Petro, a former M-19 guerrilla and former mayor of Bogotá, was scheduled to travel to the coffee region, including the city of Manizales, on Tuesday and Wednesday, as part of the electoral campaign for the first round of the presidential election, scheduled for May 29.
But the tour was called off after Petro’s security team received information that the La Cordillera criminal gang was planning an attack against the presidential candidate of the Historic Pact, his office said in a statement.
“According to the work carried out by the security team that received first-hand information from sources in the area, the La Cordillera criminal group is planning an attempt on the life of presidential candidate Gustavo Petro,” a statement said.
The National Police announced a pronouncement for Monday afternoon.
La Cordillera is a criminal gang dedicated to drug trafficking in the coffee region of central Colombia and is accused of the murder of social leaders in the area, according to the complaint from the office of the leftist political leader.
Petro led last week an Inmaver survey with 43.6% of the intention to vote for the first roundwhile his closest rival, center-right Federico Gutiérrez, got 26.7%.
The leftist presidential candidate has the support of a large section of the population for his promises to correct deep income inequality in the South American country of 50 million people, including through a redistribution of pension savings from private funds.
But investors have warned that such a plan and its promise to halt new oil projects could put the country’s economic stability at risk.
If he wins the presidency, the 62-year-old politician will face a divided congress with right-wing and center parties that support Gutiérrez.
Although Colombia boasts one of the strongest democracies in Latin America, violence has overshadowed its electoral processes in the past.
The presidential candidate of the New Liberalism Luis Carlos Galán was assassinated in 1989, while Bernardo Jaramillo, of the Patriotic Union, and Carlos Pizarro, of the demobilized M-19 guerrilla, died in 1990 in attacks attributed to right-wing paramilitaries.
Source: Ambito
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