14 local election candidates assassinated in Colombia so far this year

[Judi Lynn]

14 local election candidates assassinated in Colombia so far this year
Thursday, 02 June 2011 18:49
Adriaan Alsema

14 candidates for the local elections held in Colombia in October have been assassinated so far this year, a NGO monitoring the elections said Thursday.

In an interview with French Press Agency AFP, the director of the Electoral Observation Mission (MOE) said that another 6 survived assassination attempts.

"The situation is very worrisome. There have been 39 violent acts committed against candidates, mostly in (the Departments of) Arauca, Antioquia and Huila," MOE director Angelandra Barrios told AFP.

~snip~
Earlier, the national government called the neo-paramilitary groups and successors of the cartels the biggest threat to the elections. According to Interior and Justice Minister German Vargas Lleras, these groups threaten to disturb the electoral process in 300 of Colombia's 1099 municipalities.

http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/16722-14-local-election-candidates-assassinated-in-colombia-so-far-this-year.html