After writing an in-depth article revealing that a new drug trafficker was disputing some of the Medellín cartel’s territory in Colombia, Mary Luz Avendaño received a death threat. “Stop your revelations if you want to stay alive,” she was told. She had already been in danger since covering the connections between the police and certain paramilitary groups.

Reporters Without Borders, which was following her case closely, urged her to leave Colombia for the sake of her safety. She dropped everything and fled to Peru and then Spain under the Protection for Human Rights Defenders programme.