News of Salamanca’s assassination made
national headlines. La Nación, a leading news-
paper, hailed him as “The Most Illustrious of the
Agustinianos,” praising his contributions to sci-
entific and cultural understanding. “We were
absolutely shocked,” his daughter Dalila told me.
The exact motive behind Salamanca’s murder
is unknown. But he’s remembered as an outspo-
ken citizen unafraid to defend his beliefs, a trait
that might have earned him enemies. He opposed
construction of a nearby megadam, El Quimbo,
that opened in 2015, displacing 450 families and
flooding 20,000 acres of forest and farmland in
Huila Department. He also opposed the Mag-
dalena Master Plan, a proposed dam network
championed by the governments of Colombia
and China, Colombia’s second biggest trading
partner. If completed, the dams would flood some
of the farthest reaches of the Magdalena River in
the massif, raising fears of catastrophic environ-
mental and archaeological losses.
In the days after Salamanca’s death, hundreds
took to the streets in San Agustín, candles in
hand, demanding justice. A $2,700 reward was
offered for tips, and San Agustín’s mayor prom-
ised answers. Nearly three years later, no one
has been charged. This too is routine in cases
involving social leaders. Authorities sometimes
capture individuals who pulled the trigger, but
rarely those who order or incentivize killings.
As of December 2021, the Colombian attorney
general’s office reported having determined the118 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC