COLOMBIANS KEEP URIBE IN POWER IN LANDSLIDE

U.S. Ally Has Led Fight vs. Rebels

BOGOTA, Colombia, May 28 -- President Alvaro Uribe was reelected in a
landslide Sunday in Colombia's most peaceful elections in more than a
decade, strengthening the U.S. ally's mandate to crack down on armed
groups and drug traffickers.

Uribe's win marks the first time in more than a century that an
incumbent Colombian leader has been reelected, and bucks a trend of
leftist leaders taking office across South America.

With 96 percent of ballots counted, the conservative Uribe won a
stronger-than-expected 62 percent of the vote, according to official
results. A majority was needed to win in the first round and avoid a runoff.

In second place, with 22 percent, was Sen. Carlos Gaviria of the
Alternative Democratic Pole party. Gaviria's strong support -- a
record outcome for the left -- confirmed the growing strength of the
democratic left in this conservative nation. Horacio Serpa, of the
century-old Liberal Party, finished third with just under 12 percent
of the vote.

"We're very happy with the results," Gaviria told Caracol Radio
Sunday night after recognizing his defeat. "For the first time in the
country's history, the main opposition party will be comprised of the
democratic left."

In recent years, left-leaning leaders have taken office in Bolivia,
Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile.

Sunday's vote took place amid relative calm -- underscoring a big
reason Colombians backed Uribe. He is credited with bringing down
crime rates and violence while overseeing economic growth.

Uribe's critics say he has shown a lack of interest in social
programs despite the country's rampant poverty and fear that his
reelection will lead to a strengthening of his alleged autocratic tendencies.

There were no reported attacks on voters during the election, but the
military reported killing 12 rebels in clashes with the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, on Saturday and Sunday. Three
soldiers were injured. It was not clear whether the clashes were
election-related.

About 220,000 troops guarded polling stations, shopping centers and
other sensitive areas after what experts called the most peaceful
campaign in more than a decade in a nation battered by violence
involving leftist rebels, right-wing militias, drug traffickers and
security forces.

Uribe is the first incumbent to be reelected in Colombia since
President Rafael Nunez in 1892. A constitutional amendment Uribe
pushed through Congress last year allowed him to seek a second term.

Despite predictions of low turnout in a race in which the outcome
seemed certain, thousands of people shook off the chill and damp of
the morning to vote early at the country's largest polling station,
in central Bogota.

Camouflaged tanks rolled down a leafy street, and heavily armed
combat troops frisked motorists at random checkpoints.

While there has been a dramatic drop in kidnappings and murders under
Uribe's government, an end to the violence perpetrated by leftist
rebels remains elusive.

Rebels who control huge tracts of the countryside have traditionally
tried to assert their presence ahead of elections by stepping up
attacks and politically motivated kidnappings.

According to a study by the independent Security and Democracy
Foundation, 55 politically motivated killings and kidnappings were
registered over the past 12 months -- an 81 percent reduction from
the year before the prior elections, in 2002, when the FARC kidnapped
candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who remains captive.

As part of his "democratic security" agenda, Uribe has put 25 percent
more troops and police on the streets during four years in office.
Military spending has nearly doubled, backed by $4 billion in U.S.
aid for the anti-drug effort known as Plan Colombia.

Also since 2002, about 30,000 members of the United Self-Defense
Forces of Colombia have handed in their weapons as part of a
government-brokered amnesty deal with the paramilitary group.

Colombia remains the world's largest producer of cocaine. Uribe is
urging the United States to beef up a fleet of 20 planes that spray coca crops.