Colombian presidential candidate confronted by hooded men, forced to evacuate campaign event

A group of hooded men confronted center-left Colombian presidential candidate and former Medellin Mayor Sergio Farjado on Thursday, forcing him to evacuate a campaign event at the Technological University of Pereira (UTP), local sources reported.

"Hooded men forced us to leave the UTP, something that had never happened to us before in any university. It is a shame that political violence and hatred caused these individuals to stand in the way of the free exercise of democracy," Fajardo wrote on social media.

Es el colmo que un candidato presidencial no pueda ingresar a una universidad a conversar con los estudiantes. — No se justifica desde ningún punto de vista el tratamiento que le dieron a @sergio_fajardo en Pereira. — Es inaceptable pic.twitter.com/obSHdqCirQ

— Vladdo (@VLADDO) February 18, 2022

The presidential candidate told BluRadio that he believed the attack was premediated, noting that the hooded men appeared shortly after a small explosive device went off in the hall where he was presenting. Although no major injuries were reported, one member of Fajardo’s team was hit in the face by a piece of shrapnel.  

According to Fajardo, the assailants approached him and expressed their disdain for Liberal party politics. “I kept quiet and walked away,” he recalled.

The presidential hopeful also added that he was sure that the person who uploaded images of the confrontation to social media was a “Petrista,” or a supporter of Colombian presidential candidate Gustavo Petro.

But despite the incident, Fajardo said he will not stop campaigning and expressed a desire to meet with students from UTP at a later date.

"Universities should be places of encounter, debate, arguments and ideas; never of violence or oppression," he said.

Historically, however, Colombian universities have served as bases for the recruitment and radicalization of students by guerrilla groups.

According to Peace and Liberty Institute Director Carlos Chacón, guerrillas use universities to “recruit young people, indoctrinate them in the classroom and later train them to commit terrorist acts.”

Chacón added that young people with revolutionary sympathies or a desire to fight for social justice are “easy prey” for terrorist recruiters.

Colombians will go to the polls on March 13 to elect new members to Congress, as well as decide on the country’s next president.

Fajardo is part of the Hope Center Coalition, a political and electoral coalition composed of political parties from Centre to center-left.

Other prominent members of the bloc include former Governor of Boyaca Carlos Andres Amaya, former Minister Alejandro Gaviria, former Congressman Juan Manuel Galán and Sen. Jorge Enrique Robledo.