Santos Wins Colombian
Election, But Heads To Runoff June 20
BOGOTA - Former Colombian Defense Minister
Juan Manuel Santos won the first round of
presidential elections on Sunday, but still
fell short of the votes needed for an
outright victory.
Santos, from the ruling Social Party of
National Unity, obtained 46.57 percent of
the votes, while his arch rival Antanas
Mockus, from the Green Party, got 21.47
percent, the National Registration of Civil
State said.
Since no candidate gets the 50 percent plus
one vote to avoid a second round election,
the two front-runners will enter the runoff
scheduled for June 20.
Santos won in 31 out of the 32 provinces in
Colombia and Mockus just got one.
Santos, 58, has promised to continue the
security, economy and society policies of
incumbent Colombian President Alvaro Uribe,
who firmly backs him in running for the
presidency.
The former defense minister said if elected
he will keep the fight against the guerilla
drug trafficking as a priority of Uribe's
Democratic Security Policy.
"Colombia must continue the path of the
progress, moving ahead on social policies,
economic development, and fighting against
all the armed groups," Santos said.
He also plans to integrate Colombia into the
world through trade agreements and diversify
its exports to Latin America, Europe and
Asia. |
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