Drone Attacks Raise Fears as Colombians Vote to Elect a New President
JAMUNDI, Colombia (AP) — Gladys Marín only has to cross the street to reach a school where polling stations will open Sunday in her small town in Colombia. But she’s still not sure she’ll make the short walk, because fears for her safety could outweigh the chance to vote for the country’s next president. “You have to stay alert to what is happening, because we live very close to the police station,” Marín said from her porch in this town about 470 kilometers from the capital, Bogotá. Colombia will elect a new president and vice president on May 31 in what has been cast as a referendum on President Gustavo Petro’s policies, most notably his controversial “total peace” initiative to negotiate with the country’s remaining rebel groups. By most accounts, violence tied to armed groups has worsened under Petro’s watch. According to Colombia’s Electoral Observation Mission, 386 municipalities, or about a third of the country, are vulnerable to violence from illegal armed groups, and data from the Ideas for Peace Foundation think tank indicates that …