A MIO Party candidate running for the city council in Cali, southwest Colombia, was murdered Tuesday in La Hacienda sector of the city, Colombian media reported.
Witnesses told reporters that 25-year-old Nicolai Vera Rico was buying cell phone minutes when a lone assassin, who was waiting for him, walked up and shot him in the head.
Rico is the second political candidate murdered in Cali in 2011. Earlier this year, assassins killed a mayoral candidate for the nearby Yumbo in the same city.
Jaime Gasca, the president of the city council, was quick to defend the safety and security of the city.
“No candidate for this corporation has requested security from my office. The commander of the Police, General Miguel Angel Bojaca, told us that there are all guarantees that the October 30 elections will pass by in complete calm and normality,” said the council president. “They cannot assign a police office to watch over every candidate.”
PIN Party Councilor Alvaro Henry Monedero said, “It is regrettable that such incidents occur in Cali… Sometimes these cases get out hand because of personal conflicts.”
The new MIO is one of the parties set up by jailed politician Juan Carlos Martinez, who is is in jail for his ties to paramilitaries.