Petro assassination plot dredges up history of murdered candidates in Colombia

Leading presidential polls in Colombia and poised to cause a tectonic shift in a country politically controlled by the right for a quarter-century, Gustavo Petro temporarily suspended his campaign this week after denouncing that a paramilitary group had prepared an attempt on his life during a visit to the so-called “Coffee Axis” region, where Mr. Petro had lined up several public speaking engagements. 

Shortly after the news, Medellín Mayor Daniel Quintero Calle said he had received information of another plan to kill Mr. Petro, this time led by a (still unnamed) paramilitary-linked landowner in the department of Antioquia.

Messrs. Petro and Quintero said they were in contact with authorities regarding both planned attacks, after the National Police and President Iván Duque said they had seen no intelligence reports on the matter. An investigation is now underway in the country’s attorney general’s office.

The news came amid heightened tensions in the campaign, with Army Commander Eduardo Zapateiro violating a constitutional prohibition of Armed Forces participation in politics to take aim at Gustavo Petro, after the candidate implied collusion between criminal groups and the military.

Mr. Petro’s team said local police officers had tipped off his security detail about the assassination plot, led by a local group known as La Cordillera but also tied to politicians and members of the Armed Forces, among which the group reportedly holds influence.

According to Caracol, La Cordillera is the most powerful armed organization in...