Colombia's Santos Throws Hat in Ring for re-Election
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos submitted his official bid for re-election Tuesday, with a promise to complete the work he's begun in negotiations with leftist rebels.
Accompanied by his family and supporters from his center-right majority, Santos, 62, registered with the election authority in Bogota for the May 25 polls.
Santos used the opportunity to flag up his efforts to achieve peace in the 50-year-old conflict with Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels.
"We must finish the job, we must follow the path, because we've done a lot, but there is still much, much more to do," he said.
Santos ,who is running for a second four-year term, the last allowed under Colombian law, promised to bring "prosperity and peace" to the country.
Although he is the favored candidate, elections will likely continue beyond the May 25 ballot to a second round on June 15, as Santos is unlikely to secure the 50 percent of votes necessary to win outright.
Negotiators for the Colombian government and the guerrillas have been in talks in Havana since November 2012 to seek an agreement to end the oldest rebellion in Latin America.
Although Santos has said he is optimistic about the outcome of the talks, a recent poll showed that 58 percent of Colombians are pessimistic about the outcome.
Santos leads the country's center-right coalition which is expected to maintain its majority in Congress in legislative elections on March 9.
Source: Agence France Presse
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