COLOMBIA: Colombian president Mr Alvaro Uribe launched his re-election bid this week. He is seeking an amendment to the constitution which would allow him to run for a second term in 2006.
Under the constitution, elected officials are not allowed to run for consecutive terms
President Uribe's move comes against a background of growing fears that civilians are at risk and civil liberties restricted because of pressure on military commanders to produce battlefield victories.
Government soldiers accidentally killed three fellow troops on Monday after mistaking them for paramilitary gunmen.
Troops also killed five members of one family last weekend, including three teenagers and a baby, after mistaking them for left-wing rebels. Last month seven police officers and four civilian informants were killed by an army platoon which mistook them for drug traffickers.
On February 8th an army captain and a soldier were killed and six soldiers wounded when an army helicopter opened fire on them.
In a nationally televised address this week President Uribe rejected calls to moderate his military campaign, insisting it was the only way to secure peace and stability in Colombia.
"We cannot hand the country over to a wimp" said President Uribe. His "democratic security" project required a second four-year period in office if it was to succeed, he said.
His crackdown on leftist rebels has proved highly popular in a nation weary of chronic civil unrest but civil rights have been affected and Colombia remains the most dangerous place in the world to be a trade union activist - 78 officials were killed last year alone.
An anti-terror statute was approved this week, permitting the replacement of elected civilian officials with army officers in conflict areas and requiring all citizens to obtain a special ID issued by security forces.
President Uribe enjoys a 70 per cent approval rating yet his political reform programme was defeated in a referendum last year, and a left-wing rival was elected mayor of Bogota, the nation's second most important political post.