Colombia Extends Special Powers

Colombia’s Senate has extended a measure that gives the government emergency powers in its battle against outlawed armed groups, a government official said Saturday.

The Senate approval late Friday extends the measure for 90 days beginning Feb. 7, when it was set to expire, said Maria Margarita Zuleta, a vice minister for justice and the interior.

Colombia’s Constitution allows the measure to be renewed without approval from the House of Representatives. This was the second time the Senate has extended the measure, Zuleta said.

President Alvaro Uribe’s Aug. 13 declaration of a “state of unrest” gives the government power to decree special measures to battle leftist rebels fighting in the nation’s 38-year civil conflict. Most of the country’s outlawed right-wing paramilitary groups recently declared a unilateral cease-fire.

Human rights monitors worry that the emergency powers could be used to suppress individual freedoms. Colombia’s Constitutional Court has thrown out many of the provisions pushed through under the measure.

Meanwhile, Uribe won final approval from Congress late Friday on a sweeping tax hike and a referendum to stem political corruption, the president’s office said.