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Omaha Steve

(99,624 posts)
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 02:38 PM Jun 2014

Colombia cliffhanger a referendum on peace

Source: AP-EXCITE

By FRANK BAJAK

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombians voted Sunday in the nation's tightest presidential contest in two decades, a referendum on President Juan Manuel Santos' bid to end the Western Hemisphere's longest-running conflict.

The right-wing challenger, Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, accuses Santos of selling the country out to a "criminal" insurgency that is already on the ropes with 18-month-old Cuba-based peace talks.

Zuluaga is backed by former two-term President Alvaro Uribe, who many consider the true challenger, and the campaign has been the Andean nation's dirtiest in years, with Uribe suggesting to his 3 million Twitter followers that Santos aims to convert Colombia into a leftist totalitarian state.

Zuluaga won the most votes in a five-candidate field in the election's May 25 first round — getting 29 percent against 26 percent for Santos.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140615/lt-colombia-election-077e3b047f.html





A voter casts his ballot at a polling station during presidential ron-off elections in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, June 15, 2014. Colombians voted Sunday in a presidential election characterized by a clash of personalities and relentless mudslinging that have overshadowed differences on how to put an end to a half-century of guerrilla violence. (AP Photo/Javier Galeano)
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Colombia cliffhanger a referendum on peace (Original Post) Omaha Steve Jun 2014 OP
Santos, Uribe's former defense minister, is hardly a leftist totalitarian. Comrade Grumpy Jun 2014 #1
If Zuluaga wins, which according to other posts I've seen he will, I foresee dark Louisiana1976 Jun 2014 #2
Here's a prayer for peace. nt WhiteTara Jun 2014 #3
Santos won Bacchus4.0 Jun 2014 #4

Louisiana1976

(3,962 posts)
2. If Zuluaga wins, which according to other posts I've seen he will, I foresee dark
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 04:41 PM
Jun 2014

days ahead for Colombia and her people.

Bacchus4.0

(6,837 posts)
4. Santos won
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 07:46 PM
Jun 2014
http://colombiareports.co/juan-manuel-santos-reelected-colombias-presidential-elections/#prettyPhoto/0/

Incumbent President and U Party candidate Juan Manuel Santos was reelected by a margin of over 5% (with over 99% of the vote counted) in the second round of Colombia’s elections, defeating Democratic Center candidate Oscar Ivan Zuluaga.

According the national election authorities, Santos won 50.92% of the vote. He won Bogota, the nation’s capital, with the largest number of voters, a change from the first round, when he placed third in the first round of the elections. Santos also took the vote in the regions most affected by guerrilla groups, including the Putumayo, Nariño, Cauca and Norte de Santander states.

Zuluaga won 45.03% of the vote and took most of the states in the coffee-growing region, including the Uribe-supporting Antioquia state, in addition to states in the Llanos, Colombia’s grassland states. Ex-President Alvaro Uribe’s party supported the candidacy of Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, and Uribe campaigned heavily for him.

Peace played a role in the reelect

Juan Manuel Santos’ campaign heavily emphasized the ongoing peace process with the country’s largest rebel group, the FARC, in Havana, Cuba. His campaign slogans in the second round were, “With peace, we will do more,” and “We’ve done a lot, there is still a lot to do,” reflected in his policies that highlighted the achievements of his administration in addition to making promises about the second round.
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