The majority of congressmen of Colombia’s coalition party Cambio
Radical support the 2010 re-election of President Álvaro Uribe, despite
the party leadership’s order to vote against it, Representative Roy Barreras said Monday.
Barreras accused Cambio Radical leader Vargas Lleras of having left the party to itself in an interview with radio station La FM. “In my opinion he has the right to prepare himself [for the 2010 presidential elections], but I believe he disconnected himself from the party to the extent that last year there was only one reunion with him and the bench,” Barreras said.
The Representative said he would continue working towards a 2010 re-election of Uribe, just like most of his colleagues in Congress.
Barreras denied allegations made by Semana columnist Daniel Coronell who said Barreras was being bribed by the government and already saw three of his political prodigies appointed important jobs within the government, while Cambio Radical members were kicked out of administrative offices, allegedly for their party’s refusal to agree with the 2010 re-election.
Cambio Radical’s leadership has drifted away from the government’s policy slowly as its founder and leader Vargas Lleras — member of a family with a long history of political power — openly admits he aspires the 2010 leadership himself.