Colombia: 2 candidates killed in less than a week

he candidate for mayor of Toledo, Department of Antioquia, Hernando Orley García VásquezHe received at least 13 bullet impacts this Saturday (07/09) in the afternoon and died while he was being transferred to Medellin. This is the second killing of a candidate in the election in the week, Karina García, candidate for mayor of Suárez, Cauca, was found dead and cremated aboard a vehicle on 2/09 last.

The murder of Orley Garcia This happened in a rural area of ​​the municipality, while the politician was walking on public roads. As he told the local media the commander of the police of AntioquiaGiovanny Buitrago, the incident occurred in a "wooded area", where a person shot her with "A shotgun-type weapon (…) apparently from behind."

At first, the injured candidate was taken to critical condition at a nearby hospital. But because of the severity of the injuries, they decided to transfer it by helicopter to the city of Medellín, 168 km away.

Preliminary reports indicate those responsible for the contestation of Front 36, under the command of Ricardo Abel Ayala, aka Cabuyo. Other attacks in the area have been attributed to the group, including the killing of 3 geologists from a multinational in 2018.

"In the area, there is residual group interference"said Giovanny Buitrago, while he was still alive at the hospital protecting Orley Garcia.

Proponents of the Democratic Center candidate seek justice for his murder. In Toledo, there is tension and during Saturday night dozens of people showed up in front of the train station Police ask for a response from the authorities.

he Democratic Center He condemned the attack through a statement on social networks: "We regret and condemn the badbadination of Orley García, our mayoral candidate of Toledo (Antioquia), who has always supported with conviction and firmness the ideals of the democratic center and represented and promoted its values ​​in the region ".

Political leaders, like the former president, Álvaro Uribe, expressed their grief at the death of Orley Garcia and asked for justice. "If criminals want us to hide, they are looking for hiding places, because with the armed forces and the Constitution, we are going around the country to support our candidates and democracy," Uribe said.

Toledo, Professor Orley left teaching to go to the mayor's office, I remember our dialogue, he gave me a book and promised to write a new story for the MPIO .

He was a member of the parish pastoral group. Everyone wanted it pic.twitter.com/g5HRa9hzDQ

– Álvaro Uribe Vélez (@AlvaroUribeVel) September 8, 2019

During the The last few months, Colombia has been plunged into insecurity, reinforced by the return to armed struggle and drug trafficking of the guerrilla badociation FARC. The badbadination of the candidate by the ruling party (Democratic Center) adds 15 dead and 192 threats to people involved in election campaigns, occurring between 01/01 and 09/09/2019, according to the newspaper. Office of the Ombudsman (mediator).

The last 2/09 Karina García, candidate for mayor of Suárez, Cauca, was found dead in a vehicle in which he was traveling with 5 other people, after a week of disappearance. The incident was not an accident, the vehicle bore bullet marks and was cremated when the culprits were unknown.

Last Wednesday 09/09 The United Nations rejected in a statement attacks against "people committed to democracy in the country" and called for sanctions for "those responsible".