Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has been re-elected by a landslide in Sunday's national election.
With 96 percent of the votes counted, Mr. Uribe had 62 percent of the vote, surpassing the 50 percent he needed to win in the initial round of voting.
His closest challenger, Leftist Senator Carlos Gaviria had 22 percent. Gavira conceeded defeat, telling supporters it was time to recognize the victory of president Uribe.
Sunday's voting was peaceful, with no reported rebel attacks on voters. Some 200,000 security personnel were deployed for the election.
Mr. Uribe gained popularity with voters by improving the economy and taking a hard-line stance against the country's largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
President Uribe took office in 2002 and has become Washington's closest ally in the region.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.