Colombia ELN rebels admit attack on leftist candidate, apologize

Colombia ELN rebels admit attack on leftist candidate, apologize

Source: Reuters - Thu, 27 Feb 2014 10:01 PM

BOGOTA, Feb 27 (Reuters) - The National Liberation Army, Colombia's second-biggest guerrilla group, admitted on Thursday it was behind an attack last weekend on a leftist presidential candidate but said it was returning fire after being shot at first.

A convoy carrying Aida Avella, 65, a contender from the Patriotic Union party, came under fire on Sunday as it traveled on a dirt road in the cattle-ranching and oil-rich northeastern province of Arauca, where rebels of the ELN have a strong presence. The ELN, in a statement, said it was attempting to stop the caravan of 12 vehicles with darkened windows to ascertain who was inside but came under fire first.

"Instead of stopping, from the interior of one of the vehicles our guerrillas were fired at, and to protect themselves they fired back," the ELN statement said.

"We deeply regret the incident and apologize to the candidate Aida Avella. At the same time we will take the necessary precautions to ensure that this does not happen again," it said.

More:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/27/us-colombia-election-idUSBREA1Q2A920140227

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If you don't want to rely on the corporate media, as you usually shouldn't, you can read the ELN's statement on their own website here (in Spanish):

https://www.eln-voces.com/index.php/es/voces-del-eln/comando-central/825-aclaracion-sobre-el-incidente-con-la-escolta-de-aida-abella

The candidate herself has also accepted the apologies. She has called on both the ELN and the Colombian government to immediately enter into peace talks. See link (also in Spanish):

http://www.caracol.com.co/noticias/actualidad/8203aida-avella-acepta-disculpas-del-eln-por-atentado/20140227/nota/2103375.aspx