Rebels Kill Peace Activists
Defensoría del Pueblo
Congress Vote, Murders Probed
Colombians were to vote in national legislative elections on Mar. 10 as 100,000 police agents and 80,000 soldiers were deployed to provide security. Colombia has 23.8 million registered voters; there are 2,279 candidates competing for 102 Senate seats and 9,400 candidates for 161 seats in the Chamber of Representatives. The presidential election is scheduled for May 26. In Arauca department the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is carrying out an armed strike; it urged people to abstain from voting and warned that those who vote could be considered military targets. On Mar. 9 in the southern department of Meta, FARC rebels robbed boxes of unmarked ballots and burned them. Observers have warned that many candidates for Congress represent areas controlled by rightwing paramilitary groups, and their names were authorized or chosen by paramilitary leaders. [El Nuevo Herald 3/10/02; Miami Herald 3/10/02 from AP; La Jornada (Mexico) 3/9/02 from Prensa Latina, AFP, Reuters, DPA; La Republica (Lima) 3/9/02 from AFP]
