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A painting by Colombian artist Fernando Botero, which features embellishments by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, drew $350,000 at an auction to benefit the families of injured and slain soldiers, organizers said last week.

Botero is famous for his rotund figures in sculpture and painting. The oil painting, titled Fiesta Nacional de un Pueblo, was bought by a Colombian living in New York who bid $100,000 over the $250,000 asking price.

The work was one of 32 paintings by Colombian artists that were embellished by luminaries in the worlds of business, academia, journalism and politics, who added their own brushstrokes to the canvases.

The Matamoros Foundation, which organized the auction, brought in a total of about $521,000 dollars from the sales.

Copyright 2006 Agence France Presse