An Indigenous Colombian senator was kidnapped Tuesday in a guerrilla-held area experiencing a surge in political violence ahead of elections, President Gustavo Petro said.
Aida Quilcue, 53, was abducted in her home department of Cauca, in a conflict-ridden, coca-growing region controlled by dissidents of the now-disbanded FARC guerrilla army, said Petro. He warned the rebels to release her or risk crossing “a red line.”
The Nasa Indigenous people, to which Quilcue belongs, have long lived under threat from armed groups in the region.
“If they don’t release her, it’s a cry of war against all Indigenous people of Cauca and the country,” Petro said in a cabinet meeting broadcast live.
“Hopefully this is resolved quickly, because if not, they’ve crossed a red line.”
Petro said Quilcue was taken at about 1:00 pm local time (1800 GMT).
According to her daughter, Alejandra Legarda, the senator was traveling in an SUV with two bodyguards.
Members of an Indigenous guard later found the vehicle, but with no-one inside,” added Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez on X. “The search continues.”
The main suspects are dissidents who broke away from the FARC guerrilla army after it agreed to disarm under a 2016 peace agreement.
Quilcue was a member of an opposition grouping that united behind Petro for 2022 elections from which he emerged as the country’s first-ever leftist president.
In October that year, during the campaign, she reported an attack against her while running for the Senate.
She won a national human rights defense award in 2021 in one of the deadliest countries in the world for human rights activists.
Hundreds of municipalities in Colombia have been declared at risk of violence leading up to presidential and parliamentary elections this year.
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