Colombia’s 2026 election season has descended into one of the most violent in decades, marked by assassinations, bombings, kidnappings and widespread insecurity across large parts of the country.
A presidential candidate has been assassinated. Rebels have detonated pipe bombs in major cities. And about a third of Colombia’s municipalities are now considered unsafe for candidates, according to the country’s Electoral Observation Mission.
The danger is particularly acute in Cauca, a mountainous and conflict-scarred region in the southwest, where Indigenous congressional candidate Esneyder Gomez campaigns under constant threat ahead of the March 8 legislative elections.
The 46-year-old hopeful, seeking to represent the Nasa Indigenous minority in Congress, travels through rebel-controlled territory in an armoured vehicle, guarded largely by unarmed Indigenous community members. Gomez says he has faced threats from guerrilla groups for more than a decade. Months ago, gunmen opened fire on his vehicle after a political event.
Just days earlier, Indigenous legislator Aida Quilcue was kidnapped in the same region before being released following negotiations, underscoring the risks faced by public officials.
Despite the 2016 peace agreement between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), violence persists. While the main FARC faction disarmed, dissident groups remain active and now exert what Gomez describes as “territorial control” in parts of Cauca, openly manning checkpoints and restricting movement.
“The risk is constant,” Gomez said, adding that the so-called post-conflict period has proven more difficult than many expected.
Election-related violence intensified last June when conservative presidential frontrunner Miguel Uribe Turbay was shot during a campaign event in Bogota.
According to observers, at least 61 political leaders have been killed ahead of the legislative elections and the May 31 presidential vote. Security threats have been recorded in about 130 municipalities nationwide.
Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez has announced the deployment of additional security forces to ensure “safe” elections. However, critics argue that President Gustavo Petro’s policy of negotiating with armed groups rather than confronting them militarily has enabled some factions to expand their influence.
During Petro’s four years in office, armed groups have grown stronger in certain regions, fueled in part by record cocaine production. According to United Nations figures, Colombia’s cocaine exports now exceed 1,700 tonnes, the highest level ever recorded.
The trade is visible across the mist-covered hills of Cauca, where coca crops blanket the mountainsides. Among the most powerful dissident leaders operating in the region is Nestor Gregorio Vera Fernandez, also known as Ivan Mordisco, who is accused by authorities of crimes against humanity, including the forced recruitment of Indigenous children.
For many Colombians, the resurgence of violence recalls the dark era of the 1980s and 1990s, when multiple presidential candidates were assassinated and drug lord Pablo Escobar wielded enormous influence over national politics.
As Colombians prepare to vote, regions like Cauca will serve as a critical test of whether the country can conduct free, fair and secure elections amid persistent armed conflict.
