Colombia News | Colombia Reports
  • News
    • General
    • Analysis
    • War and peace
    • Elections
    • Economy
    • Culture
    • Sports
    • Science and Tech
  • Travel
    • General
    • Bogota
    • Medellin
    • Cali
    • Cartagena
    • Antioquia
    • Caribbean
    • Pacific
    • Coffee region
    • Amazon
    • Southwest Colombia
    • Northeast Colombia
    • Central Colombia
  • Data
    • Economy
    • Crime and security
    • War and peace
    • Development
    • Cities
    • Regions
    • Provinces
  • Profiles
    • Organized crime
    • Politics
    • Armed conflict
    • Economy
    • Sports
  • Lite
  • Opinion
  • About us
  • Support us
  • Contact Us
  • Intelligence
  • Advertising
  • Newsletter
Colombia News | Colombia Reports
  • News
    • General
    • Analysis
    • War and peace
    • Elections
    • Economy
    • Culture
    • Sports
    • Science and Tech
  • Travel
    • General
    • Bogota
    • Medellin
    • Cali
    • Cartagena
    • Antioquia
    • Caribbean
    • Pacific
    • Coffee region
    • Amazon
    • Southwest Colombia
    • Northeast Colombia
    • Central Colombia
  • Data
    • Economy
    • Crime and security
    • War and peace
    • Development
    • Cities
    • Regions
    • Provinces
  • Profiles
    • Organized crime
    • Politics
    • Armed conflict
    • Economy
    • Sports
  • Lite
  • Opinion
News

Former mayoral candidate assassinated in northern Colombia

by Nicolas Bedoya August 20, 2014

A former council member and mayoral candidate in Colombia’s northern state of Santander was killed on Thursday night by two men on a motorcycle.

Blas Antonio Morales was killed by a bullet to the chest from a passing motorcycle on Thursday as he was leaving his house to travel to Bogota, having survived two previous assassination attempts, according to a colleague and regional Green Party coordinator.

Morales was a former council member for the opposition Green Party in the Pueblo Viejo municipality of the coastal state of Magdalena.

Morales had also run for mayor in October 2011 and lost by a close 3% margin to a candidate from the Radical Change Party. After the election, there were two unsuccessful attempts on Morales’ life.

The first assassination attempt was in January 2012 when a grenade was thrown at his house. A month later, hit men killed his 67 year old father, according to newspaper Vanguardia Liberal.

The second attempt on his life was made by assassins on a motorcycle in the northern city of Barranquilla. Morales was hit on his arm and in his chest, wounds from which he recovered.

Morales would not be so lucky a third time.

According to a fellow party member and regional coordinator for the Green Party, Hector Pizarro, Morales was himself displaced and very interested in land and fishing policies.

Morales had reached out to Colombia’s National Protection Unit (UNP) for a security detail, and according to Vanguardia, a police patrol would periodically pass by his house.

Last week, a Colombian journalist was gunned down just three weeks after the same protection agency assigned to Morales called off his protection scheme.

Journalist Carlos Cervantes was murdered two weeks after receiving his final death threats that went as far back as 2010.

MORE: Colombia journalist gunned down after years of death threats

Sources

  • ELECCIONES OCTUBRE 30 DE 2011 PUEBLOVIEJO (MAGDALENA)
  • Asesinaron en Floridablanca a un exconcejal del Magdalena (Vanguardia Liberal)
  • Interview with Hector Pizarro
assassinationGreen PartyMagdalena

Trending

  • Colombia’s main cities shut down as COVID threatens to collapse healthcare

  • Colombia’s capital Bogota to lock down for another weekend

  • What COVID taught Colombia about cocaine | Part 1: the tsunami

Weekly interviews and news updates

Related articles

  • Fear in northern Colombia over former paramilitary leader’s return

  • Colombia’s chief prosecutor too busy harassing critics to fight crime?

  • Colombia grants popular Parque Tayrona three vacations a year

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin
  • RSS

@2008-2019 - Colombia Reports. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by Digitale Zaken and Parrolabs


Back To Top