This is an 81 percent reduction from the year prior to the last elections, in 2002, when the FARC kidnapped candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who remains captive.
Colombians overwhelmingly credit Uribe for the dramatic drop in violence.
As part of his "democratic security" agenda, Uribe has put 25 percent more troops and police on the streets during his four years in office.
Defense spending has also nearly doubled, backed by military aid from the US -- part of the anti-drug effort known as Plan Colombia that has cost US taxpayers US$4 billion since 2000.
RSS