Colombia presidential hopeful chains himself to statue

Mr Devia and his supporters are reported to be on hunger strike

A Colombian presidential candidate has chained himself to a statue in Bogota, to protest against what he says is biased media coverage of his campaign.

Standing next to the statue of national hero Simon Bolivar, Robinson Devia also declared a hunger strike.

Mr Devia, the candidate for the Voice of Conscious Movement, says that he is being ignored by the media in a "moribund democracy".

Opinion polls suggest that Mr Devia is backed by less than 1% of the voters.

"With the peaceful takeover of the Plaza de Bolivar, The Voice of Consciousness seeks to raise our voices in protest over the violation of the democratic rights of Colombian citizens," Mr Devia was quoted as saying by the El Espectador newspaper on Monday.

"Today we go on an indefinite hunger strike amid the rejection of Colombian democracy: we are chained to the truth," he added.

Mr Devia is one of eight candidates vying to succeed President Alvaro Uribe in the 30 May vote.