Pastor Cardona was the treasurer of the Junta de Acción Comunal, (Community Action Board), of vereda La Uribe in Cartagena del Chairá, Caquetá. He was also a member of the Comité Procarreteras (Committee for Road Development) and president of the Asociación de Padres de Familia del Núcleo Nueve (Parents’ Association of Núcleo Nueve). He had been working to defend the rights of the community for the previous seventeen years.
On 7 November, 2020, Pastor was in his parents’ house in barrio Antioquia in the municipality of Cartagena del Chairá, when armed gunmen arrived and shot him dead.
Rumours have been circulating in the locality about the existence of a list which allegedly names certain community leaders as being members of paramilitary groups, an allegation which puts their lives in danger.
To date the authorities have not taken any steps to initiate an investigation into the killing of Pastor Cardona Bolívar and this lack of action by the authorities adds greatly to the anxiety of community leaders in the area.