Alvaro Uribe, Colombia´s president, moved this week to strengthen his hand for a controversial third term as the Andean nation’s economy showed the strains of falling exports and faltering consumer confidence.

The president, who has an approval rating of about 70 per cent, this week secured the support of his coalition partners for a bill that would approve a national referendum to alter the consititution to allow for his candidacy, and appointed two supportive judges to the country´s constitutional court.