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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Dozens of Colombia politicians killed ahead of vote |
| 2007-09-30 |
| Scores of candidates and officials have been murdered in Colombia ahead of Oct. 28 local elections by leftist rebels and new gangs replacing right-wing militias that once brutally ruled provincial politics. With a month to go before ballots are cast, the government says there have been 69 political murders in this campaign season, including 27 candidates, 13 town council members, five campaign volunteers and a campaign manager. In the last nationwide local elections campaign four years ago, 94 people were killed by illegal groups including well-organized paramilitary militias, most of which have since disbanded under a government peace plan. But thousands of former "paras" have joined a new generation of Colombian gang with no ideology or agenda other than to bribe or cow politicians into turning a blind eye toward their extortion and drug-smuggling businesses. "We are seeing new drug-trafficking groups that include some former paramilitaries but not with the same organization as the paramilitaries," Deputy Interior Minister Maria Isabel Nieto told Reuters on Friday. Crime is down in Colombia thanks to President Alvaro Uribe's U.S.-backed crackdown on leftist guerrillas. Still, Nieto said the rebels are behind nearly half of this year's political murders. The government has provided bodyguards, bulletproof vests and armored cars for some candidates in a bid to reduce political violence. It says such measures have helped foil 35 attacks this year. Colombia's right-wing paramilitary groups were organized in the 1980s to help landowners beat back communist insurgents. More than 31,000 paramilitaries have demobilized in a deal offering reduced jail terms for crimes such as massacre and torture. The rebels remain at war with the state and often threaten to kill people if they vote at all. More than half of Colombia's towns face intimidation ahead of the October vote, according to an independent study released this week that the government says exaggerates the threat. The report by universities and human rights groups said 576 towns around the country are at risk of political violence. |
| Posted by:Seafarious |