Carlos Navia, was the founder and Treasurer of the Asociación de Juntas de Acción Comunal de Argelia, (Association of Community Action Boards of Argelia) and organiser of the Comité Procarreteras del Municipio, (Committee for the Development of Roads in the Municipality).
He was also a member of the Coordinador Nacional Agrario (National Agrarian Council) and the Congreso de los Pueblos, (Congress of the Peoples). He worked with the peasant, afrodescendant and indigenous communities in Cañón del Micay, Cauca, who have been the frequent target of threats, attacks and forced displacement by members of the FARC, the ELN and armed criminal groups such as “los pocillos.”
On 26 October, 2020, Carlos was shot dead by unknown gunmen in vereda la Hacienda which is between the municipalities of Argelia and El Tambo. The killing took place just a few days after the start of a humanitarian convoy organised by the communities of Cañón del Micay to highlight the dangers faced by the communities and especially by human rights defenders in the region.
The climate of violence in the region has been exacerbated by the arrival of new criminal groups Carlos Patiño and Jaime Martínez which are challenging the existing structures and which see any social movements as a threat to their power.
According to a report by Indepaz, of the 243 human rights defenders killed in Colombia in the period January-October 2020, 86 were killed in Cauca, making it one of the three most dangerous states in the country.
