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| Colombians vote for president, with runoff likely | Colombians vote for president, with runoff likely |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombians voted for president Sunday in an election widely viewed as a referendum on incumbent Juan Manuel Santos’s attempt to negotiate a peace accord with FARC guerrillas. | BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombians voted for president Sunday in an election widely viewed as a referendum on incumbent Juan Manuel Santos’s attempt to negotiate a peace accord with FARC guerrillas. |
| With no contender in the five-way race expected to garner the 50 percent of votes needed for an outright victory, the contest is almost certainly headed for a June 15 runoff. | |
| Santos long appeared to be on track for easy reelection on the strength of Colombia’s purring economy. But the race tightened in recent weeks as his main rival, former finance minister Óscar Iván Zuluaga, shot upward in opinion polls, with about 30 percent of voters favoring both men. | Santos long appeared to be on track for easy reelection on the strength of Colombia’s purring economy. But the race tightened in recent weeks as his main rival, former finance minister Óscar Iván Zuluaga, shot upward in opinion polls, with about 30 percent of voters favoring both men. |
| Zuluaga derides the peace talks, and if he wins, it could imperil the delicate negotiations underway in Havana between Santos’s representatives and the aging FARC commanders whose 50-year-old war against the Colombian government is the hemisphere’s longest-running civil conflict. | |
| “Santos is the one with the courage to try to bring us peace, so he deserves my vote,” said Reiner Perez, 51, arriving at the Bolivar Plaza in central Bogota, where security was heavy and balloting proceeded smoothly. | |
| Zuluaga was not a prominent figure in Colombian politics before the race, but he has the backing of powerful former president Álvaro Uribe, Santos’s political archrival. Uribe even appears on Zuluaga’s campaign posters, looming just over his shoulder. | |
| Many here are nostalgic for Uribe’s strong hand and folksy, tough-talking ways, while the blue-blooded Santos has strained to connect with ordinary Colombians. | Many here are nostalgic for Uribe’s strong hand and folksy, tough-talking ways, while the blue-blooded Santos has strained to connect with ordinary Colombians. |
| Zuluaga’s “peace without impunity” slogan also has cachet with Uribe loyalists such as Maria Escobar, 53, who think Santos is going soft on the FARC for political advantage. | Zuluaga’s “peace without impunity” slogan also has cachet with Uribe loyalists such as Maria Escobar, 53, who think Santos is going soft on the FARC for political advantage. |
| “Uribe had the guerillas under control, and these negotiations are a farce,” said Escobar, who described herself as a housewife struggling to make ends meet. She said she voted for Zuluaga because he “thinks like Uribe — that the bad guys should go to jail or pay with their lives.” | “Uribe had the guerillas under control, and these negotiations are a farce,” said Escobar, who described herself as a housewife struggling to make ends meet. She said she voted for Zuluaga because he “thinks like Uribe — that the bad guys should go to jail or pay with their lives.” |
| The peace talks are the race’s only real wedge issue. Both Santos and Zuluaga are conservatives who would deepen Colombia’s free-trade partnership and close relations with the United States. | The peace talks are the race’s only real wedge issue. Both Santos and Zuluaga are conservatives who would deepen Colombia’s free-trade partnership and close relations with the United States. |
| The other candidates are conservative former defense minister Marta Lucía Ramirez, leftist Clara López and former Bogota mayor Enrique Peñalosa, all of whom have been polling at 10 percent or less. | The other candidates are conservative former defense minister Marta Lucía Ramirez, leftist Clara López and former Bogota mayor Enrique Peñalosa, all of whom have been polling at 10 percent or less. |
| But the race has been dominated by the mud fight between Santos and Zuluaga, and several scandals that have left many voters disgusted. | But the race has been dominated by the mud fight between Santos and Zuluaga, and several scandals that have left many voters disgusted. |
| The most serious was the arrest of a computer hacker working for Zuluaga who allegedly intercepted communications between Santos and his negotiating team in Havana. A video later surfaced apparently showing Zuluaga and the hacker discussing the secret communications, raising the possibility that the candidate could face criminal charges. | The most serious was the arrest of a computer hacker working for Zuluaga who allegedly intercepted communications between Santos and his negotiating team in Havana. A video later surfaced apparently showing Zuluaga and the hacker discussing the secret communications, raising the possibility that the candidate could face criminal charges. |
| “This race has been more like a reality show than a presidential campaign,” said Bogota voter Carlos Chávez, adding that he planned to cast a blank ballot in protest. “These candidates are only thinking about their own personal benefit and not the country’s real problems.” | “This race has been more like a reality show than a presidential campaign,” said Bogota voter Carlos Chávez, adding that he planned to cast a blank ballot in protest. “These candidates are only thinking about their own personal benefit and not the country’s real problems.” |