A new Ombudsman, known in Colombia as People’s Defender, will be elected by the House of Representatives next week to replace Volmar Pérez, who critics believe failed to sustain the prominence the institution had gained with previous defenders in their struggle to stand up for human rights in Colombia.

A successor must make up for lost time in regard to the institution’s image as well as face the tremendous challenges that come with the land restitution law, victim reparation and the healthcare crisis.

While some believe it was Ecuador’s anti-imperialist empathy what made Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, knock on its door to request asylum, others believe it could just as easily been any other country, like Bolivia or South Africa, regardless of politics.

The Ecuadorian Government granted Mr. Assange’s request for asylum on Thursday after determining that Great Britain and Sweden did not guarantee he will not be extradited to the United States, where he feels his life would be in danger. Until the UK grants Assange a safe conduct pass, he will remain at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

The UK said it was disappointed by Ecuador’s decision and will continue to work toward arresting and extraditing Assange to Sweden, where he faces sexual assault charges.

President Juan Manuel Santos apologized to the indigenous communities of Cauca for the many violent deaths they have suffered this year and also spoke of Farc’s plan to assassinate him at any cost. This information was found in a message meant for the chief of Farc’s Northwestern Bloc, Martin Cruz Vega, alias ‘Rubin Morro’. In the message, guerrilla members are urged to “activate efforts to eliminate Santos any way necessary, he owes us Alfonso and Jorge and other valuable comrades. Do not spare any resource, contact or agreement in this effort, the blood of our own, the very decorum of an organization demand a resounding and radical response.”

Jesús Chávez, head regional councilman in Cauca, said that his community wants to achieve peace with the help from the National Government and, as a sign of support from the State, he asked that “dignity to the Colomnian indigenous movement” be returned. Chávez said 256 indigenous have disappeared in Colombia during the Santos administration.