Several candidates in northwest Colombia have threatened that their supporters will riot if they lose in Sunday’s election, Colombia’s interior and defense ministers confirmed.
According to the ministers, they have identified local candidates in the towns of Moñitos and Cienaga de Oro, in the coastal Cordoba department, who threatened that if they lose the elections, they will riot with their supporters and burn down the municipal Registry.
Interior Minister German Vargas Lleras said that the national and regional governments will increase the police and military presence in these municipalities to prevent any public disorder. Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon added that there are 6,000 members of the police force and 12 anti-riot units throughout Cordoba which will maintain public order on Sunday during the election.
“They will not repeat the events that happened four years ago,” Vargas Lleras asserted. “The people who have made [the threats] are fully identified and I reiterate today that those situations, whatever the election results are, will not be repeated. Any kind of constraint to the voter is not going to be tolerated.”
The two ministers are traveling to 22 departments over the next four days to help ensure normal election processes.