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Guatemala candidates must condemn violence -Amnesty

29 Aug 2007 20:05:02 GMT
Source: Reuters

GUATEMALA CITY, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Amnesty International called on Guatemala's presidential hopefuls on Wednesday to condemn the killings of over 40 local candidates, party workers and activists in a bloody election campaign.

Drug traffickers and former paramilitaries with links to rival political groups are believed to be behind many of the killings before the Sept. 9 vote, the most violent election race since a 36-year civil war ended in 1996. None of the murders has been solved.

"Reports of violence in the context of the electoral campaign are extremely concerning. Amnesty International calls on all candidates to immediately condemn acts of political violence," the rights group said in an open letter.

The most recent attack was on Tuesday when gunmen murdered a municipal candidate from Nobel peace laureate Rigoberta Menchu's party.

Some of the killings are attributed to wealthy drug gangs seeking to control political parties to help transport Colombian cocaine through Guatemala to Mexico and the United States.

U.S. officials estimate the majority of cocaine that reaches American cities passes through Central America.

Guatemala has one of the world's highest homicide rates, with close to 6,000 people killed in the country of 13 million last year.

One of the presidential front-runners, Otto Perez Molina, is a former general from the right-wing Patriotic Party who has capitalized on the security crisis by calling for a "strong fist" to stamp out crime.

Center-left rival Alvaro Colom, leading in opinion polls, says such policies would be a return to Guatemala's oppressive past.

After facing off in the September election, the two are expected to go on to a runoff in November.

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Last updated:Wed Aug 29 20:06:03 2007