Bogota, April 20 (RHC)-- Colombia’s National Agrarian Coordinator (CNA) denounced that social leader Teodomiro Sotelo was assassinated over the weekend while working on his farm in the El Tambo municipality.

"Armed individuals entered his property to murder him in front of his family and workers," local outlet El Colombiano reported and pointed out that several farmers are leaving the area to avoid being new victims of violence.

This is, for instance, the case of five Afrorenacer Community Council members and 15 people from the Betania, Honduras, and San Juan areas.  They have been threatened by armed groups operating in their territory, as the Cauca Valley Network in Defense of Life and Human Rights denounced.

The harassment of farmers is framed in the dispute for control of the territory among groups linked to coca cultivation and drug trafficking.​​

"They're killing those who oppose them or denounce violent actions... What we experience here is very cruel. We are trapped by quarantine and violent people,” a southwestern Cauca resident explained.

Social leader Teodomiro Sotelo worked on the Territorial Council's board of directors and was part of a committee set up to build a highway.  He was also a member of the Development Board that is to hold talks with the government of President Ivan Duque to find alternatives to the problems of the region.