of the americas represented here today by the dialogue president, peter hakim and eric fonts' -- fonzworth. president alvaro uribe was elected in 2002. he inherited tremendous challenges, decades of violence that plagued his country but under his leadership over the last seven years columbia has made remarkable strides towards peace, security, stability and prosperity. he expanded the armed forces. he oversaw the demobilization of over 30,000 paramilitary fighters, ferc and eln suffered more than 10,000 defections and numerous setbacks at the hands of government forces. including the rescue of three united states citizens and several other hostages nearly a year ago. 2006 the colombian people demonstrated their support by reelecting a president by an impressive 62% margin. and his high public approval rating remains the envy of politicians across the world. all of this is coincided with of the strengthening of bilateral relations between washington. while columbia continues to face significant challenges, they are challenges that washington can work to overcome. as all colombians seek to b