BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said yesterday he will seek a second term in next May’s election, a widely expected decision that could offer him another four years to pursue a peace process he initiated with Marxist FARC rebels.
“I am running because I am convinced we have advanced sufficiently and finally it is possible to reach that future of prosperity and peace that all Colombians deserve,” Santos, 62, said in a televised address to the nation.
“I am doing it because when you can see the light at the end of the tunnel you don’t turn back.”
Santos, a Harvard-educated journalist and son of one of the nation’s most influential families, will take on opposition candidate Oscar Ivan Zuluaga in a campaign likely to focus on how peace with the rebels would transform Colombian society after five decades of war.
Polls make Santos a clear favourite to win, though probably in a second round of voting.
