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Shootings, Death Threats Mar Colombia's Post-Peace Elections

Associated Press

   BOGOTA, COLOMBIA - Threatened with death, Wilson Florez chose a
   bulletproof vest.
   The candidate for governor of one of Colombia's largest provinces had
   been used to biking freely around town, driving with the windows down
   and drinking coffee with voters late into the night.
   Then came the menacing pamphlets declaring him a ``military target.''
   ``We're not going to allow allies of the corrupt oligarchy to take
   power of this region,'' the letter purporting to be from dissident
   rebels of Colombia's once-largest guerrilla group warned. ``We've
   retaken arms to defend the revolution.''
   His wife urged him to end his campaign for Sunday's local elections,
   Colombia's first such vote for mayors and governors since the peace
   accord ending Latin America's long-running conflict. In bouts of
   anxiety, he circled back to his own fatherless childhood, worrying that
   continuing might mean leaving his 5-year-old son with just one parent.
   But in the end, the university professor decided he'd soldier on,
   surrendering his fate to God and a bulletproof vest.

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