Monday 28 October 2013

Right-wing party picks candidate against Colombian President

The party formed around the conservative convictions and political aspirations of Colombia's former president Álvaro Uribe Vélez, Uribe Centro Democrático, chose on 26 October the former finance minister Óscar Iván Zuluaga Escobar as its presidential candidate for 2014. Mr Zuluaga will compete with President Juan Manuel Santos Calderón should he run again for office. Speakers at the Democratic Centre's convention were critical of various aspects of the Government but Mr Uribe and his allies have in recent months been vociferous when denouncing its peace talks with the communist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which began in October 2012 and have yet to yield clear results. Mr Santos called the enemies of the talks "vultures" on 26 October. While Mr Zuluaga lacks Mr Uribe's fame, Mr Uribe has already been president twice and cannot aspire to a third term. He will head his party's list of senatorial candidates in 2014 and many suspect he would dominate a hypothetical president from his party. Speaking to the party's convention on 26 October, Mr Zuluaga set out five policy directions including he said the renewal of the "democratic security" policies that curbed crime in Colombia when Mr Uribe was president in 2002-10, El Espectador reported. "Real peace is built with more security and more justice" he said, not following "impunity and political privileges for violent people. We shall relentlessly fight small-time trafficking, extortion, city crimes and terrorism." Mr Uribe deplored the President's vulture comments, particularly it was observed because a FARC commander had at one point qualified opponents of talks as "scavengers." "President Santos calls us vultures with his allies the FARC" he wrote on the website Twitter, El Colombiano reported on 28 October. Mr Santos said on 26 October while visiting Viotá south-west of Bogotá that "we have enemies...who some say look very much like vultures because they live off death...they live spreading everything that is negative...injecting pessimism...they want to continue war." The daily observed that the President's sharp remarks were a "furious" response to provocative speeches made at the Democratic Centre convention.