Colombia: President of Last Resort

President of Last Resort

After a violent election campaign left three presidential candidates dead, Colombians gingerly went to the polls last week in the lowest turnout ever. As expected, they elected Cesar Gaviria Trujillo of the ruling Liberal Party as their new leader, with a surprisingly large 47% of the vote.

Gaviria, 43, owes his victory in part to his willingness to pick up the mantle of antidrug crusaders after his party's leading candidate, Luis Carlos Galan, was gunned down last August by drug-cartel assassins. Thrust unexpectedly into the limelight at the urging of Galan's family, Gaviria emerged as the most vocal of the candidates...

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