Gunmen believed to be army-backed paramilitaries have reportedly attempted to kill Alvaro Mercado (m), a leader of SINTRAMINERGETICA trade union, whose members working for a coal mining company operating in the northeast of the country are on strike. Witnesses have seen men they recognised as paramilitaries going to the houses of other SINTRAMINERGETICA activists, namely Estivenson Avila and Rubén Morrón.