Shootings, death threats mar Colombia's post-peace elections


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BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Threatened with death, Wilson Florez chose a bulletproof vest.

The candidate for governor of one of Colombia's largest provinces had been used to biking freely around town, driving with the windows down and drinking tiny cups of the dark coffee known as "tinto" with voters late into the night.

Then came the menacing pamphlets declaring him a "military target."

His wife urged him to end his campaign for Sunday's local elections, Colombia's first such vote for mayors and governors since the peace accord ending Latin America's long-running conflict. In bouts of anxiety, he circled back to his own fatherless childhood, worrying that continuing might mean leaving his son with one parent. But in the end, the professor decided he'd soldier on, surrendering his fate to God and a bulletproof vest.

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