Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos ordered additional protective measures and a full investigation following the assassination attempt on leftist presidential candidate Aida Avella Sunday.
“I have given instructions for the protection of Aida Aella with all that is necessary, and what happened will be investigated,” said the head of state via Twitter.
He dado instrucciones para que se proteja a Aída Abella con todo lo que sea necesario y se investigue qué pasó. Necesito resultados.
— Juan Manuel Santos (@JuanManSantos) February 23, 2014
“I need results,” the post concluded.
On Sunday, while campaigning in the northeastern state of Arauca, presidential candidate for the leftist Patriotic Union (Union Patriotica – UP) Aida Avella was shot at by two unidentified men on a motorcycle.
MORE: Leftist Colombian presidential candidate unharmed after assassination attempt
Avella, who was sitting in the back seat of an armored SUV at the time, was not injured, but the lasting image of the bullet-infused car testifies to the very real threat on her life.
El vehículo impactado fue el que entregaron para los escoltas d @AidaAvellaE. Fotografía luego del atentado.#FuerzaUP pic.twitter.com/eaD8wbl4XM
— Unión Patriótica (@UP_Colombia) February 24, 2014
The leftist candidate is sadly no stranger to assassination attempts — this being her fourth in her life — and spent nearly two decades in exile after a failed attempt in 1996, only returning to the country in the run up to May’s presidential elections.
MORE: Aida Avella: Former exile and ‘ambassador for the poor’ runs for Colombia’s presidency
She returned to be the first presidential candidate for the UP since its disbandment in 2002. In 2013, the once-defunct party, crippled by the targeted killing of its member in the late 1980s and early 90s, passed the threshold to reform as an official political party. .
PROFILE: Patriotic Union
The first round of Colombia’s Presidential elections is scheduled for May 25.
Sources
- Santos ordenó proteger a Aída Abella “con todo lo que sea necesario” (El Espectador)
- Presidente Santos pide “proteger con todo lo que sea necesario” a Aída Avella (CM&)
