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BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - The political scandal that forced Colombia's foreign minister to quit this week and put other close allies of President Alvaro Uribe in jail is being driven in large part by a rebel-turned-lawmaker who has become the opposition's chief provocateur.
Sen. Gustavo Petro accuses the law-and-order president of letting a poisonous alliance prosper between the political class and right-wing militias that are responsible for brutal massacres and the theft of millions of acres of land from poor peasants.
Colombians who fear taking explosive information to police or prosecutors often turn instead to Petro, who has nine bodyguards, wears custom-tailored bulletproof jackets and has twice foiled paramilitary assassination plots. In an interview with The Associated Press, he casually mentioned that it would be nice to die of old age.
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