Colombia’s presidential race engulfed by scandal

Colombia’s presidential race engulfed by scandal

May 23, 2014 12:10 AM
By Joshua Goodman

BOGOTA: Accusations of bribes from drug traffickers, spying and email hacking have turned Colombia’s presidential election into an ugly slugfest that has further polarized a country trying to emerge from its violent past.

The mudslinging has distracted attention from talks with the main rebel group to end the country’s half-century internal conflict, which had been expected to be a key issue going into Sunday’s election.

Much of the blame for the dirty campaigning falls on two former allies whose public feuding has divided Colombia the past four years: President Juan Manuel Santos and his still-powerful predecessor, Alvaro Uribe.

Despite presiding over what may be South America’s best-performing economy, Santos is struggling amid relentless attacks by Uribe and his hand-picked heir, former finance chief, Oscar Ivan Zuluaga. Polls say the two are running neck and neck, well ahead of three other candidates but with neither likely to garner the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff.

Zuluaga’s conservative Democratic Center movement has lambasted Santos for what it calls his softness in 18-month-old negotiations with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC. Zuluaga has threatened to end the talks in Cuba if he is elected, saying he will demand the rebels prove their commitment to peace by declaring a permanent cease-fire within a week.

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