BOGOTA – Some candidates in next month’s Colombian congressional elections are threatening voters with the loss of government aid if they don’t support the ruling party at the polls, members of an international observer mission said on Monday.
The mission, put together by non-governmental organizations from the United States, Mexico and a half-dozen other countries, held a press conference in Bogota to present its findings.
“Aspirants to the (lower) house and the Senate have attended meetings with beneficiaries, in which they have said that if they don’t vote for them and for the presidential candidate of the Party of the U (President Alvaro Uribe’s party), the subsidies they receive from the president will end,” the report says, without mentioning any candidates by name.
“(A)s many people live from those subsidies, it is a threat that is unfair and which has a lot of impact,” Laura Carlsen, director of the Americas Program at the International Relations Center, told reporters in the Colombian capital.
The observer mission, led by U.S.-based NGO Global Exchange, visited the northern provinces of Cordoba, Antioquia and Santander and the southern region of Valle del Cauca.
Besides the threats about the loss of government assistance, the observers cited assassinations and persecution of community leaders during the run-up to the elections.
In a detailed final report to be presented early next month, the mission will offer recommendations to authorities on ways to ensure a free and fair ballot on March 14.
Between the congressional vote and the presidential contest set for May 30, Colombians may be asked to turn out for a referendum on amending the constitution to allow the conservative Uribe to seek a third consecutive four-year term.
If Uribe doesn’t run, his party will be represented by former Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos.
Colombia’s security forces are on alert for possible incidents linked to the busy electoral calendar. Five people were killed and five others wounded Sunday when leftist FARC rebels ambushed the motorcade of a gubernatorial candidate in the southern province of Guaviare. EFE
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