Colombian Candidate Asks That No Black Police Officers Protect Him

Oct 24, 2015
3:11 PM

This one comes from the pages of Colombia’s El Tiempo: a candidate for a local election wrote a letter to police specifically asking that no black officers or officers of color protect him and his campaign when voters go to the polls.

The candidate’s name is Héctor Alonso Vanegas Correa. He is running for a municipal council seat in Copacabana, part of Medellín’s metropolitan area. According to El Tiempo, Correa wrote a letter (below) to lieutenant Alexánder Saa Herrera of the Copacabana police station, where the Conservative Party candidate says the following (our translation):

… please select honest people from your staff, honest people with spotless records who are respectful and have good interpersonal skills with others, people who are not black or multiracial [trigueño] for our security details during the days of October 25 and 26…

The letter also asked that Saa Herrera choose capable snipers to protect Vanegas Correa’s campaign.

Via EL TIEMPO

Via EL TIEMPO

El Tiempo also spoke with the candidate. He told the newspaper that he is not racist and that he has worked with people of “all creeds and colors.” At the same time, he also told the newspaper this, “I don’t want people of that color to take care of me.”

News of this story has also appeared in several Colombian outlets today.