-proof 4x4.
Having helped his father build the finca, Bedoya plans to continue his work. “I want to finish what he started,” he says. “We campesinos can win. There are many of us and we are ready to fight for our rights. It’s our land and we are not going to give it up.”Edition
Edition Size
5Edition Number
1Location
Building
BANKWorkplace
Workshop17Province
GautengValuations
Valuation Type
PricingValue
ZAR 5,800.00Date
Jun 20, 2025Intake
Notes
Thom Pierce (born 1978 in Jersey, Channel Islands) is an award-winning British photographic artist, based in Johannesburg, South Africa.General Notes
Note
Claudia@workshop17.com