Shot Dead During Campaign Trail... Outrage Mounts Over 'Political Terror'

A woman appears, waving her hand amidst a marketplace where cheerful music plays.

[Hola!]

She is Susi Isabel Aponte Polo, a candidate running for regional governor in Peru.

As candidate Polo was answering questions from reporters facing the camera, gunshots rang out in succession.

The scene instantly turned into chaos, and candidate Polo died in front of the camera.

Police stated that they arrested two Venezuelan men as suspects near the scene of the incident.

Candidate Polo, 44 years old this year, was a former journalist who ran her own media outlet and exposed political corruption.

She gained immense popularity by persistently digging into organized crime, corruption, and complex criminal cartels.

Because of this, possibilities are being raised that the political circle or criminal cartels may have instigated the terror attack.

[Susi Isabel Aponte Polo / Peru Regional Election Gubernatorial Candidate: This is the Kocha branch. Please choose the Kocha branch in the election on October 4.]

Candidate Polo reportedly received multiple threatening phone calls foreshadowing attacks days before the shooting occurred.

Some of the calls even originated from prison, and although she reported them directly, the police did not take protective measures.

[Jeanette Fuentes / Mourner: This is evidence that the mafia rules this country. Our people will no longer tolerate so much crime, humiliation, and poverty.]

In particular, controversy is intensifying as it was revealed that the police delayed dispatching officers even after receiving emergency calls right after the incident occurred.

Reported by Kim Young-a | Video by Nam Il | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.