Porfirio Lobo, the president of Honduras, said Tuesday he is concerned that a change of government in Colombia will jeopardize the security gains achieved during President Alvaro Uribe’s eight year rule.
“It concerns me that there are elections and that there will be a change of government, which is the right of the people, but one would desire that everything in Colombia continued as normal, and I am concerned because in Honduras in 2002 we had a government with a lot of insecurity and a lot of crime,” Lobo said.
When asked if his comments should be interpreted as him backing “Uribista” presidential candidate Juan Manuel Santos, Lobo said he did not know Santos, nor his main rival Green Party candidate Antanas Mockus. Lobo stressed that it was not his intent to intervene in the Colombian elections.
Mockus’ critics have expressed concern that Uribe’s democratic security policy would flounder under the leadership of the former Bogota mayor.
In a live televised debate, all the presidential candidates rejected foreign interference in the Colombian electoral process.
Lobo has concluded his two-day official visit to Colombia, in which he met with Uribe and other officials to discuss topics such as security and education.
According to W Radio, Lobo has said that one of the reasons for this trip to Colombia is to thank the Uribe administration for recognizing the Honduran government, which came to power in January following the removal of previous President Manuel Zelaya in a coup in June last year.
Colombian presidential elections are scheduled for this Sunday May 30. The country’s borders will be closed from 4 AM to 4 PM Sunday.