Colombia Inaugurates President Alvaro Uribe for A Second Term

2006-08-08 20:21:27 CRIENGLISH.com

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has been sworn in for a second term on Monday.

Eleven heads of state attended the ceremony, although the presidents of regional heavyweights Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela were absent. 54-year-old Uribe says he would devote himself to pursuing a peaceful end to this nation's four-decade-old civil war.

"We have insisted with no fear to do all that it takes to get security. I’m not afraid of negotiating for peace...To achieve peace there must be transparency, therefore, the irreversible paths to reconciliation must be the link between security and peace."

After reforming the constitution last year to allow him to seek a second term, Uribe coasted to victory in May 28 elections, winning 62 per cent of the vote.

Uribe is Colombia's first sitting president to be re-elected.

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