A mob of angry Medellin residents attacked Colombian Bolivarian Socialist Movement (MSB) leader David Corredor Cuellar while he was campaigning for the Presidency in the Antioquian capital Tuesday.
Corredor was collecting some of the 500 thousand signatures required to make him eligible to run for presidency in Medellin’s city center when he, his team and their vehicle were surrounded by an angry crowd that peppered him with insults and threw rocks.
Residents of the strongly Urbista city yelled phrases such as “get Chavez out of Colombia” and “go back to Venezuela” at the prepresidential candidate.
Throughout the incident the candidate and his entourage stayed close to their vehicle, while about 20 police officers surrounded and attempted to separate them from crowd.
The MSB has been accused of being seriously influenced by the socialist and expansionist policies of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez.
Corredor told Noticias Tele Medellin that the attack was evidence that some Colombians misunderstood his platform and that the MSB is not a Chavez support network.
“This is a project by Colombians, for Colombians, it’s neither a Chavista nor a Venezuelan project, it’s a proposal with bolivarian socialist ideals,” Corredor said.
Corredor’s movement has received criticism for having the same Bolivarian ideals as Chavez’s socialist government.
View video footage of the incident here.