BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A former mayor allied with presidential candidate Abelardo de La Espriella was shot dead in Colombia ‘s heartland, local authorities said Saturday. One of his aides was also killed.

The killings of Rogers Devia and his staffer Eder Cardona was the latest incident of political violence in a region under dispute by two groups labeled as terrorists by the U.S. government and a third group — a splinter of the once dominant guerrilla Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

Devia died in an attack by gunmen in the rural area of Cubarral, a city he governed between 2020-2023 lying 170 kilometers (105 miles) south of the capital Bogota, said the Public Defender’s Office of the department of Meta in a posting on X.

De La Espriella represents the National Salvation Movement.

The Public Defender’s Office saidthe killings could hurt “the exercise of political rights and democratic participation” ahead of Colombia’s presidential elections, which take place May 31.

There will be at least half a dozen candidates competing in the election, including two members of smaller left-wing parties. If none of them gets 50% of the votes a run off will take place in June between the top two contenders.

Colombia’s Interior Minister Armando Benedetti said on his social media channels that investigators do not know why Devia was attacked. The minister added that police had recently stopped an attack against a staffer of another presidential candidate, Paloma Valencia, in the same city.

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