Two members of Colombian right-wing presidential candidate's campaign killed

By Luis Jaime ‌Acosta

BOGOTA, May 16 (Reuters) - ​Two ​campaign workers for right-wing Colombian presidential candidate Abelardo De La Espriella in the country's southeast ‌were killed just two weeks before the presidential ⁠election, his party Defenders of the Homeland said on Saturday.

Rogers Mauricio ‌Devia and Fabian Cardona ‌were shot on Friday night in a rural area of Cubarral, Meta province. Four hooded men on ​motorcycles intercepted them and opened fire, his party said.

Devia, a former Cubarral mayor, coordinated De La Espriella's ⁠local campaign, while Cardona assisted with logistics. They were returning by motorcycle from ​Villavicencio with campaign materials.

"They were cowardly murdered in cold blood," De La Espriella said in ​a video statement. Authorities have ‌not blamed an armed group, but De La Espriella blamed a dissident faction of the ⁠former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels, without providing evidence.

De La Espriella polls second behind leftist Ivan Cepeda ahead ⁠of the May 31 first-round vote. He promises a hard line ​against guerrillas, criminal gangs and drug trafficking, including the bombing of rebel camps and the resumption of aerial fumigation of coca crops.

He ‌recently alleged a sniper assassination plot against him involving government intelligence members.

Colombians will vote ‌to elect President Gustavo Petro's successor. If no candidate ⁠receives more than 50% ‌of votes, a ​runoff will be held on June 21.

(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta in Bogota; Editing by Matthew ‌Lewis)

---

Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!

---

You May Also Be Interested In

• Exclusive-Fauci's lawyers set up legal defense fund as US probes multiply
• Supreme Court lets Trump continue work on White House ballroom for now
• NASA-led study shows some Earth microbes could survive on the moon