Paramilitaries Still Sway Colombian Votes ; the Right-Wing Groups Are Using Less-Violent Means of Influence before Sunday's Congressional Election

Sibylla Brodzinsky Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor, The Christian Science Monitor

When leaders of Colombia's opposition Liberal Party went last week to the northern coast to stump for candidates standing in Sunday's congressional elections, they hoped for a good turnout.

Instead, in the town of Dificil, dominated by right-wing paramilitary groups, they had trouble finding someone willing to rent them a venue for the campaign event, party organizers say. And even when they found a place, none of the local party leaders ventured to address the small crowd.

After years of witnessing massacres, voter intimidation, and murder, few townspeople were willing to risk showing support for candidates not endorsed by the local warlords.

That fear is …

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Publication information: Article title: Paramilitaries Still Sway Colombian Votes ; the Right-Wing Groups Are Using Less-Violent Means of Influence before Sunday's Congressional Election. Contributors: Sibylla Brodzinsky Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor - Author. Newspaper title: The Christian Science Monitor. Publication date: March 1, 2006. Page number: 7. © 2009 The Christian Science Publishing Society. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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