The mayors of the nine major cities of Colombia all say their cities
suffered an increase of assassinations in the first months of 2009.
At a forum organized by Bogota mayor Samuel Moreno, the mayors all said violence is increasing because of raging violence between drug gangs.
Jorge Iván Ospina, Mayor of Cali, said that 61 per cent of the homicides that occurred in his city during the last year, happened for reckoning and revenge.
The Mayor of Cucuta, María Eugenia Riascos, reported that 88 per cent of the murders in 2009 were acted out by hired assassins.
Jesus Maria Botero, Mayor of Ibague, reported 16 cases of assassinations in his city.
The National Police Director Oscar Naranjo admits that the number of murders increased in Bogota, Medellín and Cali in the previous months.
