News In Brief

Colombian ruling party maintains regional hold

President Belisario Betancur's Conservative Party appeared Monday to have maintained its majority in local and provincial elections which left five people dead in election-related violence.

Early results from the Sunday voting showed the Conservative Party with 40.2 percent of the total ballots cast, allowing the party to keep almost the same number it currently holds of the 9,320 offices up for election.

About 40 percent of the 16 million Colombians registered to vote cast ballots , a higher turnout than predicted.