Colombian Rebels Kill Two Mayors Ahead of Vote
Macdonald Stainsby <[email protected]>
| Newsgroups | gmane.politics.communism.environmental,gmane.politics.leninism.international |
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Yes!! Macdonald Colombian Rebels Kill Two Mayors Ahead of Vote By REUTERS Published: October 7, 2003 BOGOTA, Colombia, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Colombian leftist rebels killed two town mayors after holding a clandestine meeting with them, bringing to nine the number of mayors slain in the war-torn nation this year, authorities said on Tuesday. The killings, blamed on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, come less than three weeks before Colombians vote on Oct. 26 in local elections that have been dogged by a wave of assassinations, kidnappings and death threats. Orlando Hoyos, mayor of the southern village of Bolivar, was shot dead on Monday as he left a secret meeting in the mountains with FARC rebels and other officials. Jaime Zambrano, mayor of neighboring Santa Rosa, was killed on Tuesday, police said. Mayors and councilors in Colombia's lawless countryside are common targets of illegal armed group fighting in a four-decade war. Local war lords, often the real authority in towns with little state presence, frequently summon councilors and mayors to intimidate them and check on their platforms. The FARC, Colombia's largest rebel army, has threatened to kill all candidates for the October vote, throwing down the gauntlet to law- and-order President Alvaro Uribe. Uribe, whose father was killed by the FARC during a botched kidnapping, took power last year promising to restore security in a country gripped by a war that claims the lives of thousands of people every year. The military has pledged to guarantee security during the vote but admits it is impossible to control all the nation's 1,098 municipalities. Many mayors rule from fortified army barracks or by phone from relatively safer regional capitals. In separate violence, government troops killed 14 leftist rebels and two right-wing paramilitary outlaws in several clashes across the country, the army reported. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/07/international/americas/08WIRE- COLO.html Macdonald Stainsby http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green In the contradiction lies the hope. --Brecht. _______________________________________________ Rad-Green mailing list [email protected] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green