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Show Latin leader chosen Belisario Betancur ended end-ed a 20-year quest for his country's highest office and became the first conservative con-servative elected president presi-dent in 36 years in Colombia. Colom-bia. With over 80 percent of the vote counted, Betancur Betan-cur gathered over 46 percent per-cent of the vote to 40 percent per-cent for Alfonso Lopez, who served as president from 1974 to 1978. Betancur's platform called for business programs pro-grams to curb unemployment. unemploy-ment. Colombia is one of only four democracies in South America that has nonetheless been plagued with political violence for 30 vears. |