Colombian Politicians Reject Attack on Candidate Petro

On Monday, several Colombian politicians condemned a possible plan to attack Presidential Candidate Gustavo Petro, who leads the voting intention polls for the May 29 elections.

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The Historical Pact assured that Petro's security team received first-hand information that the "La Cordillera" paramilitary group was planning to attempt against his life.

"In Colombia, we cannot afford to doubt or delegitimize a death threat. These complaints must be processed with all rigor," Hope Center Coalition candidate Sergio Fajardo tweeted.

"Threatening a candidate with death is threatening democracy with death," independent candidate Rodolfo Hernandez stressed.

"You don't need to be a follower of Petro, which I am not, to repudiate a possible attempt on his life," said Humberto de la Calle, who was chief negotiator in the 2016 peace talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. (FARC).

"His life is sacred, like any other, and he is an important leader to whom democracy must provide all guarantees," former presidential candidate Enrique Peñalosa said.

The tweet reads, "The paramilitary narco gang 'La Cordillera' has orders to attack Gustavo Petro. Who gave the order? Don't kill Petro. The coup, the fraud, the attacks will not stop the forces of historic change in Colombia in favor of peace, democracy, and social justice."

The La Cordillera paramilitary group operates primarily in the "Coffee Axis," which includes the departments of Quindio, Caldas, and Risaralda. After knowing about the possible attack, the leftist candidate suspended his political tour in those areas.

"I am sorry to suspend the tour of the Coffee Region. The payment made by corrupt sectors to assassins for my physical elimination shows the political desperation they have reached," Petro tweeted.

The Defense Ministry and the Police assured that they had no evidence of the existence of a criminal plan against the Historical Pact candidate. Political crime in Colombia, however, has a long history.

In the 1990 presidential elections, for instance, three politicians were assassinated: Liberal leader Luis Galan, leftist Patriotic Union candidate Bernardo Jaramillo, and M-19 Democratic Alliance candidate Carlos Pizarro, who had abandoned the guerrilla struggle after signing a peace agreement with the government.