Colombian opposition leader points to Venezuela and says Colombia can't afford to have a government that controls everything

Caracas Daily Journal (Jeremy Morgan): Colombian opposition leader Cesar Gaviria pointed to Venezuela, saying his country couldn't afford to have a government that controlled everything, in a tilt against President Alvaro Uribe's suspected aspiration to go for a second re-election.

Uribe is in his second term and the Constitution limits re-election to one instance, as still does Venezuela's after President Hugo Chavez' failure at last December's referendum to get the ban on successive re-elections removed.

Gaviria, who was president in 1990-94, said, "We must not arrive at the situation of having a government that has everything" as had Venezuela. "I don't believe the Colombians want a president without controls," he added. "Democracy is with democratic counter-weights ... controls are necessary and to force constitutional changes ends up having supremely large risks. What happens in neighboring countries has to be watched."

Uribe's four-year term ends in 2010, and he hasn't ruled out trying for a third term running.