Álvaro Menza Peña was a community leader, former president of the Junta de Acción Comunal (Community Action Board) of the La Laguna district in the municipality of Pitalito,Huila. In this role he had promoted numerous community development projects.
On the evening of 4 August, 2020, Álvaro was at home on his farm when a group of armed men drove up. They shot both Alvaro and his twenty-eight year old daughter, Yeraldine Peña, who lived with him.
There is no record of him having received any threats.