Opposition leader leaves Colombia citing death threats, political persecution
by Adriaan Alsema October 6, 2021
One of Colombia’s leading opposition senators said Tuesday that he has left the country, and requested international protection against death threats and political persecution.
In a video message, Senator Gustavo Bolivar said he had asked the human rights commission of the Organization of American States to protect him.
Bolivar blasted the National Protection Unit (UNP) for allegedly refusing to protect the senator outside of the capital Bogota since the beginning of the 2022 election campaign in mid-September.
. . .
The death threats and the bodyguards
Far-right group “Aguilas Negras” issued a death threat against supporters of Bolivar and his political ally, Senator Gustavo Petro, who is running for president in September.
We declare all guerrilla collaborators who call themselves social leaders, union leaders, victims’ committees and all those Petristas who believe that whatever they want in the municipality of Soacha a military objective, sons of bitches who promote leftist policies supposedly to defend human rights and brainwash the people by promoting marches, brigades and protests to later recruit them.
Aguilas Negras
More:
https://colombiareports.com/opposition-leader-leaves-colombia-citing-death-threats-political-persecution/
(“Aguilas Negras” is a reconfigured paramilitary group which contains former members of the old A.U.C., a paramilitary (narcotrafficking death squad) army closely connected to the Colombian military, largely allied to and sponsored by right-wing Colombian politicians from local mayors, sometimes all the way to the top. The name means "black eagles".)
