• Football Liverpool striker Luis Diaz's parents kidnapped in northern Colombia

The kidnapping on Saturday of the parents of Luis Diaz, Liverpool striker, and the gruesome death of an official of the National Registry, when a mob burned down the headquarters of the aforementioned entity in Gamarra, in northern Colombia, were the culmination of a turbulent electoral campaign. The woman died after being unable to escape the arson following the decision of the CNE (National Electoral Council) to disqualify a candidate.

"They could be the most illegitimate elections in our country," Ombudsman Carlos Camargo had declared before both events. For days, he had been warning of the risk of strong riots and lack of guarantees in 133 municipalities, due to irregularities of different kinds and the interference in the electoral process by both the guerrillas and the heirs of the paramilitaries.

"I reiterate my rejection of the vile murder of my official, Duperly Arévalo Carrascal," said National Registrar Alexander Vega. "She was the mother of two minors and was cremated in an atrocious case for the country." He asked the Public Prosecutor's Office to arrest those responsible for a fire in which two other workers were also seriously injured. One of them later died in hospital.

President Petro, however, blamed the CNE for what happened. "You can't disqualify candidates on the eve of the election. That is triggering violence and setting the country on fire," he wrote in X.

As for the armed groups, it is the FARC of Iván Mordisco, the main dissident group of the old guerrillas, that represents the greatest danger in its areas of influence. Although they agreed to a three-month ceasefire with the government and pledged not to interfere in the elections, they have been instrumental in many localities. Not only do candidates have to ask permission to run, but they support some and force people to vote for them. Others are forced to retreat and only those who choose to campaign in their controlled areas.

Nor has it been easy to install the ballot boxes at all points due to the lack of military helicopters, which usually carry out this work, and because of the resistance of the guerrillas to accept the entry of the Army in some places such as Argelia and Cauca.

Apart from the violence, everything points to Gustavo Petro being defeated in the elections. The opposition has wanted to present the local elections as a plebiscite on their presidency and they have everything to win. Polls predict that the Petrist troops will not conquer any of the big cities – Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Barranquilla and Bucaramanga – and will barely win governorships.

Hence, the president, despite the fact that in Colombia it is illegal for public officials to intervene in campaigns, has tried to support his candidate in the country's capital, with the purpose of reversing the forecasts.

All opinion polls conclude that the former senator of the Historical Pact and famous screenwriter of Sin tetas no hay paraíso, Gustavo Bolívar, will be defeated this Sunday. The centrist Juan Fernando Galán, who aspires for his own party - New Liberalism - would be the winner, although if he does not get 40%, as well as ten points ahead of the second, he will have to go to the polls again.

Bogota will be the only city that will debut the same modality as the presidential elections. In the event that none of the large group of candidates obtains the aforementioned results, the first two will face each other again on November 9 to choose Claudia López's successor.

Kidnapping

Less than 24 hours before the polling stations opened, armed men accosted the parents of the Colombian national team and Liverpool footballer, when they were filling up with gasoline at a gas station in Barrancas, La Guajira, in the north of the country. They kidnapped the couple and, a few hours later, thanks to the intensive pressure of the Police and the Army, which deployed dozens of troops, they managed to rescue the mother, Cilenis Marulanda. The woman, authorities said, was in good health.

The kidnappers had separated the couple and continued with the father on a motorcycle on dirt roads. Luis Manuel Díaz had the intention of helping his brother, an aspiring councilman of Barrancas.

The director of the National Police, General Salamanca, traveled to La Guajira on Saturday to lead the operations, given the fame of Luis Díaz.

  • Colombia
  • Gustavo Petro
  • FARC
  • Kidnappings
  • America