(Democracy Now) In Colombia, another candidate in the municipal elections has been killed. Hernando Orley García Vásquez, who was running for mayor of a town in the region of Antioquia, was shot 13 times over the weekend.
He died as he was transported to Medellín for treatment. This comes just weeks after mayoral candidate Karina García was brutally murdered along with at least four others while campaigning in the Cauca region.
The skyrocketing violence triggered Colombia’s human rights ombudsman to warn earlier this week that more than half the country is at risk of violence related to the upcoming local elections.
Also in Colombia, human rights activist Yunier Moreno was shot to death in his home in the rural region of Caquetá Sunday. Two other indigenous women activists were also killed in recent days in the region of Cauca.