Colombian Presidential Vote Heads for Runoff

Colombian opposition candidate Oscar Zuluaga led President Juan Manuel Santos in first-round elections Sunday, but they now face a runoff in a crucial campaign for peace talks with Marxist rebels.

With nearly all ballots counted, Zuluaga had 29.3 percent of the votes compared to 25.6 percent for his bitter rival, both failing to get the outright majority needed to avoid the June 15 second round.

After the results, Santos again presented the election as a referendum on his center-right government's 18-month negotiations with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Wearing a pin of a peace dove on his suit as he addressed supporters in Bogota, Santos said the runoff would be a choice "between those who want an end to the war and those who prefer a war without end."

Zuluaga, a former finance minister who has the support of former conservative president Alvaro Uribe, criticized the peace process again, warning that he would not allow impunity for the rebels "crimes against humanity."

"My committment is to work for peace in our country, but for a serious, responsible and lasting peace," he said.

Once ahead in opinion polls, Santos lost his advantage in recent weeks and the two rivals were running neck-and-neck in the end, amid mudslinging.

Miguel Garcia, director of the Democracy Observatory at the University of the Andes, said the result was not "completely negative" for Santos.

"But it shows a divided country in which Zuluaga capitalized on the distrust that millions have toward the FARC," Garcia said.

Santos and Zuluaga headed a field of five candidates, with conservative Marta Lucia Ramirez in third place with 15.5 percent.

With the FARC calling a ceasefire during the vote, Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon said it was the "safest election day in recent history."

Monitors from the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) said the election took place "absolutely normally."

- Allies turned rivals -

Santos and Zuluaga were once cabinet colleagues under Uribe (2002-2010), but the rivals have clashed repeatedly in a campaign marred by espionage and corruption allegations.

Santos, 62, worked as defense minister under Uribe, whose aggressive military campaign led to the killings of key FARC leaders.

But Uribe, who remains popular, threw his weight behind Zuluaga, going as far as calling Santos a traitor for negotiating with the rebels.

The former president reiterated his support for his former finance minister as he cast his vote, saying he chose the best candidate "to retrieve the path of security abandoned by the current government."

Zuluaga, 55, has called for the peace negotiations to be suspended until the rebels give up their weapons.

Santos, in power since 2010, has made ending the conflict the centerpiece of his re-election bid, campaigning on a slogan offering voters a stark choice: "War or Peace."

The contrasting viewpoints were evident among voters.

"We need a peace accord," said 20-year-old student Maria Paula Erazo.

That way the government could "invest in Colombia's other problems, like health and education," she said.

But Zuluaga supporter Henry Gallan, a 58-year-old security equipment salesman, said Santos's "betrayal of the previous government is unforgivable."

The peace process, hosted by Cuba, seeks to end a conflict that has killed more than 220,000 people and displaced more than five million since it erupted in 1964.

The talks have so far led to agreements on rural reform, the participation of former guerrillas in politics and the battle against drug trafficking.

Santos has refused to recognize the ceasefire in order to keep up pressure on the guerrillas.