Betancourt 2nd most popular politician in Colombia

By Hugh Bronstein

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Ingrid Betancourt, rescued in July after six years in leftist rebel captivity, is the second most popular politician in Colombia after President Alvaro Uribe, according to a Gallup poll released on Wednesday.

But French-Colombian Betancourt is still no serious threat to hard-liner Uribe, who may run again in 2010. She has no political party backing her calls for dialogue with the guerrillas who kidnapped her and are widely reviled for their practice of abductions.

"Popularity does not necessarily mean electability," said Francisco Leal, analyst at Bogota's University of the Andes.

Uribe's popularity has slipped to 78 percent after touching record highs two months ago amid euphoria over the daring rescue of Betancourt, three American defense contractors and 11 other hostages held for years in miserable jungle camps.

Sixty-three percent of those surveyed had a favorable opinion of Betancourt, according to the poll.

She was abducted by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, during her 2002 presidential campaign. Betancourt has not ruled out a return to politics.

The Gallup Colombia poll was taken late last month and had a margin of error of 5 percentage points.

The U.S.-backed Uribe was re-elected in 2006 after Congress passed a constitutional amendment allowing him to run for a second term. He is leaving open the possibility of another change in the law to let him run again in two years.

Many of Uribe's own supporters say a third term by the combative leader would threaten Colombia's balance of powers.

He has assailed the courts, the press and the central bank for not going along with his policies aimed at bringing peace and prosperity to Colombia. His recent outbursts prompted Cambio, a leading news magazine, to run his picture on its cover this week with the headline, "Out of Control."

Uribe was widely praised for ordering soldiers to pose as aid workers and dupe the FARC into handing over the hostages.

Hundreds of other kidnap victims remain in rebel hands.

Uribe had 85 percent popularity just after the rescue, according to Gallup. Other polls gave him even higher numbers.

The bespectacled president, whose father was killed in a 1983 FARC kidnapping attempt, has made crushing the 44-year-old insurgency the cornerstone of his government.

Should he not run in 2010, Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos is the most likely candidate to try to carry on Uribe's security push. Gallup says 56 percent of those surveyed have a favorable opinion of Santos.

(Reporting by Hugh Bronstein)