Colombia's peaceful transition demonstrates commitment to democracy

Anybody still harboring doubts about the strength of South America's commitment to democracy -- perfectly understandable, in light of recent political events -- should take heart from Colombia's presidential transition. We're speaking, of course, of Friday's decision by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to withdraw from the next presidential election after the country's highest court ruled out last-minute efforts to make him eligible for a third term. The two-term incumbent's unexpected departure from the race makes former Finance Minister Juan Manuel Santos the front runner in the election in May, according to the Reuters international news service. Uribe bowed out of the race graciously after the ruling in a region known for tumultuous politics. "I accept and I respect the decision of the Constitutional Court," Uribe said after the ruling. "One dream inspires me: that the country betters its path, but does not change it." Uribe still enjoys wide popularity in Colombia, where he championed a crackdown on Marxist rebels and cocaine traffickers, and helped the country evolved from a failed narco state into one with a robust economy. Success against the rebels led to increased foreign investment and economic growth, Reuters said, and Colombia became the strongest supporter of the United States in a region that has seen anti-U.S. leaders come to power in nearby Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador. Colombia is now Latin America's largest coffee exporter and No. 4 oil exporter, Reuters said. Santos is expected to continue Uribe's policies, but faces a tough campaign against Medellin Mayor Sergio Fajardo and former defense minister Noemi Sanin.

Leftist Morales expected to win again in Bolivia

The aftershocks of the eight-year term of former U.S. President George W. Bush are still reverberating in South America, where Bolivia's leftist president, Evo Morales, is expected to win a second term in office and his Movement Toward Socialism party to win control of Congress. Morales, a self-proclaimed admirer of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro and an ally of Venezuela's anti-U.S. leader Hugo Chavez, is wildly popular among the 60 percent of Bolivians who live in poverty but has attracted the ire of the country's business elite. Morales is the first Andean Indian to be elected the country's president, and his re-election probably will lead to more government control over the economy, according to the Reuters international news service. The former coca leaf farmer and llama herder has already nationalized the country's energy and mining industries, and used the income to give cash payments to schoolchildren, new mothers and the elderly, Reuters said. Morales, known for fiery speeches in which he rails against capitalism and calls the United States "the empire," also was successful in changing Bolivia's constitution to allow him to run for a second term, as have other South American leaders. Morales faced two more-conservative challengers, Manfred Reyes Villa, a former governor, and Samuel Doria Medina, who made a fortune in the cement business. Reyes Villa, the stronger challenger, contended during the campaign that Morales was bent on accumulating more and more power, Reuters said. "What's in play in this election is democracy," he said. Bolivia's economy is expected to grow nearly 3 percent in 2009 despite the global economic downturn, the continent's most robust growth rate, Reuters said.

Antigua and Barbuda beneficiaries of the 'other' Hugo Chavez

What does it mean that Venezuela's virulently anti-United States president, Hugo Chavez, just gave $50 million to help the Caribbean two-island country of Antigua and Barbuda cope with financial losses from the collapse of a bank owned by Texas billionaire Allen Stanford? Antigua's prime minister, Baldwin Spencer, announced Thursday that Venezuela had agreed to loan the tiny country $50 million on favorable terms to help it weather the crisis. "Today, I am pleased to advise the nation that at one o'clock this morning President Hugo Chavez signed the necessary paperwork to approve the immediate transfer of the full amount of $50 million to the government's call account at the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank," Spencer said, according to the Reuters international news service. Spencer led Antigua to join the Chavez-inspired ALBA alliance of leftist Latin American countries two months ago, an alliance that includes Venezuela, Bolivia and Cuba, which was created as an alternative to U.S. economic influence in Latin America, Reuters said. Aiding Antigua is another way for Chavez to gain influence in the region, since the United States has not offered such aid because it believes Antigua's government was involved in a $7 billion fraud allegedly perpetrated by Stanford through his Antigua-based Stanford International Bank. The U.S. Justice Department handed down indictments in June accusing Stanford, three bank executives at the bank and Antigua's chief bank regulator with complicity in the fraud. Investors from the United States, Mexico, Colombia and Peru have sued Antigua for $24 billion, accusing the country of helping the fraud. Venezuelan investors also lost money in the investment scheme, which involved certificates of deposit from the bank, Reuters said. Antigua is a member of another Chavez-inspired group, PetroCaribe, which allows poor countries in the region buy oil on credit. This is not the first time Chavez's dislike for the United States has "encouraged" him to help his neighbors -- hopefully, it won't be the last.