1. THE ECONOMIST:
The maths of a Green revolution Antanas Mockus is in many ways the opposite of Álvaro Uribe, the popular outgoing president. So why are the polls saying the upstart might replace him?
Apr 29th 2010 | SANTA MARTA | From
The Economist print edition
A FEW months ago when Antanas Mockus (above) started campaigning for this month’s presidential election, his security detail comprised his campaign manager walking a few feet in front of him as they toured from city to city arousing sparse audiences. But at a recent rally in Santa Marta, on Colombia’s Caribbean coast, Mr Mockus, a former mayor of Bogotá who is the candidate of a newly formed Green Party, arrived in a bulletproof SUV. Half a dozen bodyguards surrounded him as chanting crowds pressed forward to shake his hand. With four weeks to go before the vote, he has shot to the top of the opinion polls. One survey, published on April 26th in
Semana, a news magazine, gave him 38% of the vote, up from just 9% a month before. This week another, by Invamer-Gallup, had him on 32%, just three points behind Juan Manuel Santos, who claims to be the heir of Álvaro Uribe, the outgoing president. Both polls suggested that Mr Mockus would beat Mr Santos in a run-off....
nota completa....
http://www.economist.com/world/ameri...ry_id=16015299
2. the guardian.co.uk
Green regeneration in Colombia
Presidential hopeful Antanas Mockus is persuading many that he can reform Colombia's parasitic and abusive political culture
Antanas Mockus seems to offer Colombia what Lula da Silver offered Brazil. Photograph: Carlos Ortega/EPA
Say it quietly, but the next president of Colombia might not be
a guerrilla-obsessed rightwinger. Just about everyone had expected Alvaro Uribe's successor to be a similar hardliner, such as former defence minister Juan Manuel Santos. Instead, Colombians are on the verge of electing a leader who will transform their parasitic political culture. Latin America's most exciting presidential prospect since Lula da Silva has arrived.
nota completa...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...s-mockus-green....