A president rebuffed

摘要

"Alesson in humility" was how the cover of Semana, Colombia's leading news magazine, put it. That is something to which neither President Alvaro Uribe, nor still less his interior minister, Fernando Londono, is accustomed. But last weekend, first in a referendum and then in local elections, voters delivered a slap in the face to both men, leaving the president's political agenda in tatters and Mr Londono's job under threat. Mr Uribe is-and will probably remain―hugely popular with Colombians, because of his vigorous efforts to restore order in a country torn by the violence of guerrillas, right-wing vigilantes and drug traffickers. But his attempt to turn his popularity into support for a complicated 15-point referendum on political and fiscal reform backfired.