Colombian Minister Resigns

Defense Minister Luis Fernando Ramirez has resigned, possibly to launch a bid for president of Colombia as a member of the ruling Conservative Party.

Ramirez stepped down late Friday, just before a midnight deadline for Cabinet members to leave office if they intend to run in the May 2002 elections. While declining to say whether he would be a candidate, Ramirez told El Espectador newspaper in Bogota, the capital, that he wanted to keep his options open.

Under Colombia’s Constitution, Conservative President Andres Pastrana cannot run for reelection.

Pastrana named armed forces chief Gen. Fernando Tapias as his interim defense minister. Tapias is well regarded by U.S. officials.

Ramirez oversaw a huge increase in U.S. aid during his two-year tenure as defense minister. Washington is providing Colombia’s military with hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and training for counter-narcotics battalions leading an offensive to eradicate coca crops.

Ramirez is the second to quit the Cabinet in a week in advance of the elections deadline. Economic Development Minister Augusto Ramirez Ocampo resigned Thursday.

The Conservative government faces an uphill battle for reelection. Its popularity has been damaged by high unemployment and growing insecurity because of Colombia’s 40-year war. It will hold a convention this year to decide on a candidate.

A close confidant of Pastrana, Ramirez helped mend fences between the armed forces and the president after relations soured at the outset of talks with guerrillas.