Reply #4: Update from the Financial Times on March 16th

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"Uribe’s party leads in Colombia elections
By Naomi Mapstone in Lima

Published: March 16 2010 00:39 | Last updated: March 16 2010 00:39

Juan Manuel Santos, the former Colombian defence minister who oversaw the rescue of kidnapped politician Ingrid Betancourt from guerrilla hands, has boosted his bid for the presidency with a strong showing in Sunday’s Congressional elections.

Mr Santos’s “U” Party secured 27 seats while the Conservative Party won 23 seats in the 102-seat Senate, with 93.77 per cent of votes counted on Monday. The Liberal Party, lead by Rafael Pardo, remained the biggest single opposition force, with 18 Senate seats"

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My take? I think Colombians are backing the right wing because they fear a leftist will turn out to be a Chavez in disguise. They also seem to like the increased security and reduced crime rate as the FARC is defeated.

Unfortunately, all of these "solutions" are transitory unless the USA begins to legalize drug use. As long as the US finances both sides of the civil war (the drug users finance the FARC, the US government finances the Colombian military), there's going to be no real peace.