Alvino Rosero Alverez, president of the Community Action Board of the village of La Unión, was stabbed to death by several unknown attackers on March 19 2017 in Putumayo, Colombia. Alvino’s death may have resulted from his active role as a community leader in the region as paramilitary groups such as La Constru, look to strengthen their power in Putumayo. His was was the 18 death of social leaders in Colombia in 2017.

Following the demobilisation of the guerrilla group FARC in January 2017, the largest in Colombia, La Constru have reportedly carried on FARC’s rural extortion schemes. There has been a surge of power in the region which has unfortunately increased the murders of many group members and leaders. There were at least 28 murders in 2017 alone since the peace deal with FARC began.