Five opposition politicians die in plane crash in Colombia

Five opposition politicians died in Colombia after their Cessna T210N plane crashed ten minutes after taking off from the city of Villavicencio, killing everyone on board, authorities reported yesterday.

The victims were former senator and ambassador to the Dominican Republic Nohora Tohar and her husband Guillermo Pérez, lawmaker Dimas Barrero, Meta gubernatorial candidate Felipe Carreño, and councilman Óscar Rodríguez. Pilot Eliodoro Álvarez was also killed in the accident.

The politicians were all members of Centro Democrático, a right-wing party founded by the powerful former president of Colombia, Álvaro Uribe, who led the country from 2002 to 2010 and remains the main reference point for the Colombian right many years later.

The plane was traveling to the capital, Bogotá, where party leaders expected them to discuss upcoming regional elections. 

Both Mr. Uribe and left-wing President Gustavo Petro expressed their condolences on social media, while the city of Villavicencio declared three days of mourning in the district. 

The plane lost contact with ground control minutes after takeoff and was found in the outskirts of the city of Boyacá. The cause of the crash remains unclear.

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