Death squad allegations threaten to derail Bush's last Latin ally, Colombia's Uribe

Mr Uribe, the last man standing among Washington's right-wing allies in South America, is riding high in the polls ahead of the presidential election on 28 May. His success is crucial to the White House, which has seen a succession of sympathetic governments defeated in the so-called "pink wave" of left-wing leaders who have swept to power in Latin America.

But allegations that have haunted the short-tempered politician since he won the presidency in 2002 have resurfaced. They involve an alleged conspiracy to assassinate leftists and union leaders, and leaking sensitive information to drug traffickers and right-wing paramilitary groups.

President Uribe's tough stance on security has helped to lift him to 64 per cent in the opinion polls. The government's offensive against left-wing rebels, blamed for the cocaine trade, has won him strong backing and huge military aid from the US.

But that has not helped him to escape allegations from Colombia's respected news magazine Semana, which includes evidence of a plot by the state security agency to destabilise Colombia's left-wing neighbour, Venezuela.

The fresh round of reports prompted Mr Uribe to launch a diatribe against the publication's editor, Alejandro Santos. "I'm not going to allow accusations to stand that the government assassinated labour leaders or was implicated in a conspiracy against Venezuela or somehow allowed me to steal the 2002 elections," he told a local radio station.

The response of the President, who is notoriously bad tempered with journalists' questions, drew criticism from rights groups who have questioned links between his government and far-right paramilitaries. "Instead of attacking the news media for reporting allegations of criminal activity, President Uribe should ensure a full investigation of the charges," New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

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http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article358339.ece