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Colombian Mayoral Candidate Killed, Government Blames Rebel Dissidents

Reuters

   BOGOTA - A mayoral candidate in southwestern Colombia was killed along
   with five other people in an attack likely perpetrated by dissidents
   from the demobilized FARC guerrilla group, the government said on
   Monday.

   The killing was the first of a candidate for October local and regional
   elections and came days after some prominent former members of the
   rebel group said they were rearming.

   A vehicle carrying Karina Garcia, a Liberal Party candidate in the
   municipality of Suarez in Cauca province, and the other victims was
   shot at while it traversed a highway in the mountainous region, before
   being set on fire.

   The other five victims were Garcia's mother, three local activists and
   a candidate for the municipal council.

   The area contains important drug production and trafficking routes, and
   dissidents - who reject the 2016 peace accord between the government
   and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) - are known to
   operate there.

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