Antonio Cuero was a farmer and Rosalbina Becoche Yandi was a leader of a community development project called Familias en Acción, (Families in Action) in Morales, Cauca.
On 27 June, 2020 they were checking traffic into the indigenous territory as part of the community’s anti-COVID strategy, when Antonio refused entry to a members of an armed group from outside the territory.
The group then got out of their vehicle and opened fire, killing both Antonio and Rosalbina. The incident took place when a complete lockdown was in operation and there was a curfew in force to prevent the virus coming into the community.
There has been a series of similar incidents across the state in recent months when community leaders have been attacked for trying to implement anti COVID measures.
6 people were killed in the area in one twenty-four hour period.
