'Politicians behind much of the violence in Colombia's local elections'

[Judi Lynn]

by Adriaan Alsema September 16, 2019

Regional dynasties appear to be behind most of the murders, assassination attempts and death threats in Colombia’s increasingly violent local elections race, according to leading political scientist.

According to Ariel Avila, a recently published study of his think tank Paz y Reconciliacion (Pares) indicates that “regional authoritarians” are trying to get rid of new and emerging political parties like those of leftist opposition leader Gustavo Petro and the Democratic Center party of President Ivan Duque.

On the one hand… we have young people in politics, community leaders who demand accountability and a lot of people exercising citizen control. Obviously, the old-time politicians don’t like this. On the other hand, a criminal lumpen has been created, an army of mercenaries… who are hired by many politicians to intimidate the competition. This means that violence is another mechanism of political competition in Colombia.

Ariel Avila via El Espectador

Avila said in its report that the election violence is considerably higher than in 2015 when the FARC, at the time the largest guerrilla group, was still in arms.

More:
https://colombiareports.com/politicians-behind-much-of-the-violence-in-colombias-local-elections/