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Gunmen shoot at Guatemala presidential candidate

11 Aug 2007 05:10:10 GMT
Source: Reuters

GUATEMALA CITY, Aug 10 (Reuters) - A Guatemalan presidential candidate said unidentified gunmen had shot at him as he drove on a remote highland road on Friday evening, the latest attack in an increasingly bloody election campaign.

Hector Rosales of the tiny DIA political party said he was unhurt in the attack, which happened at dusk as he was driving close to the Maya Indian town of Cunen, about 120 miles (200 km) north-east of Guatemala City.

"I have just been the victim of a terrorist attack, an assassination attempt," Rosales, a right-leaning retired colonel told cable television channel Guatevision.

"There are no injuries. I have some training in this kind of thing so I drove at high speed and zig-zagged," said Rosales, whose wife was also traveling in the car.

Close to 40 candidates, activists and workers from different parties have been murdered over the last year as drug traffickers and former paramilitaries muscle in on Sept. 9 elections for president, Congress and municipalities.

Rosales, who said his assailants chased him for about 20 miles (30 km) but only lodged one bullet in his vehicle, blamed a rival party for the attack.

The candidate has about 2 percent support in most opinion polls.

Eighteen people from election favorite Alvaro Colom's political party have been murdered since last year, while Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu's party has suffered three gun attacks since Sunday.

(Reporting by Herbert Hernandez and Mica Rosenberg)

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Last updated:Sat Aug 11 05:10:10 2007