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Colombian Minister Resigns

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From Associated Press

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.

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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.

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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.

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