The victory of Alvaro Uribe in Colombia's presidential election has generated a heated debate in the Latin American press.

While some newspapers welcome his pledge to take a hardline approach to the country's seemingly intractable guerrilla war, others warn that increased militarisation will harm Colombia even more.

Colombia wants to put an end to the war with more war

Clarin

"The new administration will back a militarisation of society as a solution to violence that claims over 30,000 lives every year," says the leading Argentine daily Clarin.

"Colombia wants to put an end to the war with more war."

Failure

Clarin warns that Mr Uribe's plans to turn neighbourhood groups into "virtual vigilantes" would exacerbate the situation and bring many more people into the fray.

Through militarisation, Colombia is quickly declining as a society

Emir Sadir in Jornal do Brasil

Writing in one of Brazil's leading dailies, Jornal do Brasil, political commentator Emir Sadir agrees that more war is not the answer.

"Through militarisation, Colombia is quickly declining as a society," Mr Sadir argues. The election was "the most important in Colombia's history" because Mr Uribe was "the candidate of a frontal war".

He stood out "by drastically increasing spending on the armed forces and security, by creating paramilitary groups - such as the one he formed when he was the governor of Antioquia province - and by promising peace once there is victory in war".

Colombia, together with Brazil and Argentina "are all chapters of the same failure of government policy". Latin America is suffering "its worst crisis since the 1930s", Mr Sadir adds.

He chose the role of war candidate and won a notable victory at the urns

La Jornada

Mexico's major left-leaning daily La Jornada fears that the Uribe victory will lead to an upsurge in violence.

"He knew how to exploit the fact Colombians were sick and tired of the war, chose the role of war candidate and won a notable victory at the ballot box."

"It can only be hoped, for the good of both Colombians and Latin Americans in general, that once he takes power, he will be able to perceive the complex realities of his country with a lucidity greater than that which he exhibited as a candidate."

The vision and the abilities to mark out a new horizon for the country

La Nacion

La Jornada says the guerrilla war is a "symptom of the much deeper sickness which afflicts the nation - the terrible social inequality, the misery which permeates the countryside, political corruption, and the general ineptitude of the authorities".

Vision

In contrast, the Colombian daily La Nacion welcomes the "change of direction" and says Mr Uribe displays "the vision and the abilities to mark out a new horizon for the country".

His election victory was a result of his "robust stance against the guerrilla movement and its abuses".

La Nacion says that as well as the war, Mr Uribe will need to tackle corruption, "a cancer festering in the body of the nation".

"If President Uribe manages to eradicate corruption or at least reduce it to manageable levels, he will have performed a feat of epic proportions and laid the foundations for resolving the other problems besetting the country."

Difficulties in South America will be overcome, even in those countries facing the most difficult situations

Brazil's President Cardoso in O Globo

A report in Brazil'sO Globo quotes President Fernando Henrique Cardoso as saying the Colombian election "helps demonstrate that difficulties will be overcome, even in those countries facing the most difficult situations".

The daily echoes the Brazilian leader's positive sentiments, noting Brazil and Bolivia both face elections in the near future and "regardless of the results, the motivation behind the greatest ideals is such, that we will manage to progress, firmly, in the right direction".

Another leading Brazilian daily, Estado de Sao Paulo, says that Mr Uribe has to "show what he is really made of" before the USA pumps in more aid.

Washington's main concern is the fight against drugs, and the daily feels the new Colombian leader "will face difficulties trying to maintain US support".

Rio de Janeiro's Jornal do Comercio says it is clear the people were fed up with the guerrillas and voted for an escalation of the war to defeat them.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.