COLOMBIA:ALLEGATIONS OF PARAMILITARY FINANCING FOR CANDIDATES SHAKES UP CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION LISTS.
Colombia's general elections have undergone a severe shake-up after it was revealed that several candidates for Congress, allied with President Alvaro Uribe, were allegedly financially linked to illegal paramilitary groups. The president also denounced one of his competitors in the presidential race as having connections to leftist guerrillas but had to later retract the accusation and issue an apology to Partido Liberal candidate Rafael Pardo.
Five Congress candidates dropped from Uribe party ticket
The president said on Jan. 18 that he supported the expulsion of five candidates who supported him from party lists. The groups Cambio Radical and Partido de la U, which bring together parliamentarians allied with the popular president, announced the previous day that they would remove candidates seeking seats in the Senate and House of Representatives in the March vote. Uribe, an extreme favorite in opinion surveys, has separated from his Partido Conservador and is seeking re-election through his new Uribista party structure (see NotiSur, 2005-12-02).
"The national Government is the responsible one in the electoral debate," said the president's office. "The success of the Colombian democracy necessitates that this process be transparent, respectful, and austere." The administration told reporters that it had made "all the decisions that would guarantee the electoral debate" and that "illicit money, purchasing or intimidating leaders or voters, or the participation of violent groups in political campaigns cannot be permitted."
Those excluded from party lists were Dieb Maloof, Habib Merheg, and Luis Eduardo Vives of the Partido de la U and Jorge Castro and Jorge Caballero of Cambio Radical. They are seeking re-election and deny any relation with paramilitary groups. They also denied being expelled and claimed the decision was theirs.
"Uribista cannibalism has been unleashed," said Merheg in response to his expulsion. He warned that the purge would decrease the electoral potential of the ruling party.
In weeks prior to the expulsion, there were public denunciations that there was money of dubious origin and from paramilitaries funding the political campaigns of some party groups. That led Uribe to ask the federal prosecutor's office to investigate the funds in question.
Senator Mario Uribe, a cousin of the president and former president of the Congress, invited the expelled candidates to be part of his political faction, but later withdrew the...
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