OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza, congratulated Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos for his re-election with an absolute majority of votes cast, which gives him a decisive popular mandate.
Incumbent President candidate Juan Manuel Santos was reelected by a margin of over 5 percentage points in the second round of Colombia's’s elections, defeating conservative Democratic Center candidate Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, who concede defeat and congratulated the winner.
President Juan Manuel Santos’ re-election bid received the backing of a large group of Colombia’s most important businessmen and the country’s wealthiest man, billionaire Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo, who spoke up in favor of ongoing peace negotiations with the FARC.
Colombians pick a new president on Sunday in a tight runoff election, kind of referendum, fought over whether peace talks with Marxist inspired and drugs financed guerrillas, or a renewed military offensive stand the best chance of ending 50 years of war in the country rich in resources and with one of the more stable economies in the region.
Colombia's FARC rebels declared a ceasefire on Sunday from June 9 to 30, a period that will cover a run-off presidential election being contested mainly over how to end five decades of war with the guerrillas.
Right-wing opposition candidate Oscar Ivan Zuluaga won most votes in Colombia's presidential election on Sunday but fell short of a first-round victory and will face President Juan Manuel Santos in a close runoff on 15 June.
Accusations of bribes from drug traffickers, spying and email hacking have turned Colombia’s presidential election into an ugly slugfest that has further polarized a country trying to emerge from its violent past.
A candidate in Colombia's presidential elections next Sunday has called on the leading opposition candidate, Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, to quit the race after new video evidence of spying by his campaign consultant on peace talks with leftist rebels.
Colombia's government and FARC rebels announced on Friday an agreement to jointly combat illicit drug trade in the country as part of a six-point peace plan. The deal comes ahead of May 25 elections in the country and is an implicit admission of the guerrillas' links with the drug trade.
Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's political movement chose economist Oscar Ivan Zuluaga on Saturday as its candidate for presidential elections in May, a vote which represents Uribe's tough stance against leftist guerrillas.