Colombia’s Santos may seek re-election

Reuters/Bogota

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos yesterday hinted he would seek re-election next year to ensure continuity of his policies - including peace talks with Marxist FARC rebels - though he did not explicitly announce his candidacy.

“I want clearly and firmly to see that the government’s policies continue after August 7, 2014,” Santos said, referring to the date a new administration would take office. “I want the peace policy re-elected, I want the housing policy re-elected, those that have reduced poverty - re-elected,” he told reporters in Bogota.

Santos took the greatest risk of his political career last year by launching peace negotiations with the nation’s biggest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, in the hope of ending five decades of war.

Talks have dragged on for almost seven months without reaching accord on the first of a five-point agenda, putting in doubt Santos’ goal that the two sides will reach agreement this year.

Santos, 61, told reporters in Bogota that he would make a formal announcement on his re-election plans in a “written, solemn” way by the November deadline.

“I don’t want the positive and deep changes that we are realising to be left halfway down the road, or worse, to be reversed,” said Santos, a former newspaper editor and scion of one of the nation’s richest families.

“But I want to be respectful of the rules of play and so won’t take a formal decision about my future until the required date.”