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Peaceful Colombia vote rejects government, armed groups

A voter carrying her child casts her ballot on Sunday during local elections in Medellin, Colombia

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From staff and wire reports

BOGOTA, Colombia -- In contrast to a violent campaign season marred by killings and kidnappings of candidates, Colombian elections for local and state posts proceeded peacefully over the weekend.

The vote was seen as a rejection of the decades-old guerrilla and paramilitary warfare that has gripped the nation, as well as a blow to President Andres Pastrana.

Independents claimed mayoral races in four of Colombia's five largest cities on Sunday, posing a challenge to the two traditional political parties, the Conservatives and the Liberals. Their victories included Bogota, where Antanas Mockus , an eccentric former university professor who held the post from 1995-97, was named mayor.

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"We are happy. We are grateful to the people," Mockus said. "It is incredible how far society has come in embracing a new and rational debate."

'Faith in the democratic system'

Turnout appeared strong, despite months of violence, and there were no reports of major clashes Sunday. About half of Colombia's 23 million registered voters went to the polls.

Voting was disrupted in only two of Colombia's 1,100 municipalities. Isolated fighting left two soldiers and one guerrilla dead, fewer casualties than on a typical day.

Voting in the so-called "red zones," including the oil center of Barrancabermeja and the southern city of Cali, went forward without incident.

Election observers say the peaceful balloting underscores the will of Colombians to support democracy.

"The people coming out to vote is an indication that they have a lot of faith in the democratic system," said international observer Ricardo Moldinado.

Twenty-one candidates for mayor or city council were killed by paramilitary groups or leftist rebels in the run-up to the elections, according to Colombia's mayors' association. About 100 candidates withdrew, citing intimidation and threats by the armed factions.

In the past week alone, eight lawmakers and local political candidates were kidnapped by suspected militias or guerrillas.

"This country is a disaster," said Lucy Restrepo as she left a polling station in a wealthy Bogota neighborhood guarded by soldiers with machine guns.

"There is robbery, corruption, war. It's horrible," she said. "Who knows if my vote will help?"

Some analysts consider Sunday's apparent calm a new strategy by armed groups. Instead of trying to disrupt the vote, as they did in 1997, rebels and paramilitaries are trying to manipulate the outcome by pressuring the candidates, analysts said.

Guerrillas do not consider the political system legitimate and were not formally participating in the elections. However, the country's largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, largely honored its pledge not to disrupt the process.

In San Vicente del Caguan, the largest of five southern municipalities the FARC openly controls under a peace concession from the government, an independent was elected mayor even though the rebels informally backed his opponent.

However, charges that rebels stole ballots forced officials to void elections in Vista Hermosa, another of the five FARC-held towns.

'It was a punishment vote ...'

Pastrana's Conservative Party lost races for governor and mayor in traditional strongholds, and Liberal and independent candidates claimed victories across the country, a trend that some see as a sign of voter frustration with the government.

"It was a punishment vote against the current government, which has done nothing to improve the living conditions of Colombians," said Liberal Party leader Horacio Serpa, who lost to Pastrana in 1998 presidential elections.

Amid political violence and economic recession, Pastrana's public approval is at its lowest since he took office, with a 30-percent favorable rating.

He has faced mounting criticism over his failure to negotiate a peace settlement with rebels following nearly four decades of conflict.

The South American nation is engulfed in an escalating war fueled by the drug trade that has claimed at least 35,000 lives since 1990.

Reporter Marisol Espinosa, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)
Presidencia de la Republica de Colombia (Spanish)
Transnational Institute Drugs & Democracy Project
U.S. State Department: 1999 Human Rights Report for Colombia
Human Rights Watch Report on Colombia

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