On October 19, amid accusations of bribery, Colombia’s Constitutional Court gave right-wing President Alvaro Uribe the green light to seek a second term in office. Previously, it was impossible for a president to stand for re-election. Uribe is a key US ally due to his hard-line policies on the left-wing guerrillas who control half the country. He has gained substantial support from the US, along with a large section of the Congress, part of which is controlled by right-wing paramilitaries. Uribe has long-standing connections with the drug-trafficking paramilitaries, and is overseeing a disarmament program among them that prevents many of their atrocities from being punished. Uribe is facing international criticism over the spraying of glyphosate on the jungle regions of Colombia, supposedly to eradicate coca. It causes environmental damage and health problems, and Ecuador is taking Colombia to the International Court of Justice for the damage it is causing its border regions.

From Green Left Weekly, October 26, 2005.
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