Marelvis Rodríguez last saw her son, Ricardo Martínez, when he was leaving a day’s work as a laborer in the rural area of Magdalena on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. She told Revista Raya that he had asked her to join him to buy a watch and some clothes, which were his last purchases. A week later, on September 21, the 18-year-old was killed during a police operation targeting the Autodefensas Conquistadoras de la Sierra Nevada (ACSN), a significant paramilitary group in the region since the 1990s. The ACSN has been involved in various conflicts in the area, often clashing with government forces and other armed groups. Ricardo’s funeral took place in a house under construction on the outskirts of Santa Marta. According to Revista Raya, only a dozen people attended, and there was no fanfare or gunfire in the air, unlike the funeral of José Pérez Villanueva, the second-in-command of the ACSN, who was also killed in the same operation. The stark contrast in the two funerals has drawn attention to the growing concerns in Colombia about the resurgence of "false positives," a controversial practice where civilians killed by authorities are made to appear as if they were members of paramilitary groups. In a country that has been embroiled in conflict for more than sixty years, such extrajudicial killings have deepened distrust toward the Colombian armed forces. The practice of false positives was widely documented in the past, with many civilians being killed and then reported as combatants to justify military actions. These incidents have left lasting scars on communities and have led to widespread human rights concerns. Marelvis Rodríguez, devastated by the loss of her son, expressed her anguish directly: "You killed my son." Her words reflect the pain and anger felt by many families who have lost loved ones under circumstances that raise serious questions about the conduct of the military and the rule of law in Colombia.