Politics Down South
And I mean way down south…
I am keeping my Colombia-blogging mostly contained to PoliBlog, but I thought I would bring attention to the following NYT piece on the presidential elections: A Maverick Upends Colombian Politics.
Given that the US spends a rather remarkable amount of money in Colombia (because of the drug war), it is worth keeping track of their politics a lot more than the mass press in the US does.
Colombia has a requirement that the president be elected by 50%+1, which typically requires two rounds. The first round of the current cycle is set for the end of this month. Up and until a few weeks ago it seemed almost a sure thing that Juan Manuel Santos, the former Defense Minister is the very popular Uribe administration, would be a shoe-in. However, former Bogotá mayor Antanas Mockus has started to surge and could very well be the next president of Colombia.
Some background (from posts I have written of late):
- President Mockus?
- More Mockus
- More Polls from Colombia
- Mockus Profile
- Mockus in First Place in Latest Poll from Colombia
See also, Reuters: Colombian candidate Mockus edges over Santos: poll