MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Colombian president en route to re-election.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe would be comfortably re-elected if the vote were held this week according to the latest public opinion polls, reported the country's main radio network Radio Caracol.

President Uribe, 52, who was elected with over 50% of the vote to a four-year term in 2002 promoted a constitutional amendment allowing presidential re-election that was passed by Congress last year, though it must still undergo a Constitutional Court review.

According to the poll, if the election were held this week, 56.2% of interviews would vote for Mr. Uribe and 5.7% for Bogotá Mayor Luis Eduardo Garzon, a former union leader who was defeated by the current president in 2002.

The study was conducted by the Yanhaas organization including 600 interviews in Colombia's main cities, Bogotá, Medellin, Cali, Barranquilla and Bucaramanga, with a 4% error margin.

Contrary to his predecessor who favoured negotiations, President Uribe with the financial aid of United States has applied iron fist policies against guerrilla insurgents and drug cartel leaders.