Colombia presidential vote is neck and neck

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/25/colombia-presidential-vote-farc-strategy

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Colombians voted for a new president on Sunday in the tightest election for two decades that may determine whether the country continues peace talks with leftist guerrillas or steps up its military offensive to end a 50-year war.

The vote has largely become a plebiscite on President Juan Manuel Santos' strategy of negotiating the disarmament of the (Farc) Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia to end the bloodshed that has killed around 200,000.

Rightwinger Oscar Iván Zuluaga dismissed the talks as pandering to terrorists and suggested he would scrap them in favour of US-backed military campaigns similar to those led by his mentor, former President Alvaro Uribe.

Santos and Zuluaga are polling neck-and-neck following a race marred by accusations of electronic espionage and drug-linked campaign funding. Neither is predicted to win enough votes to avoid a run-off on 15 June.

"Peace is the hope for humanity, and Santos is peaceful, not a warrior," said Arley Bustos, 48, who was selling umbrellas and World Cup stickers on a street Bogota. "Peace will bring us progress."

Uribe fell out with Santos, 62, when the president launched peace talks with the Farc instead of sticking to the eight-year strategy of forcing the group's surrender on the battlefield.

Santos appeals to Colombians who hope the guerrillas will finally lay down their arms after the deaths of their top leaders and the halving of their numbers to about 8,000 fighters. Reuters