(posted Oct. 6, 11:20 a.m.)- Leaders of the Nicaraguan Resistance Party (PRN) are deploying to the rural municipality of Camoapa, Boaco, after receiving news that one of their candidates for city councilman, José Félix Matus, was killed last night with four bullets to the back.

Matus was reportedly killed by a gunman on a motorcycle who waited for the candidate to arrive home last night. Police reportedly have the suspect in custody, but the motive of the killing is still unclear.

The PRN is running in electoral alliance with the FSLN (photo/ Tim Rogers)

“I hope this was a personal issue and not a political murder, because that would complicate the situation,” former contra leader and PRN vice president Roberto Ferrey told The Nicaragua Dispatch.

Ferrey said his party’s leadership in Managua has had a hard time communicating with local leaders in Camoapa, but he and others are heading up there for the funeral tomorrow morning and to better assess what happened.

Ferrey says Matus had been campaigning openly in the streets for weeks without problem, but allegedly started to receive threats of an undetermined nature over the past few days.

The PRN—a political party of former contras—are running in electoral alliance with the ruling Sandinista Front. The PRN has 50 city council representatives and three mayors running for office in 153 municipalities.

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