The Economist

Third term temptation

Jan 8 -- Those among Álvaro Uribe’s closest collaborators who harbour presidential ambitions waited patiently throughout 2008 for their boss to decide whether or not he will try to seek a third term himself in a presidential election due in 2010.

8 de enero de 2009

In March Colombia’s Senate is due to debate a bill to hold a referendum on changing the constitution to allow Mr Uribe to run again. And ministers and legislators must resign their jobs by May if they want to be eligible to stand themselves.

Since he became president in 2002 Mr Uribe has overseen a big security build-up and a steady fall in violence, especially in the populated central part of the country. Partly because of the resulting boost to confidence, the economy has grown strongly. His popularity allowed Mr Uribe to persuade Congress and the courts to approve a constitutional change allowing him to run for (and duly win) a second term in 2006. There followed a series of debilitating scandals over links to right-wing paramilitaries which shook the government—and then a string of successes last year against the FARC guerrillas which have invigorated it. 

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