Despite a falling approval rating, Colombia’s Interior Minister said the reelection prospects for President Juan Manuel Santos remain stable.
“Re-election is a choice, not an obsession,” said Fernando Carrillo. “We [the Santos administration] have to keep working, showing results, the dialogues of Havana, Cuba, have not crippled the agenda, 2013 is an important year for the victims and [for] human rights.”
Carrillo added that next year the government will address topics such as pension reform, continuing talks with the country’s largest guerrilla group, FARC, and “one heavy legislative agenda to be submitted to Congress on March 15.”
A recent Gallup poll which surveyed people from Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Barranquilla and Bucaramanga showed President Santos’ approval rating resting at 53%. The decline may be a result of the recent International Court of Justice ruling that granted Nicaragua significant maritime territory that used to belong to Colombia and how the Santos administration has handled the situation.
