Santos sweeps to the presidency

Juan Manuel Santos won a stunning victory in his bid to succeed outgoing President Alvaro Uribe on Sunday. Colombian voters gave him, his vice-presidential candidate, Angelino Garzon, and their platform a lopsided 69.1 percent majority against opponent Antanas Mockus, who received 27.5 percent of the vote. The 9 million votes cast for Mr. Santos were the highest number ever given a Colombian presidential candidate.

Mr. Santos, who served as defense minister in the Uribe administration and is credited as the key to Colombia's successful offensive against the communist narco-trafficking terror organization FARC, campaigned on a detailed platform that called for completing the struggle to establish a secure and stable society, with a strong drive in favor of economic development and against corruption among its main points.

With his defense record a virtual given, Mr. Santos and running mate Mr. Garzon placed particular emphasis on employment as a key benefit of economic growth, on the stump and in their advertising. Commercials stressed a "work, work, work" theme in response to the country's 12 percent unemployment and 32 percent underemployment.

Economists see Colombia - and most of South America - as recovering from the financial crisis of the past three years, with neighboring Venezuela the sole example of year-to-year decline. The new administration also will be helped by strong interest in Colombia from numerous international institutions, including the World Economic Forum, which held a seminar for world business leaders in Cartagena in April.
 
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