WORLD : Senator, 2 Bodyguards Slain in Medellin Cocaine Center
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BOGOTA, Colombia — Gunmen shot and killed a Colombian senator in the drug center of Medellin today, local radio said.
RCN radio said Federico Estrada Velez, a senator of the ruling Liberal Party, and two of his bodyguards were killed.
Medellin police could not immediately be reached to confirm the report.
Estrada Velez was a close ally of Cesar Gaviria, the Liberal Party’s candidate in Sunday’s presidential elections, which will decide the future of President Virgilio Barco Varga’s crackdown on drug barons.
Gaviria, an outspoken opponent of the drug traffickers, is the favorite to win the vote.
Estrada Velez, 63, was kidnaped by drug barons in April but released unharmed after two days. After his release, he spoke out against the present government’s policy of extraditing drug suspects, a policy also opposed by the drug barons.
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