Bloodshed hits Guatemala election campaign

By Mica Rosenberg

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Gunmen have attacked candidates and an activist for Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu's political party three times in the last week in Guatemala's bloodiest election race since a civil war ended a decade ago.

The body of Carlos de Leon Bravo, a local candidate in the northwestern region of San Marcos, was found shot and stuffed in the trunk of his car on Sunday, wrapped in flags of Menchu's left-leaning Together for Guatemala party.

Bravo's death brings close to 40 the number of killings of candidates, activists and workers from different parties in the last year as drug traffickers and former paramilitaries muscle in on elections for president, Congress and municipalities.

Worst hit by the election bloodshed is front-runner Alvaro Colom's National Unity for Hope party, or UNE, which is struggling to rid its ranks of the influence of organized crime groups and drug gangs.

Armed men attacked the house of a congressional candidate from Menchu's party on Tuesday, seriously injuring her two teen-age girls. In another shooting on the same day, three armed men fired at a former guerrilla commander, now an activist for Menchu, injuring his bodyguard and his mechanic.

"This was an assassination attempt," said Cesar Montes, a leader of the leftist insurgency during the country's 1960-1996 civil war. Montes said he shot back at his assailants.

Central America's most populous nation, Guatemala is still suffering the after-effects of the conflict, which left nearly a quarter of a million people dead or missing.

Guatemala, a U.S. trade ally under the CAFTA pact, is one of the most violent countries in the Americas. Almost 6,000 people were murdered last year mostly due to common crime and gang feuds.

Political scientist Francisco Garcia blamed the election violence on a combination of attacks on leftist politicians and activists by shadowy armed groups, reminiscent of the civil war, and attempts by organized crime and drug gangs to win influence in political parties.

"The violent paramilitary forces that fought during the war weren't disarmed ... They were just recycled and put to use by organized criminals," said Garcia.

CRIMINALS AND POLITICIANS

Menchu, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for defending Mayan victims of the war, is a presidential candidate who is trailing way behind in opinion polls in fourth place.

The UNE, which leads polls, has seen 18 of its candidates and party activists murdered in the campaign, including one congressman shot in front of party headquarters in April.

UNE leader Colom, 56, is a mild mannered center-left politician who is tipped to come first in the September 9 election although he will likely have to compete in run-off vote later in the year.

Some analysts say the UNE is targeted because it is most likely to win the election and has the largest party network.