BOGOTA, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Two more candidates were killed in Colombia on Tuesday before nationwide local elections this weekend, shot by suspected leftist guerrillas as they campaigned in a rural hamlet. At least 21 people running for posts as governors, mayors and members of local assemblies have been murdered during the campaign for Sunday's election. The government and independent election observers differ on the exact number of killings. President Alvaro Uribe blames most of the violence on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC, the largest rebel group in a four-decade conflict. Gunmen opened fire on mayoral candidate Gratiniano Murcia and assembly candidate Carmen Liliana Polania as they left a meeting in Caqueta province, where leftist rebels have traditionally had a strong presence. "Police urged them against going to that area," Interior Minister Carlos Holguin told local radio. "There are still investigations underway but we believe this is the FARC." Aided by billions of dollars in U.S. aid, Uribe has helped to curb Latin America's longest guerrilla conflict, fueled in part by the cocaine trade. Killings, bombings and kidnappings have dropped off sharply. The FARC, which started as a Marxist group in the 1960s but is now engaged in cocaine trafficking, still fights in rural areas. Violence has spiked before Sunday's election as rebels try to show their political influence. Uribe has negotiated the disarming of outlawed paramilitaries who once fought the guerrillas. But thousands of former militiamen have joined criminal gangs tied to traffickers and also threaten local officials.
