The Colombian electoral campaign is tipping a little deeper into violence. Right-wing candidate Paloma Valencia said Monday that she had been informed by security authorities that an assassination plan targeting her would have been sponsored by an armed organization. According to her, the security services confirmed to her that a group described as “narco-terrorist” would have set a reward for her elimination. The candidate, in third position in voting intentions, even claims that a member of the guerrilla would have been paid $561,000 to carry out this project.
Political heir to former conservative president Álvaro Uribe, central figure of the Colombian right, Paloma Valencia is one of the most critical voices of the outgoing government of Gustavo Petro, the first left-wing president in the country’s recent history. She accuses the executive of having weakened the security policy by relaunching peace negotiations with several armed groups, without lasting results.
Strong criticism of the power in place
This new alert comes in a climate of extreme tension. Between Friday and Sunday, a series of attacks attributed to guerrillas left 21 dead in the southwest of the country. The authorities particularly point the finger at the Central Staff (EMC), the main splinter group of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), which did not sign the 2016 peace agreement.
The group is led by Iván Mordisco, considered one of the country’s most wanted criminals. The violence does not only affect the conservative candidate, two other major figures in the presidential election, the left-wing candidate Iván Cepeda and the conservative Abelardo de la Espriella, recently claimed to have also received death threats.
In this context, Paloma Valencia further toughens her speech. She believes that the dialogue strategy initiated by the Petro government would have allowed armed groups to strengthen themselves. “Colombia cannot continue with a government that has become complicit in narco-terrorism”she declared, calling for a radical change in security policy.
