The Guardian

Reuters Summit-Colombia's Santos weighs presidential bid

May 08 -- Three weeks before the deadline for him to announce a presidential bid, Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manual Santos said he would take a shot at the 2010 election if President Alvaro Uribe steps aside.

8 de mayo de 2009

Polls show Santos as a strong runner to replace the popular Uribe, but he must resign his government post by May 29 if he is to qualify as a candidate; Uribe has yet to publicly declare whether he will seek a third term.

"If President Uribe decides to run for a third time -- and he has not yet said whether he will try -- I would not stand in the way, I would support him," Santos told the Reuters Latin American Investment Summit.

"If he decides no, then I would take a shot as an eventual candidate as long as the circumstances were right," he said.
 
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