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Weekly Report - 12 June 2014 (WR-14-23)
Santos springs two surprises in bid to secure re-election
If President Juan Manuel Santos fails to win re-election in the second round of presidential elections on 15 June it will not be for lack of trying. Santos kept two aces up his sleeve until days before the run-off. The announcement of a major advance in the peace negotiations with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc) and the revelation of exploratory talks with the country’s second guerrilla group, Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), both caught his opponent, Óscar Iván Zuluaga, off guard. They left the strong impression that Santos had waited until the eleventh-hour to court undecided voters by showing not just an unattainable Elysian vision of a peaceful Colombia but portraying peace, and an end to the country’s interminable armed conflict, as a practical reality should they decide to vote for him.
- Santos springs two surprises in bid to secure re-election
- VENEZUELA: Opposition radicals risk playing into government hands
- BOLIVIA: Opposition electoral alliance unlikely
- TRACKING TRENDS
- ARGENTINA: Government held hostage by Vice-President
- ARGENTINA: Fernández creates new Ministry of Thought
- BRAZIL: Everything to play for
- PARAGUAY: Paraguay hosts successful OAS summit
- MEXICO: PAN ratchets up pressure over key reforms
- TRACKING TRENDS
- EL SALVADOR: Sánchez Cerén courts business sector
- HAITI: Renewed police concerns
- Costa Rica’s Solís given Silicon Valley spur
- Quotes of the week