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NousDefionsDoc
05-28-2006, 17:56
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060528/...bia_election_8



By JOSHUA GOODMAN, Associated Press writer 25 minutes ago

BOGOTA, Colombia - Law-and-order President Alvaro Uribe was re-elected in a landslide Sunday in Colombia's most peaceful elections in more than a decade, strengthening the U.S. ally's mandate to crack down on armed groups and drug traffickers.

The Harvard-educated Uribe's win marks the first time in more than a century that an incumbent Colombian leader has been elected to a second term and bucks a trend of leftist leaders taking office across South America in recent years.

With 85 percent of ballots counted, the conservative Uribe scored a stronger than expected 62 percent of the vote, according to official results. He easily surpassed the 50 percent needed to win in the first round and exceeded pre-election expectations.

In second place, with 22 percent of the votes, was Sen. Carlos Gaviria of the leftist Alternative Democratic Pole party. Gaviria's strong support — a record outcome for the left — confirms the growing strength of the democratic left in this decidedly conservative South American nation. In third place was Horacio Serpa, of the century-old Liberal Party, with just below 12 percent.

"We're very happy with the results," Gaviria told Caracol Radio Sunday night after recognizing his defeat. "For the first time in the country's history, the main opposition party will be comprised of the democratic left."

Sunday's vote took place amid relative calm — underscoring one big reason Colombians backed Uribe. He is credited for bringing down crime rates and violence, and with overseeing an economic surge.

His critics say Uribe has showed a disinterest in social programs in a country with rampant poverty and fear his re-election we lead him to a strengthening of his alleged autocratic tendencies.

There were no reported attacks on voters during the elections, but the armed forces reported killing 12 rebels in a series of clashes with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, on Saturday and Sunday. Three soldiers were injured. It was not clear whether the clashes were election related.

About 220,000 troops guarded polling stations, shopping centers and other sensitive areas after what experts called the most peaceful campaign in more than a decade in a nation battered by violence involving leftist rebels, right-wing militias, drug traffickers and security forces.

Uribe would become the first incumbent to be re-elected in Colombia since President Rafael Nunez in 1892. A constitutional amendment he pushed through Congress last year allows him to seek a second term.

Recent years have seen left-leaning leaders take office in Bolivia, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile. But the election of the conservative Uribe bucks the leftward trend in South America.

Despite predictions of low turnout in a race whose outcome seemed sure, thousands of people shook off the chill and damp of the morning to vote early at the country's largest polling station in central Bogota.

For the vote, Bogota looked more like a bomb-proofed Baghdad than its normally ebullient self. Camouflaged tanks rolled down a leafy street and heavily armed combat troops frisked motorists at random checkpoints.

While there has been a dramatic drop in kidnappings and murders under Uribe, an end to the violence perpetrated by leftist rebels remains elusive.

Rebels controlling huge tracts of the countryside have traditionally tried to assert their presence ahead of elections by increasing the number of attacks and politically motivated kidnappings.

According to a study by the independent Security and Democracy Foundation, 55 politically motivated murders and kidnappings were registered over the past 12 months — an 81 percent reduction from the year prior to the last elections, in 2002, when the FARC kidnapped candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who remains captive.

Colombians overwhelmingly credit Uribe for the dramatic drop in violence.

As part of his "democratic security" agenda, he has put 25 percent more troops and police on the streets during four years in office. And defense spending has nearly doubled, backed by military aid from the United States — part of the anti-drug effort known as Plan Colombia that has cost American taxpayers $4 billion since 2000.

Also, since 2002, some 30,000 members of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, have handed in their weapons as part of a government-brokered amnesty deal with the landholder-backed paramilitary group.

Opponents accuse the president of focusing his war on Colombia's left-wing rebels and their ties to drug-trafficking, while allowed the country's murderous far-right paramilitaries to grow into a potent political force as they lay down arms in a government-brokered peace pact.

Colombia remains the world's largest producer of cocaine. Uribe, key ally in U.S. drug interdiction efforts is urging the United States to beef up an aerial fumigation fleet of 20 planes that spray coca crops.

mugwump
05-28-2006, 19:16
:)

Well at least we have one friend in the region.

FILO
05-29-2006, 06:18
Good stuff, although his acceptence speech was a bit long winded. When the VP pulls out his hanky to wipe the brow, then you know your talking a bit much. His detail was switched on last night. :D

NousDefionsDoc
05-29-2006, 07:34
Good stuff, although his acceptence speech was a bit long winded. When the VP pulls out his hanky to wipe the brow, then you know your talking a bit much. His detail was switched on last night. :D
He's Latino - I thought it was shorter than normal.;)

Basenshukai
05-29-2006, 17:04
I remember when the election debates were at their inception that the US troop cap in Colombia was increased from 400 to 800. Kind of odd for that hot political climate, especially at that time. But, at the same time, troop presence seemed to have dropped; especially for us guys. It all made sense. The conditions were set. Now, the elections are over and "our guy" won. I see a future increase in activities there will require an increase in troop presence. I'm a happy QP. :)

NousDefionsDoc
05-29-2006, 17:51
I remember when the election debates were at their inception that the US troop cap in Colombia was increased from 400 to 800. Kind of odd for that hot political climate, especially at that time. But, at the same time, troop presence seemed to have dropped; especially for us guys. It all made sense. The conditions were set. Now, the elections are over and "our guy" won. I see a future increase in activities there will require an increase in troop presence. I'm a happy QP. :)
Uribe does not hide the fact that he is pro-US and pro-POTUS, one of the things I like best about him.

No encroaching Sir! You stay on your side of the line and i'll stay on my side!;)

We do need to talk next time you come down. Opportunities...:cool:

FILO
05-30-2006, 08:19
He's Latino - I thought it was shorter than normal.;)

Por supuesto. Latino politicos have that tendency, especially the leftist like Castro and Casto JR. (aka Chavez).

The only time he got real emotional during the speech was when he was talking about going home to Medellin to pay his respects to his Dad who was killed by FARC in the early 1980s. Unlike other politicians who are driven by greed and the lust for power, he is motivated to end FARC and thereby bring a level of security to the country that hasn't been seen in a number of decades. I'm all for him. Plus the guys got BRASS BALLS. He doesn't remain seated in the Presidential Palace waiting for his four years to end so he can then immigrate to Spain to live out his retirement. Instead he is often flying several times a week to remote villages, often places where his detail has the limited ability to control the area. In fact, he has survived numerous assignation attempts since taking office back in 2002.

Moreover, he holds town meetings at those remote locations and if the populace voices a legitimate complaint about lack of government services, he's been known to pull out his cell phone and make a call to the cabinet secretary who’s responsible for handling the matter. The guy gets results.

Finally I can personally attest to the fact that things have changed in the past four years since he took office. I've traveled to some locations in Colombia in the last two years that I would have avoided in the late 1990s. If a politician can affect that type of change and yet still maintain democracy and personal freedom, then I think the man deserves every vote he gets!

lrd
09-21-2006, 17:23
Neil Cavuto interviews President Uribe:

http://www.foxnews.com/video2/launchPage.html?092006/092006_yw_uribe1&Uribe%20Exclusive%21&Your_World&A%20rare%20one-on-one%20interview%20with%20Colombia%20President%20Al varo%20Uribe&Your%20World&294&Uribe%20Exclusive%21&Video%20Launch%20Page&Business