Election results from Colombia show the ruling coalition of President Alvaro Uribe has won a strong majority in the country's Congress.
With most of the ballots counted from Sunday's vote, parties loyal to Mr. Uribe are projected to win more than 60 Senate seats in the 102-member upper house. Colombian voters also selected 166 members of the lower house of Congress.
Mr. Uribe's coalition fared much better than pollsters had expected, and the results could give a boost to his campaign for re-election in May.
Mr. Uribe is seeking a second four-year term as president to continue the struggle against the leftist guerilla group FARC (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). He called on the FARC to abandon its four-decade old insurgency and resume the stalled peace process.
Sunday's congressional elections were largely peaceful, and polling stations were protected by a large security force of 200,000 troops.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.