Colombia’s Democratic Center Party headquarters in the capital of Bogota was left in disarray after being ransacked and robbed of money and computers, Colombian media reported on Wednesday.
According to Democratic Center representative Tatiana Cabello, the headquarters was ransacked before staff arrived at work on Wednesday morning. The assault was carried out by unidentified individuals who took computers and cash from the premises, Colombia’s Terra Noticias reported.
The registration of voting citizens as well as electoral monitors that participated in Bogota’s Congress were stolen from the office, along with $600 in cash, according to Cabello.
“Our workers had left for vacation, but the headquarters was well secured since last Friday,” Cabello said in Colombia’s El Espectador newspaper.
“We store all of our electoral information from Bogota there, which worries us greatly,” said the party’s spokeswoman, adding, “we hope that the authorities determine who these individuals were, and what drove them to do this.”
The Democratic Center Party had asked for protection from the Bogota Police on June 18 following the presidential elections on June 15 in which incumbent President Juan Manuel Santos defeated the Democratic Center’s candidate, Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, according to Terra Noticias.
The letter asked for protection from “the difficult situation of our security that could present itself owing to the results of the elections the past weekend that places our movement in the opposition of the government and the district.”
The letter was signed by the Democratic Center’s legal representative, Juan Gabriel Castaño, according to El Espectador.
Sources
- Sede del Centro Democrático fue asaltada en Bogotá (Terra Noticias)
- Asaltan sede del Centro Democrático en Bogotá (El Espectador)