HARD-LINER ELECTED IN COLOMBIA WITH A MANDATE TO CRUSH REBELS

BOGOTA, Colombia, May 26 - Bitter after three years of fruitless peace
talks, voters gave a resounding victory today to a hard-right candidate for
president who promises a sharp buildup in the armed forces to battle two
rebel groups that have been waging war for 38 years.

With 97 percent of returns counted this evening, election officials said
Alvaro Uribe Velez had received 53 percent of the vote, more than 20
percentage points ahead of his closest rival, Horacio Serpa, a Liberal
Party populist. By the end of the night, Mr. Uribe had collected the
majority needed to avoid a June runoff with Mr. Serpa - an unmistakable
endorsement of Mr. Uribe's hard-line policies.

A former governor and mayor of Colombia's second-largest city, Medellin,
Mr. Uribe, 49, promises an uncompromising "hard hand" against the
insurgents, a position that has resonated across this nation of 40 million
people in an election that was being closely followed by American officials.

"The international community should know Colombia has expressed its desire
to recover civility, to recover order," Mr. Uribe said tonight, flanked by
his family and supporters, in a 35-minute acceptance speech at a Bogota
hotel. "That Colombia does not want the world to just know the bad news
about the violence, but that the world be notified of our determination to
defeat violence."

Mr. Uribe quickly received the backing of the American ambassador, Anne
Patterson, who arrived at the hotel to offer congratulations. "We're ready
to work with the next government," Ms. Patterson said.

She said Washington expected to have close relations with Mr. Uribe, who
will be inaugurated in August, replacing President Andres Pastrana. Ms.
Patterson added that the results of the vote showed that "Colombians are
fed up with terrorism."

Mr. Uribe's proposals - to double the size of the army's combat force to
100,000 soldiers and the National Police to 200,000 - could mean a more
tangible American role in a country that produces 80 percent of the cocaine
consumed in the United States.

Because of that and Colombia's increasing instability, the United States
has already made it the third-largest recipient of American aid. The
assistance is limited to counter-drug operations, but the Bush
administration is pushing Congress to drop restrictions so Colombia can use
American helicopters and troops trained by American soldiers in direct
combat with rebels.

It is a proposition that President Pastrana, who was constitutionally
barred from re-election, lobbied for after his peace talks with Colombia's
largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, collapsed
in February. If the American government agrees to provide aid to battle the
rebels, Mr. Uribe seems willing to be an unwavering soldier in the fight.

He has continuously stressed that the only way Colombia can extricate
itself from its mess is by controlling the rebels.

"We do not need American troops, but what we need is to strengthen Plan
Colombia," Mr. Uribe said in a recent interview, referring to a $1.1
billion mostly military aid package the United States Congress approved in
2000. "We need the resources from Plan Colombia, the helicopters and
equipment, to be used to combat crimes, to prevent massacres, to prevent
takeovers of towns, that they be used against kidnappings and to prevent
forced displacements of villagers."

Tired of escalating rebel violence, Colombians were willing to overlook
concerns about the possibility of a more violent conflict in accepting Mr.
Uribe's message.

"Now with Uribe as president, we are going to confront the guerrillas,"
said Camilo Santaella, a lawyer, moments after he cast his ballot in a
suburban-like Bogota neighborhood. "At last the hour has arrived to defend
ourselves and finish with the cancer that's killing Colombia."

Human rights groups warn that Mr. Uribe's plans could lead to increased
abuses that would mostly befall poor villagers who live in the areas where
the fighting often takes place. Mr. Uribe has tried to minimize those
possibilities, saying he plans to combat illegal right-wing paramilitary
forces with as much vigor as he does the rebels.

Some Colombians fear that Mr. Uribe will take a softer approach to the
paramilitaries, considering his close association with military officers
accused of rights abuses and his friendships with far-right Colombians. The
paramilitaries pay for their war against rebel sympathizers with drug
trafficking and the donations of large landowners.

Mr. Uribe, however, said he holds open the possibility of peace talks.
Tonight he called for international mediation for future negotiations and
urged the rebels to lay down their arms.

But it is unlikely the rebels will declare a unilateral cease-fire or stop
kidnappings - two demands Mr. Uribe says the guerrillas must meet before
the government sits down to negotiate.

As for Colombia's other myriad problems, Mr. Uribe has promised to reduce
corruption and trim the size of Congress, measures that he says will save
money for use in building up the army and addressing social programs.

"It is the message of a strong state with a communitarian component that
includes social investments," said Harvey Suarez of Codhes, a respected
group that works with Colombians displaced by the war. "But I think people
are letting themselves get seduced by promises."

The voters gave Mr. Uribe, who survived an assassination attempt in April,
a strong mandate. In taking the first round, he became the first candidate
to avoid a runoff in the decade since the two-phase electoral system was
put in place. According to a survey of Colombian lawmakers by the
University of Los Andes, he and his running mate, the journalist Francisco
Santos, have the support of 55 of 102 senators and of 97 of 165
representatives.

To be sure, the election underscored voter weariness with centrists like
Mr. Serpa, a longtime politician who took only 32 percent of the vote.
Though Mr. Uribe was a member of the Liberal Party, voters saw him as an
outsider who started his own movement, Colombia First.

Luis Eduardo Garzon, a leftist union leader also running under an
independent coalition, took advantage of voter disenchantment, too. Though
little known a few months ago, Mr. Garzon apparently took third place even
though the organized left has been largely destroyed by assassinations. His
good performance came at the expense of Noemi Sanin, who was once
considered a contender to become Colombia's first female president.

Voters said they responded to Mr. Uribe's straightforward style at a time
when they were ready for drastic change. "His discourse has been more
coherent than the others, even if you do not agree with him," said Carlos
Salgado, interim director of Planeta Paz, a peace group here.

Mr. Uribe has proposed legislation that would expand the state's authority
to detain suspected terrorists and enable government wiretaps. He has
offered sketchy plans to bring in United Nations troops to ensure stability
in war-torn regions. He has talked little about how he would pay for his
proposals, though a top aide said higher taxes were a possibility.

"The only way I can respond to the people for this generous and clear
mandate in a time of national difficulty is by applying my energy and
asking God to give me more and more energy," Mr. Uribe said tonight.

Just four years ago, Mr. Pastrana won a big victory as president on his
pledge to bring peace through negotiations. But his decision to cede a
swath of jungle to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia as a venue
for talks became an embarrassing failure. The guerrillas were accused of
using the zone to mount offensives, grow drug crops, stash arms and hide
kidnapping victims.