CARACAS -- Colombia plunged into political uncertainty Friday as opponents of President Alvaro Uribe accused him of acting like a ''dictator'' because he called for new elections that could allow him to extend his stay in office beyond the end of his current term in 2010.

The controversy stems from a Supreme Court decision Thursday that raises questions about the legitimacy of Uribe's 2006 reelection, which gave the Colombian leader an unprecedented second term.

Uribe responded immediately to that decision by announcing that he would end the legitimacy question by seeking congressional approval for a referendum asking Colombians to replay the 2006 presidential elections. He won them in a landslide.

Opponents said Friday that Uribe was using the court statement to seek his most cherished goal: capitalizing on his stratospheric popularity to get the Congress to allow him to run for president for a third term. Supporters have been collecting signatures to allow just that.

If Congress lets him run again following his new gambit, Uribe could extend his term to perhaps 2014.

''It's clear that his announcement pushes the country toward tyranny,'' Sen. Jorge Enrique Robledo said by telephone from Bogotá. ``He's acting as if those with a lot of public support can do whatever they want. It's evident that he's trying to perpetuate himself in power, like a dictator.''

Presidential spokesman César Mauricio Velásquez sought to squelch the opponents' criticism Friday by saying that Uribe's ''only interest is to confirm the legitimacy of his election'' for the current term.

The Supreme Court said that Congress' 2004 decision to allow Uribe to seek a second term two years later was tainted when the high court sentenced a congresswoman to prison for accepting jobs for supporters in exchange for providing what turned out to be the decisive vote in his favor. Before that vote, Colombian presidents could serve only a single four-year term.

Uribe has not stated he wants to run for a third term, but he has not refused to rule it out, either. Some observers have said that like many political leaders who have transformed their countries, Uribe has a messianic belief that without him in office, the country will backslide.

First elected in 2002, Uribe has drastically reduced violence tied to a four-decade-old leftist insurgency. He put Colombia's oldest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, on the run and has severely weakened right-wing paramilitary squads that terrorized rural areas for years. The economy also has grown steadily during his six years in office.

More than 70 percent of Colombians view him favorably, according to polls. That is the highest popularity rating for any leader in Latin America. Analysts believe he would easily win another term.

Colombia is the most important U.S. ally in Latin America, receiving more than $500 million in assistance every year to combat drug trafficking and the guerrillas.

An important group of his supporters believe that Uribe would weaken Colombia's democracy if he seeks to remain in office. Among them is Rafael Nieto, who served as vice minister of justice in his first term.

Nieto called Uribe's announcement Thursday ``a brilliant political move, whether or not you're in agreement with him.''

Nieto said the Supreme Court's statement initially seemed to be a setback for the president because it immediately cast a shadow over the 2006 reelection and his entire second term.

''But he's turned a problem into a great advantage,'' Nieto said by phone from Bogotá. ``Uribe can now claim that he needs to have the chance to run again, not because he wants another term but because he wants to legitimize the 2006 election. Until now, the opposition has been saying his term was illegal. It will be difficult for them to oppose the new election.''

Sen. Gustavo Petro, a leading Uribe opponent, was ceding no ground on Friday.

''We're in the process of heading toward a coup d'etat,'' Petro said by telephone. ``He's trying to make legitimate his past election. That's what dictators do.''

Join the discussion

Note: If this is your first time using our NEW commenting system, you will have to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN.

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@