Uribe and a third term

The AP has a good summary of the process Alvaro Uribe would have to follow in order to pursue a constitutional amendment to allow him to run for a third consecutive term. The Colombian Congress may start that process today.

After congressional approval, the plebiscite must be ratified by Colombia's Constitutional Court. That could take three months.

A full 25 percent of Colombia's registered voters would then have to vote to amend the constitution to allow re-election. That's 7.2 million votes. Uribe got 7.5 million in his 2006 re-election.

The article also notes that many of Uribe's political allies do not like the idea, which has been obvious for the past year or so. In part, they see similar efforts by Hugo Chávez, Rafael Correa, and Evo Morales as power grabs, and do not want the same for Colombia. (And, of course, remember that Uribe already did this once before).

Yet one thing that sets Uribe apart is that even while he pursues that power, he refuses to acknowledge that he is doing it. When asked by the BBC, he answered "Another question, amigo." So what's worse: pushing to stay in office, or doing so while pretending you're not?