Human Rights Leader Piedad Cordoba Dodges Assassination Attempt

According to news agency REMA ACPP, Piedad Cordoba narrowly escaped an attempt on her life in Quibdo, Choco, Colombia.

IN DEPTH:

Colombian Peace Process

Piedad Cordoba, a former Colombian senator and a journalist for teleSUR has been instrumental in forging a path to peace with social justice in Colombia.

"Fortunately I was not shot because of the fast action and coordination of my bodyguards and that I saw the guy draw a gun. I have never run so fast in my life in high heels, I think I finished the 100-meter sprint in 10 seconds," said Cordoba

However, Colombian Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas denied Cordoba's version, according to the news agency Las Dos Orillas.  “The police's first-hand version is that ... when the ex-senator exited her speech, she and her bodyguards crossed the street ... In that moment there was a general alarm produced by an explosive device in the area – an alarm that proved to be false – that made people run in the direction of the ex-senator and this generated heighten alertness on the part of her bodyguards," Villegas explained.

Cordoba added, "He came out from behind a post, made a signal and I saw him ... we ran to the corner, where the police arrived."

President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela spoke over the phone with Cordoba to express his solidarity with her after the attempt on her life, according to Hector Rodiguez, a Nationbal Assembly member on his Twitter account.

From Ecuador, Foreign Minister Guillaume Long expressed “all (his) solidarity” with Piedad Cordoba and “firmly condemned” the attack she was victim of from his Twitter account. “Peace shall triumph in Colombia!” he affirmed.

Prensa Rural suggested Cordoba's assailants likely came from a paramilitary group like the Black Eagles, who are calling for a march on Saturday against the peace deal, along with other far-right sectors.

“(Former President Alvaro) Uribe said his peace process – via subjugation – had been successful. Today paramilitaries try to kill Piedad Cordoba,” said the daily paper on Twitter.

Flyer announcing march on April 2, calling for right-wing forces to act against guerillas if President Santos refuses to do so.

After over 50 years of guerilla warfare against repressive Colombian governments, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army and the National Liberation Army are holding peace talks with the Colombian government in hopes of ending years of conflict that has created more than 6.7 million victims and taking at least 220,000 lives.

Political movement Marcha Patriotica – whose spokesperson is Cordoba – called Colombians to protect her, saying “if this country doesn't let us get involved in politics freely, what type of democracy are we talking about?”