Presidential elections were held in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

on 26 May 2002. Nohlen, Dieter (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II'', p. 306 Álvaro Uribe, the candidate of the recently created

Colombia First Colombia First ( es, Primero Colombia) was a non-profit foundation and later conservative political movement in Colombia which supported the candidacy of Álvaro Uribe in the 2002 and 2006 presidential elections. The movement was created in 2001 b ...

movement, was elected, receiving 53% of the vote by the first round. Uribe took office on 7 August.

Background

In the 1998 presidential elections,

Andrés Pastrana Andres or Andrés may refer to: *Andres, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois, US *Andres, Pas-de-Calais, a commune in Pas-de-Calais, France *Andres (name) *Hurricane Andres * "Andres" (song), a 1994 song by L7 See also ...

of the Colombian Conservative Party was elected to the presidency on a platform of holding

peace negotiations A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a surre ...

with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas. After over three years of tortuous dialogue – while the conflict continued unabated in the rest of the country – Pastrana announced on 20 February 2002 that he was ending the peace process with the FARC. During this complicated period, public opinion radicalized in favour of a strong military strategy to end the Colombian armed conflict.

Candidates

Conservative Party

In 2001 the governing coalition – composed of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

and dissident Liberals – which had carried Pastrana to the presidency in 1998 began looking for a candidate to carry the coalition into the 2002 elections. Former Vice President and Minister of the Interior

Humberto de La Calle Humberto de la Calle Lombana (; born 14 July 1946) is a Colombian lawyer and politician. He served as Vice President of Colombia from 1994 to 1997. De La Calle served in the cabinet as Interior Minister under two Presidents, Andrés Pastrana a ...

, a dissident Liberal, was approached but he declined, arguing that the candidacy should go to a Conservative. The Minister of Economic Development, Augusto Ramírez Ocampo, resigned his portfolio to seek the presidency, but he later failed to obtain Conservative support because of his low support in the polls. Following Ramírez Ocampo's withdrawal, the party's president, Carlos Holguín Sardi organized an internal consultation among the over 16,000 delegates in the national convention. Some members of the party wished to offer the candidacy to

Noemí Sanín Marta Noemí del Espíritu Santo Sanín Posada (born 6 June 1949) is a Colombian-born politician and diplomat. She was the Conservative party candidate in the 2010 Colombian presidential election. A lawyer from Pontifical Xavierian Universi ...

(a former Conservative who had run as an independent in the 1998 election, placing third in the first round), but she declined, opting to continue her independent candidacy. As a result, her supporters within the party's ranks decided not to participate in the internal consultation and join her campaign directly. Three candidates registered to participate in the Conservative primary, the favourite and eventual winner by a large margin was

Juan Camilo Restrepo ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

. Restrepo, who had lost the 1998 Conservative candidacy to Pastrana, had later served in Pastrana's cabinet as Minister of Finance (1998-2000), where his austere measures against the economic crisis made him unpopular and led to his appointment as Colombia's ambassador to France. With most of the Conservative party ultimately supporting

Uribe The Merindad de Uribe or Uribealdea is a historical subdivision of Biscay, Basque Country, Spain. It contained most of the municipalities now within the comarca of Greater Bilbao in the Bilbao metropolitan area (other than the majority of the '' ...

, Restrepo withdrew from the race.

Liberal Party

The official candidate of the Liberal Party was

Horacio Serpa Horacio Serpa Uribe (4 January 1943 – 31 October 2020) was a Colombian lawyer, politician and Senator. Serpa ran as the Colombian Liberal Party candidate for President on three occasions; in 1998, 2002, and 2006. He previously served as co ...

, who had already been the party's candidate in the 1998 election. Despite being a polarizing figure, Serpa entered the election as the favourite.Franco, p. 257

Álvaro Uribe's independent candidacy

Álvaro Uribe, the former Liberal governor of

Antioquia Antioquia is the Spanish form of Antioch. Antioquia may also refer to: * Antioquia Department, Colombia * Antioquia State, Colombia (defunct) * Antioquia District, Peru * Antioquia Railway The Antioquia Railway ( es, Ferrocarril de Antioquia) i ...

(1995-1997), entered the race as a strong opponent of the peace talks with the FARC, but originally suffered from low name recognition against other better-known candidates. Uribe declined to participate in a Liberal primary, citing the lack of guarantees, and instead launched an independent candidacy (by collecting signatures from voters to win ballot access) with the backing of the

(''Primero Colombia'') movement. Uribe entered the field taking a hardline position against the peace talks with the FARC, arguing that peace talks should only be held following the cessation of hostilities and terrorist actions.

The left

Luis Eduardo Garzón Luis Eduardo Garzón (nicknamed "Lucho") (born February 11, 1951 in Bogotá) is the former Mayor of Bogotá (2004–2007), a left-wing Colombian political activist and a former union leader. He is a former member of the Alternative Democratic Po ...

, the first president of the

Central Union of Workers The Central Union of Workers (CUT; es, Central Unitaria de Trabajadores) is a Leftist trade union center in Colombia. It was formed in 1986, and is the country's largest union federation, with 546,000 members.American Center for International L ...

between 1990 and 2001, ran as the candidate of the left-wing Social and Political Front, later joined by other left-wing parties including the ANAPO and united under the name

Independent Democratic Pole The Independent Democratic Pole (''Polo Democrático Independiente'') or (PDI), was a left-wing social democratic political party in Colombia. Origins Originally formed as a left-wing congressional coalition, the party itself was officially found ...

. His candidacy received a major boost following the left's good results in the March 2002 congressional elections.

Campaign

With public opinion having turned against the continuation of peace talks with the guerrilla, Uribe saw his support in the polls increase at a consistent pace. He broke through, surpassing Serpa, beginning in February 2002, following President Pastrana's announcement that he was ending the peace process. The shift in the polls led a number of Conservatives to abandon their party's official candidate and join Uribe. Decrying the lack of support for his candidacy, Juan Camilo Restrepo dropped out and the Conservative Party chose to officially endorse Uribe. Uribe also received the support of a number of other small parties and movements, including

Radical Change Radical Change ( es, Cambio Radical; stylized with a backwards "R") is a conservative liberal political party in Colombia. After the elections on 12 March 2006, the party became one of the most important in the new Congress, receiving 20 seats ...

, senator Germán Vargas Lleras' ''Colombia Siempre'', the National Salvation Movement and

Team Colombia Team Colombia (''Equipo Colombia'') is a conservative political party in Colombia. At the last legislative elections, 10 March 2002, the party won, as one of the many small parties, parliamentary representation. It joined forces with ALAS ''Alas ...