Serene Assir examines reactions in the Spanish-language press to Uribe's electoral victory in Colombia Colombian President Alvaro Uribe secured a second term following a landslide electoral victory Sunday, ushering in a renewed phase of security-focussed politics which have been praised over the past four years by both the majority of voters and international commentators. Previously he has led a forceful crackdown on right-wing rebel militias as well as on the leftist FARC forces which, up until four years ago, reportedly posed an immense threat to the livelihoods of Colombians across the country, and so too to the ailing economy. Rebel forces, working in coordination with cocaine suppliers, have suffered backlashes during the past presidential term as a result of the implementation of heavy-handed tactics to fight what the George W Bush administration has denoted as the "war on drugs". In some ways Uribe falls on the pro-Washington side of the political scale, which in Latin America is quickly splitting amongst pro and anti-neoconservative trends, in sync with a mood relaunched by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. On the other hand, Uribe cannot afford to overlook the populist wave, especially given that Venezuela constitutes an important economic ally. In a nation so deeply pained and thus legitimately concerned with physical security, Uribe won the election with 62 per cent of the vote, following a constitutional amendment that allowed him to run for a second term. "Over the past 80 years," ran a report in Bogotà-based broadsheet El Tiempo, "with the exception of the National Front or in cases where there was a single candidate, no other candidate has received such broad support." The article went on: "Uribe is set to become the president who has concentrated the most power in his hands in a long time." In spite of general waves of approval in the mainstream press, writers have also ventured to make it clear that the incoming era is not without its challenges. Top on a list compiled in an editorial also run by El Tiempo refers to the challenge posed by the two mutually opposing political trends in Latin America. "Chavez or Bush? That is the question," quips the author. "Venezuela is [Colombia's] second most important commercial partner and has historically been something of a brother, while the US is the top partner and the main collaborator in the internal war... Given its strategic location, both countries would be glad to be able to count on Colombia as their ally." Other issues set to be on the president's agenda are that of poverty and of creating a longer term plan in order to deal with the violence that has caused so much bloodshed in Colombia over recent years. One question being raised is that of whether Uribe will be able to enter into talks with the FARC. Another is that of whether he will be able to revive the economy and yet maintain a semblance of equality, whereby rich-poor divides would not become as obtuse as they are in other Latin American countries. Uribe has demonstrated an ability to take the middle road in various political binaries -- neo-conservatism and populism, free market-style economics to favour the north and nationalist economics to favour the poor. There has been for some time relative stability, at least at the epicentre of high politics in Colombia, but eventually he is going to have to take some kind of stand. Alternative publications have more. In a report by Jorge Enrique Botero published on the Spanish-language website Rebelion, various denunciations are made of Uribe's regime, in particular of the way in which the run-up to the election was handled. According to the report, the opposition made "grave denunciations" of the election process, including the claim that the government had used various insidious means to ensure Uribe's re-election. Carlos Gaviria, the candidate for the leftist coalition Democratic Pole, reported that across the south, voting stations were transferred into municipal buildings, hence rendering it physically impossible for thousands of voters to place their ballot. In addition, there were "signs of gigantic fraud in various municipalities along the Atlantic coast, where paramilitaries of the extreme right exert influence," he added. In another report run by Rebelion, Karen Maron provides a detailed description of the mood in Colombia, one which is marked by a kind of acceptance and a sense of general relief about the newly-acquired feeling of security. She quotes a taxi driver who tells her that under Uribe's rule, he has been able to drive out into more remote areas without suffering from a fear of imminent attack. "The heightened level of acceptance granted to Uribe and his re-election... are more linked to a sense of security perceived among Colombians, who in turn forgive his errors and for which he asks for forgiveness in each and every one of his public addresses," she writes. With the FARC sinking into the background -- in a move that could merely be temporary -- Uribe had now better start thinking about what his new term will be marked by, and how he can start to revive Colombia.
