15-03-2018: Latin American Weekly Report

The majority of Colombia’s political parties could claim a victory of some sort in the congressional elections on 11 March but the biggest winner was Germán Vargas Lleras, whose right-of-centre party, Cambio Radical (CR), excelled. Vargas Lleras has been languishing in the opinion polls but this result should put his presidential bid on track ahead of the 27 May showdown. The centrist parties aligned behind President Juan Manuel Santos saw their presence reduced, amid a discernible shift to the Right in congress, but they retain an important influence. The new Fuerza Alternativa Revolucionaria del Común (Farc) performed poorly in its first outing as a political party, but has a potentially crucial guaranteed 10 seats.