News Americas, BOGOTA, Colombia, Thurs. July 14, 2011: Authorities in Colombia are investigating the murder of a candidate for mayor who died just days after he was shot.
Fernando Vargas Restrepo was shot over the weekend and died of his wounds. He was running for mayor of Yumbo, an industrial city just north of Cali, on the ticket of the conservative Cambio Radical party.
Vargas was shot by unknown assailants as he was chatting with several friends in the wee hours of Saturday, police said.
That same day, a candidate for the municipal council in the northwestern town of Caldas, 35-year-old Wilton Ramirez, was also murdered.
Authorities say they are investigating to see if the murder of Vargas had anything to do with his public accusations that drug money was playing a role in the mayoral contest in Yumbo.
