Leading opposition politician Manuel Cepeda Vargas was reportedly shot dead by armed men on 9 August 1994 near his home in Bogota. He was a leading member of the Colombian Communist Party (PCC) and of the Union Patriotica (UP). He had just become a member of the Colombian Senate. Reports that he had received a written death threat three months ago, warning that he and Aida Abella would be assassinated, raise serious fears for Aida Abella’s safety and that of other opposition figures in Colombia.
