A proposed budget cut to the Colombian Ombudsperson’s office would impair its ability to protect the Colombian citizens’ human rights at a critical moment, Human Rights Watch warned on Monday.

Amid exacerbating conflict and political violence, the organization claimed the cuts would hinder office capabilities on top of other funding issues. In addition to creating a $36.3 million government deficit, Colombia President Gustavos Petro’s proposal for the 2026 annual budget would only supply 9.7 percent of the money the office reportedly needs to operate efficiently. The spending reduction would prevent the office from increasing its conflict and election monitoring capacities, hamper efforts to reduce killings of Human Rights defenders, and delay the establishment of an early warning sys

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