Colombians voted out the traditional parties that have ruled their House and Senate in favor of smaller, independent parties in the country’s recent March elections, according to Al Giordano in The Narco News Bulletin. The loss of support for conservative and liberal parties signals big trouble for Plan Colombia, the United States’ $2 billion military intervention program that would impose a war against Colombian rebel groups. President Andres Pastrana — “the U.S. government’s delivery man for Plan Colombia,” according to Giordano — saw his conservative party win only 21 seats in the 166-member House and 13 in the 99-member Senate. The liberal party’s numbers also declined to 29 in the Senate and 53 in the House. The largest vote-getters were two former members of an armed guerrilla movement, who favor a peace settlement instead of Plan Colombia. The two members are part of the political movement known as Via Alterna — Alternate Path. Collectively, independent parties now have the majority in Colombia’s Congress, with 92 of the 166 seats in the House, and 57 of 99 seats in the Senate.
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