Bernardo Jaramillo, former leader of the Union Patriotica in Colombia. He was assassinated by a drug cartel member on March 22nd, 1990 while on the campaign trail for the upcoming presidential elections. Jaramillo constantly remarked in interviews that he knew he would be assassinated; obviously, he was correct. In the run-up to that election, 4 candidates were killed: Luis Carlos Galan, Jaime Pardo Leal (the previous leader of UP), Carlos Pizarro (the leader of the then-demobilized M-19 guerrilla), and Jaramillo.

UP was formed as a mass left-wing party by the Colombian Communist Party and the FARC (which was engaged in a temporary cease-fire with the state), but by the mid-90s was decimated by the murder of many hundreds of its leaders and activists.

The sign reads: “The genocide against the Patriotic Union is a state crime.”

The Union Patriotica was a Colombian political party, formed in 1985 by a coalition of left-wing forces and FARC guerrillas, who were in negotiations with the state to demobilize and enter electoral politics. While they made quick initial growth, the assassination of 450 of their leading members in its first 3 years and 1,163 in total (including presidential candidates Jaime Pardo Leal and Bernardo Jaramillo) eventually decimated the party and forced FARC to resume military action. Unlike the M-19, another guerrilla force which entered negotiations, the FARC never laid down its arms but instead entered into a temporary cease-fire, and was thus able to persevere. The M-19 was quickly destroyed as a political force by paramilitaries and its leader, the charismatic Carlos Pizarro Leongomez, was assassinated in 1990 while running for president of the country.

The group named on the flier, Corporacion Reiniciar, is attempting to re-form the UP.