Bogota – Former Colombian Congressman Jaime Lozada Perdomo was killed and one of his sons wounded by unidentified gunmen, according to the former official’s family.
Relatives of Lozada Perdomo, who was also the former governor of Huila province, said he was attacked Saturday as he was driving on the road that links the cities of Hobo and Gigante.
One of Lozada Perdomo’s sons, Felipe, sustained a serious leg wound and was taken to a hospital in Neiva, some 300 kilometers (about 185 miles) south of Bogota.
Lozada Perdomo died of his wounds at the hospital in Hobo.
The politician, who was president of the First-Division Huila soccer club, had launched a campaign to win the release of his wife, Gloria Polanco, who has been held hostage by Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas for more than two years.
Polanco and the couple’s two sons, Felipe and Sebastian, were kidnapped by a FARC unit that raided a luxury apartment building in Neiva, the capital of Huila.
Several months later, the FARC released Felipe and Sebastian after ransom was paid.
There was speculation that Lozada Perdomo may have been killed by the FARC because he failed to pay the entire ransom demanded for the release of his two sons.
