COLOMBIA: Going Strong

Chatty and smiling, President Gustavo Rojas Pinilla last week made a confident reply to his critics, who now include six of Colombia's seven living ex-Presidents, some from Rojas' own Conservative Party and others from the opposition Liberals. The general complaint: Rojas' increasingly harsh measures, e.g., closing down the respected Bogotá daily El Tiempo last August, are turning Colombia into an out-and-out military dictatorship, and costing the government heavily in prestige. Rojas' answer, made in an impromptu speech at the opening of an exhibit of public works: "I ask myself how the government can be losing prestige? Formerly Liberal...

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