The New York Times

Term Limits Are Debated in Colombia

Aug 26--Legislators debated sharply on Tuesday about a referendum that would change the Constitution to allow President Álvaro Uribe to run for a third term.

26 de agosto de 2009

The proposal is part of a trend among Latin American leaders who have sought to use referendums to undercut constitutional term limits and prolong their time in power.

Voters in Venezuela and Bolivia have approved the lifting of term limits to extend incumbents’ stays in office.

Efforts by President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras to remove term limits were the cause of a military coup in the Central American nation in June.

In Colombia in 2006, Mr. Uribe, a conservative, became the first president to be consecutively re-elected in more than a century after his political supporters gained approval of a constitutional amendment that removed an existing one-term limit for the presidency and created a two-term limit.
 
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