Colombian Interior Minister Quits

Failing to push through a plan to dissolve Congress, Colombia’s interior minister resigned Monday rather than face the possibility of being forced out.

Nestor Humberto Martinez, who as interior minister spearheaded the government’s plan to annul the legislature through a national referendum, stepped down just minutes before the opposition-controlled Congress was to debate removing him from office.

The events marked a major political defeat for President Andres Pastrana, who had announced the proposed referendum March 30 in response to a scandal in Congress over $2.5 million in padded contracts awarded in the last days of 1999.

Pastrana’s referendum proposal to hold new legislative elections met with anger in Congress, where the opposition Liberal Party holds a majority. Pastrana’s critics said any referendum also should include new presidential elections.