Stella Castillo walked into the town registrar's office to declare her candidacy in the mayoral election -- instantly making herself a target for death at the hands of rebels bent on disrupting the next weekend's elections.
Castillo was well aware of the danger: Hit men shot and killed her husband, the previous candidate for mayor, before her eyes two weeks ago.
"At first I thought: `What's the point of trying to change things if it's just to end up like my husband?'" Castillo said in an interview.
"But my daughter told me not to give in, that we should try to make his dreams come true," the 34-year-old law student said at her home in a coastal city that has been flooded with families fleeing decades of guerrilla warfare.
A deluge of death threats, killings and kidnappings have dogged campaigns for the Oct. 25 municipal and state elections throughout Colombia. The rebels have succeeded in sowing terror and have undercut the government's efforts to strengthen democracy.
Leftist guerrillas, battered by an army onslaught that is driving them deeper into the jungles, have threatened to kill every contender who refuses to either strike a deal with them or quit, part of their attempt to sever the state's reach into lawless areas.
But if politicians do seek an accord, or even show sympathy toward the rebels, they risk being killed by right-wing death squads. In the midst of both sides lurk organized crime groups with their own interests who take advantage of the chaos and fear.
At least 30 candidates have been assassinated and a dozen kidnapped, according to the Defense Ministry. One in every five has received a death threat. So far, 181 contenders have withdrawn.
Colombia's largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, is blamed for most of the attacks. Others are attributed to rightist paramilitaries battling the guerrillas. Common criminals are suspects in a handful of cases.
Police in Soledad arrested two of the four hired gunmen who fired six rounds at Castillo's husband, Jose, as he sipped coffee on his porch on the morning of Sept. 30.
Authorities say they have no doubt the killing was politically motivated but have yet to identify who paid the hit men.
"I don't even want to know who was behind it," said his wife, speaking in a barely audible voice and struggling to hold back tears. "I don't want to fill my heart with feelings of revenge."
Over the spot where her husband died, Castillo has hung a banner summing up her feelings: "You can cut the flowers but never prevent the coming of spring."
LIKE FATHER, LIKE DAUGHTER: By showing Ju-ae’s ability to handle a weapon, the photos ‘suggest she is indeed receiving training as a successor,’ an academic said North Korea on Saturday released a rare image of leader Kim Jong-un’s teenage daughter firing a rifle at a shooting range, adding to speculation that she is being groomed as his successor. Kim’s daughter, Ju-ae, has long been seen as the next in line to rule the secretive, nuclear-armed state, and took part in a string of recent high-profile outings, including last week’s military parade marking the closing stages of North Korea’s key party congress. Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released a photo of Ju-ae shooting a rifle at an outdoor shooting range, peering through a rifle scope
India and Canada yesterday reached a string of agreements, including on critical mineral cooperation and a “landmark” uranium supply deal for nuclear power, the countries’ leaders said in New Delhi. The pacts, which also covered technology and promoting the use of renewable energy, were announced after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed a fresh start in the relationship between their nations. “Our ties have seen a new energy, mutual trust and positivity,” Modi said. Carney’s visit is a key step forward in ties that effectively collapsed in 2023 after Ottawa accused New Delhi
Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples might become tight, officials said, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. The Israeli military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing airstrikes on Iran carried out jointly with the US. Israeli authorities late on Monday night said that they would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to Gaza yesterday, for “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the strip, without saying how much. Israeli authorities previously said the crossings could not be operated safely during
Counting was under way in Nepal yesterday, after a high-stakes parliamentary election to reshape the country’s leadership following protests last year that toppled the government. Key figures vying for power include former Nepalese prime minister K. P. Sharma Oli, rapper-turned-mayor Balendra Shah, who is bidding for the youth vote, and newly elected Nepali Congress party leader Gagan Thapa. In Kathmandu’s tea shops and city squares, people were glued to their phones, checking results as early trends flashed up — suggesting Shah’s centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was ahead. Nepalese Election Commission spokesman Prakash Nyupane said the counting was ongoing “in a peaceful manner”
RSS