Colombian judges deny Alvaro Uribe third term poll

[dipsydoodle]

Source: BBC News

Constitutional judges in Colombia have rejected a bid to allow President Alvaro Uribe to stand for a third term in office.

The court voted 7-2 against a proposal backed by parliament to hold a referendum on amending the constitution to allow for three terms.

Mr Uribe won an amendment in 2005 that let him run for a second term in 2006.

The president had not said he hoped to stand in the 30 May election but analysts expected that he would.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8539784.stm

---

:rofl:

[Peace Patriot]

1. I posted this in LBN. See my comment there...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4285430

Or it might get combined with this.

Yeah, there are a lot of amusing ironies in this situation--but the darker things that may be going on are quite serious. That's what I discussed.

[Judi Lynn]

5. You couldn't count the threads we had in LBN concerning the evil of Hugo Chavez' re-election!

Strange, isn't it?

[dipsydoodle]

6. As you can see

this one has the dubious distinction of being moved. :rofl:

[Judi Lynn]

8. Like sweeping it under the rug, isn't it?

That's the kind of slick move that caused most U.S. Americans to stay completely ignorant of deadly US history in Latin America altogether, all accomplished with US taxpayers' hard earned money, but not their knowledge.
http://s3.timetoast.com.nyud.net:8090/public/uploads/photos/251367/tombstone_tiny.gif http://anacleta.homestead.com.nyud.net:8090/files/skeleton_dancing_animated.gif http://s3.timetoast.com.nyud.net:8090/public/uploads/photos/251367/tombstone_tiny.gif

[dipsydoodle]

9. Maybe this should be the mushroon forum

keep everyone else in the dark and pour shit on them occasionally.

:hi:

[Judi Lynn]

10. You've got that right! We're happy as clams, ignorance is bliss here in the Mush Room.

http://i.treehugger.com.nyud.net:8090/images/2007/10/24/mushroom%20compost-jj-001.jpg

[protocol rv]

11. What worries us

Isn't Chavez' re-election, it's his claim to want to rule until 2020 prior to the Constitutional changes - a clear violation of the Bolivarian Constition.

We also don't like the way he has been referring to himself as "the people", the inability to deal with the abuses pointed out by the human rights commission, human rights watch, and the UN, and the evident lack of separation of powers (how can we have them when the Supreme Court is run by a lady who says "separation of powers is bad for the country"?). Venezuela's is a government run by one man, who has three big failings, one, he doesn't listen very well to criticism, two, he's prone to surround himself with incompetents, and three, he listens too much to Fidel Castro - and Fidel Castro is an 83 year old man whose ideas are mostly obsolete.

[Peace Patriot]

13. Protocol rv, your racism against the Indigenous has discredited you. Other DUers should know

...in Comment #36, here...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=405x30994

Your comments about the "rainforest Chernobly" in Ecuador--the Chevron-Texaco toxic oil spill the size of Rhode Island, which has destroyed fisheries, rivers and streams and the living of 30,000 Indigenous people in the Amazon forest--and your racist remark, that the charges against Chevron should be disregarded because they were "presented by an Indian," taint all your other comments on Latin American issues. You are an oil corporation apologist. And your remarks are so ignorant, uninformed and so like the crap put out by Chevron's 12 P.R. firms--which they hired to discredit the Indigenous who filed suit against them for damages and cleanup--that your views have no credibility whatsoever.

In fact, I advise other DUers to use my Rule No. 1 from the Bush Junta as a guide to determining the truth of your statements: To wit, whatever you assert, the opposite is the truth.

Thus, we can surmise that everything you say above is untrue--or half-true or highly distorted--an assumption that is reinforced by your lack of sources for anything, including what Chavez may have said, or who "we" are (i.e., "We also don't like the way he has been referring to himself...".). Untrue, half true or highly distorted is also reinforced by known facts, for instance, you say that Chavez is "prone to surround himself with incompetents," yet the Chavez government produced five years of sizzling economic growth (10%), 2003 to 2008, with the most growth in the private sector (not including oil), and due to this, to good management and to high oil prices, went into the Bushwhack worldwide depression with low debt, good credit, high international cash reserves ($50 billion), and low unemployment, while fully funding numerous new social programs, including universal medical care, free education through university, food subsidies for the poor, loans/grants to small business, land reform and more. They have also cut poverty by half and extreme poverty by 70%, have virtually wiped out illiteracy, have met all of their Milllennium goals, and have fostered maximum citizen participation in government and politics, including significant advances in the rights of women and gays, African-Venezuelans and the Indigenous. These indicators point to competence not incompetence in the Chavez government. And we have only your word--the word of a racist--that Chavez is "prone to surround himself with incompetents." Why should we believe this or anything you say?

And who, pray, is "we"? Do you speak for the Venezuelan people--some 60% of whom have several times voted for the Chavez government in Venezuela's provably honest, fair, transparent election system? Who do you speak for? And why do "their" views sound so much like Chevron-Texaco's and Exxon Mobil's P.R. firm "talking points"?

[Zorro]

14. Stating "Indian presenting complaint" is racist?

Not hardly.

[Peace Patriot]

15. Yes, it most certainly was! nt

[EFerrari]

19. Who is this "we" you speak of? Is that the royal "we"?

I love posts that enact what they complain about. lol

[dipsydoodle]

7. Not sure what time mine got moved here from LBN

We should form a club and call it Pickfords

[rabs]

16. Hummmmm

Wondering why the big earthquake thread on LBN has not been shifted over to Latin American forum yet??? :eyes:


:hi:

[dipsydoodle]

17. Its whats commonly referred too as

inconsistency.

:hi:

[Wilms]

2. .

[EFerrari]

3. . . .

:rofl:

:woohoo:

[Judi Lynn]

4. Good one! Whooooo!

:woohoo: http://www.smileyvillage.com.nyud.net:8090/smilies/banana126.gif

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Judi Lynn]

18. Colombia’s Uribe to Retire, Opening Path for Santos (Update1)

Colombia’s Uribe to Retire, Opening Path for Santos (Update1)
February 27, 2010, 12:15 PM EST

By Helen Murphy and Alexander Cuadros

Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe said he would respect a court ruling that bars him from holding a third consecutive term in office, opening the way for former Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos to stand for office.

The constitutional court yesterday voted 7-to-2 against permitting Colombians to vote on whether to lift the ban on third terms. The magistrates rejected the initiative -- which may have let Uribe stand for office in May -- in part because it endangered checks and balances provided for in the 1991 constitution.

“Colombia has a life after Uribe,” said Patrick Esteruelas, a Latin America risk adviser to hedge funds at the Eurasia Group in New York. “Investors associate the Colombia security and economic miracle with Uribe. There’s a deep bench of candidates waiting in the wings willing to continue the very same policies.”

Santos declared himself a candidate last night, saying he wanted to continue Uribe’s legacy. Former Medellin Mayor Sergio Fajardo, former Senator German Vargas Lleras and Senator Gustavo Petro also intend to run. Opposition lawmakers say another four years in office for the popular Uribe would have drawn comparisons to Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and other regional leaders who have clung to power.

“I want to be president of Colombians to defend Uribe’s legacy,” Santos said, according to daily newspaper El Tiempo. He and another former cabinet member and aspirant vying for Uribe’s endorsement, former Agriculture Minister Felipe Arias, met with the president today in Cali, the Bogota-based newspaper reported.

More:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-02-27/colombia-s-uribe-pledges-respect-for-court-ruling-on-third-term.html