Bogota – Leftist presidential candidate Carlos Gaviria expressed sadness and indignation Monday over the death of a veteran political activist whose body was found over the weekend in a Bogota park, more than a month after he was reported missing.
Jaime Gomez disappeared March 21, when he went out for some exercise at Bogota’s National Park, not far from his home. A body eventually identified as his was found in the park on Sunday.
“If it comes to be verified that the death of Jaime Gomez was not an accident and that, on the contrary, it was the product of a premeditated violent act, this deed would add to the murky atmosphere in which this electoral process has unfolded,” Gaviria said in a statement, referring to the March legislative elections and the presidential ballot set for May 28.
The leftist hopeful said that the history professor and former union executive “dedicated his life to working with integrity for the benefit of society.”
Gaviria, who, like all the other challengers, trails far behind incumbent President Alvaro Uribe in the polls for next month’s election, demanded a thorough investigation into the disappearance and death of Gomez.
At the time of his disappearance Gomez was an adviser to Piedad Cordoba, an Uribe critic who won a senate seat in the March legislative elections, and was active in the campaign of Liberal Party presidential hopeful Horacio Serpa.
Gomez, 55, worked for 20 years at the Bogota Telephone Company – 14 of them as a union official – and in 1995 was a Bogota city councilor for four months.
The body found Sunday was “in an advanced state of decomposition and has been dead for 20 to 30 days,” according to a police official.
Authorities suggested that Gomez might have been killed in a fall inside the hilly park, but the dead man’s relatives said they suspected foul play, citing the dismemberment of the body.
Two federal agencies have already initiated investigations into Gomez’s death.
Meanwhile, presidential candidate Alvaro Leyva said his personal safety has been threatened from within the government and that he fears for his life.
He said in a communique that he did not attend Sunday’s campaign debate organized by the daily El Tiempo and City TV for security reasons.
Leyva, who strongly opposes Uribe, said that his proposals for peace talks and a prisoner exchange between the government and leftist rebels have sparked resistance in some sectors of the country.
He also told local television that authorities are interfering with his campaign by seeking to deter him from visiting various parts of Colombia on the grounds that they are too dangerous and lack a police or army presence. EFE
