Spectator hurls sandal at Presidential candidate
By Manuel Rueda, Editorial Director
Monday, March 8, 2010
George Bush is no longer the only politician who has survived footwear attacks. On Thursday, a teacher hurled her sandal at Presidential candidate Andres Felipe Arias as he attempted to speak at a theater in the coastal city of Barranquilla.
The woman was later identified as Leyda Delgado. She attacked the conservative party candidate after people at the theater booed his intervention in a local political forum.
The angry Delgado, who says she supports the leftist Polo Democratico party, said she “recalled all the neo-liberal measures Arias took as agriculture minister,” adding that she got the idea “from TV” after watching a video where an Iraqi journalist threw a shoe at George Bush.
Like the Iraqi journalist who attacked Bush, Delgado missed her target, with her sandal hitting Arias´s podium.
The presidential candidate quickly reacted by taking the sandal, descending from the stage and walking towards Delgado to return her footwear. He attempted to give her a friendly kiss, but was only met by her attempts to slap him.
Arias is a staunch supporter of President Uribe who could win the conservative party presidential primaries on March 14th
But his popularity has waned after Colombian media revealed that while he was agriculture minister, he used government funds for agricultural development to subsidize rich farmers across the country.
The national electoral board is investigating his campaign for “irregular” financing and the national prosecutor´s office is investigating if he did anything illegal while giving subsidies to rich farmers.
Arias claims no wrongdoing and is optimistic about his presidential chances. He shrugged of Thursday´s attack in Barranquilla, saying it reflected the attitude of violent people who have “no arguments” to debate his proposals.
"This is a tough battle, but we must fight it" said the candidate, "those of us who are in politics must be willing to sacrifice ourselves."
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