LEFT-WING political party Farc announced today that it would not contest the country’s presidential election.

It follows Farc presidential candidate Rodrigo Londono, also known as Timochenko, undergoing heart surgery yesterday.

The party cited the barriers placed in its path by the Colombian establishment and violence against its candidates.

The party noted that bank restrictions had severely limited its ability to fund its campaigning and that the state had refused to provide security guarantees.

People linked to the Democratic Centre party, founded by paramilitary-linked right-wing ex-president Alvaro Uribe, have made threats against Farc candidates.

The party called for full implementation of the 2016 peace accord, on which the state has largely refused to budge, and urged Colombians to vote for its list in this weekend’s congressional elections.

Mr Londono posted a video from hospital, sending greetings on International Women’s Day and noting that “peace has a woman’s face.”