Colombians indicate they are ready to vote for continuity

The results of the first round of Colombia’s presidential elections last Sunday appear to indicate the Colombian people will continue backing the fight against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). According to BBC world service, fifty-eight-year-old Harvard educated Juan Manuel Santos took 47 per cent of the vote, while his main rival and now opponent in the second round, Antanas Mockus of the Green Party, received 21 per cent. Mr. Santos, who was defense minister in the previous administration of Alvaro Uribe, campaigned on his implementation of President Uribe’s crackdown on the insurgents. His message to Colombians was that his administration will clean up politics and continue the military operation against the Marxist guerrillas. If Mr. Santos continues the policies of his predecessor there is likely to be little let up in Latin America’s longest running conflict, which has seen the insurgent FARC and the government of Colombia in a state of near continual civil war since 1958.