Ina surprising letter Yolanda Pulecio, mother of Ingrid Betancourt, states that Alvaro Uribe does not meet the conditions of offering electoral guarantees to her daughter whom she considers also a candidate in the forthcoming elections.

Has Ingrid Betancourt the necessary conditions to be a presidential candidate after having spent three years and eight months in FARC hands?

That is a question put by Yolanda Pulecio in her letter sent to the magistrate in the Constitutional Court in which she puts forward the surprising idea that president Alvaro Uribe would not be able to go forward to be re-elected because her daughter is not guaranteed the (same) right.

In her letter, Yolanda Pulecio states "we are of the opinion that it is impossible for (…) the President to put forward his own name for re-election, and at the same time to be the one who holds the legal and judicial means to conclude a humanitarian agreement with FARC in order to obtain the freedom of another presidential candidate".

According to Yolanda, Ingrid Betancourt still maintains her status as candidate, but her situation as a hostage is incompatible with the equality guarantees legislation demands of rival candidates.

That is why she has asked this question in the Court regarding Uribe, just at a time when this high tribunal is about to legislate on the Law of Guarantees (editor's note: laws that lay down rules so that the president does not use his current power to advantage in his re-election campaign).

Has Yolanda Pulecio's argument any hope of succeeding? Enquiries made by this newspaper argued it has no hope of going anywhere.

Antonio Navarro, presidential candidate for 'Pole Democratic, maintains that " the condition of being a candidate is not permanent, it is valid only for one term, but he believes that the step taken by Yolanda must be seen as that of a mother in support of her daughter".

That is also the opinion of Rafael Pardo, another presidential candidate. "Ingrid was a candidate, but that was on the previous occasion. This approach seems to be more emotional than legal".

"There is no legal obstacle to Uribe being a candidate", stated Hector Heli Rojas, a pro- government liberal.