| Submit your comments on this article |
| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Uribe in Colombia landslide win |
| 2006-05-29 |
| Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe has been re-elected in a landslide election victory, taking 62% of the vote, the country's electoral commission says. Mr Uribe, who changed the constitution so he could run for a second term, wins another four years in office. There was no major violence on election day, after huge numbers of security forces were deployed, and Farc rebels pledged not to interfere. With nearly all ballots counted, Mr Uribe had 62% of the vote - well over the 50% needed to win in the first round. His closest challenger, left-wing senator Carlos Gaviria, took 22%. He accepted defeat, declaring: "We're very happy with the results. For the first time in the country's history the main opposition party will be comprised of the democratic left." The Marxist Farc guerrillas kept their promise and did not interfere with the day's voting, which passed almost without a hitch and ranked as one of the calmest days of balloting in more than a decade. The electoral body said there had been no problems with the voting, even in the more remote rural areas under guerrilla control. The result suggests Colombians have rejected left-wing alternatives, as well as the traditional liberal and conservative parties that have dominated Colombia's political life since independence from Spain. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 "Mr Uribe, who changed the constitution so he could run for a second term" Damn! Bet the Dems are all heading south to find out how he managed that. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-05-29 10:51 |