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Vindication for Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe

CARTAGENA, Colombia -- More politically breathtaking than the dramatic rescue of Ingrid Betancourt this week is the unexpected message that the former presidential candidate delivered after six years of captivity in Colombian jungles.

Betancourt, slight but still well-spoken, deftly discredited critics of President �?lvaro Uribe's two-pronged approach toward the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Her support for Uribe's carrot-and-stick policies -- beefing up the military while offering to negotiate with the guerrillas -- countered many of her self-proclaimed supporters, including human rights groups, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, leftist lobbyists in Washington and her own mother.

Betancourt was right to speak out. But Uribe will be wrong if he hears a siren song in her message.

Uribe has been toying with the notion of exploiting his incredible popularity -- he is the only sitting Colombian president to be reelected -- and changing the constitution to seek a third term. This would undermine the country's admirably growing institutions and his own considerable legacy.

The constitution was already amended in 1995 to permit Uribe to run for a second term. "I think that one of [the] hardest blows given to the FARC, aside from this extraordinary [rescue] operation, is the president's reelection," the center-left Betancourt said Thursday. Colombia has a history of alternating between tough and conciliatory presidents, she noted, which has allowed the more than 40-year-old guerrilla movement to expand during each turnover.

She lauded Uribe's ability to see through to fruition his "democratic security" policies. The carrot has been the demobilization of about 35,000 supposedly right-wing paramilitaries and nearly 12,000 left-wing guerrillas, with various levels of amnesty. The stick is the greatly improved Colombian military, aided in part by $5.5 billion in U.S. aid since 2000 under Plan Colombia.

That aid and the military have been criticized by human rights groups and some in Washington, but Betancourt left no doubt that she shares a favorable public perception of the military that is matched in polls here only by that of the Catholic Church. "Thank you, my army, of my country, for your impeccable operation," she said. "I ask Colombians to believe in this army, which is going to take us to peace."

She called on Chávez and Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa to remember that Uribe was democratically elected, while the FARC has almost no public support. As to her mother siding with Chávez earlier in supporting a failed mediation effort to win Betancourt's freedom, she said that it was a maternal instinct to oppose a potentially dangerous rescue and gently chided her mother to thank Uribe.

Betancourt's composure and sanguine analysis belie suspicions that she might have been overcome with appreciation for her saviors. Although she was kidnapped on a campaign trip in February 2002, she said this week that she may run again for president.

But her statements also belie the scorched-earth policies of otherwise well-meaning groups such as Human Rights Watch, which has persuaded many Democrats in Congress to oppose a pending free-trade agreement with Colombia on human rights grounds. In a news release regarding Sen. John McCain's coincidental trip to Colombia this week, the organization asked him to "ignore the official spin and support threatened democratic institutions in Colombia" and called Colombia only "formally a democracy."

Colombia has its issues. Some paramilitary forces have gone back into the drug trade, oddly in alliance with the guerrillas in some areas. Political violence continues, though it is way down as the military has asserted control over most of the country with only minimal rights violations. The much-improved justice system, meanwhile, has under Uribe won some 140 convictions in murder cases of union members alone, an unusual rate of success in human rights prosecutions.

What both Betancourt and Uribe understand is that the biggest challenge in Colombia is to build the nation, its unity and its institutions.

A third Uribe term would run counter to that. He almost surely would win, but the nation has a wealth of proven political talent, nearly all of which, including politicians from the leftist Polo Party, support the main lines of the president's security policies.

Questions about the legitimacy of the last constitutional change already follow Uribe. Many of his supporters in the Senate who voted for it are being prosecuted, accused of alliances with paramilitaries. There is no doubt that the public wanted the measure, and Uribe is considering a referendum to make the point ex post facto. Let him do it and go out in glory. He should build the legitimacy of the presidency by letting it go to someone else.

Washington Post - By Edward Schumacher-Matos

By Medellin Traveler on Jul 5, 2008, 11:34 in Politics & the war.

Medellin Traveler says on Jul 5, 2008, 11:37:

Good, bad, or otherwise, I think Alvaro Uribe should step aside and not seek a third term. Pancho Santos or Ingrid Betancourt could continue Uribe's master plan.

Also think it would be a good thing for Colombia to change its constitution to permanantly allow for a second re-election of the presidency.

While Uribe was busy improving Colombia, Bush destroyed the United States.

I wonder if the murder of Uribe's father by the FARC was the single biggest motivator in Uribe's strong-will to destroy the FARC.

"Huevos Rancheros en Medellin, No Quiero Taco Bell." - www.medellintraveler.com

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gabolicious says on Jul 5, 2008, 11:43:

"He should build the legitimacy of the presidency by letting it go to someone else. " sometimes I am inclined to think that a democrat would step aside and let some else to become the president of Colombia... later I think that maybe next person will not be as efficient as Uribe (we don't want to see Colombia immerse in all the FARC bullshit).

Then I think that if Colombian people is happy with the present colombian economomical and security stability then I am inclined to think that maybe a third period will not be as bad as some think...

At the end of the day, I still don't know... I have my doubts in both cases... but definately I am inclined to think..... ELECCION NO CANONIZACION if the guy is doing a good job why not a third period?

Elección no canonización....

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gabolicious says on Jul 5, 2008, 11:49:

"I wonder if the murder of Uribe's father by the FARC was the single biggest motivator in Uribe's strong-will to destroy the FARC." maybe another motivator could be that he loves his country and another one could be that he loves power...

I don't know...

Elección no canonización....

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Medellin Traveler says on Jul 5, 2008, 12:05:

gabolicious says, "At the end of the day, I still don't know... I have my doubts in both cases... but definately I am inclined to think..... ELECCION NO CANONIZACION if the guy is doing a good job why not a third period?"

You have to remember, Uribe's re-election came about by acting against Colombia's constitutioin. Bush and his neo-cons have gone against the US constitution to achieve their goal of world domination. You have to respect the constitution, otherwise it could lead to all out anarchy.

It also sets a bad precedent, one only needs to look at Chavez in Venenzuela who wanted to change the Venenzuelan constitution so he could be president for life. Image some years down the line, a war-monger is elected president in Colombia ignoring the constitution citing Uribe's three terms, he may want four, five terms, before deciding he wants to rule for life.

Pancho Santos, if elected, could continue the bombardment of the FARC.

Uribe will be remembered as one of Colombia's greatest presidents, if he steps aside after his second term.

"Huevos Rancheros en Medellin, No Quiero Taco Bell." - www.medellintraveler.com

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Peter (Moderator) says on Jul 5, 2008, 12:08:

I agree, seeking a third term would be bad for any country. Power is tempting, but there's a reason why continuous re-election doesn't belong in a democracy.

Poor but snappy

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gabolicious says on Jul 5, 2008, 12:11:

"You have to respect the constitution"

I agree 100%

Elección no canonización....

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MaFe says on Jul 5, 2008, 12:16:

It's shame because he changed Colombia...there will be no other uribe....

"All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire. "-Aristotle

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Medellin Traveler says on Jul 5, 2008, 12:20:

Not really, Uribe set the example of what's possible for Colombia, the future of Colombia looks brighter with each new day.

Hopefully things will continue moving forward long after Uribe is out of office.

It's up to the Colombian people to continuing making progress.

"Huevos Rancheros en Medellin, No Quiero Taco Bell." - www.medellintraveler.com

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gabolicious says on Jul 5, 2008, 12:34:

"It's up to the Colombian people to continuing making progress" the thing is that Colombian people is trying to continuing making progress since I remember, the fact is that we also need a good person at Nariño... again we need to evaluate who is better for the next term Uribe or someone else

Elección no canonización....

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MaFe says on Jul 5, 2008, 12:38:

gabolicious says on Jul 5 (today): flag

"It's up to the Colombian people to continuing making progress" the thing is that Colombian people is trying to continuing making progress since I remember, the fact is that we also need a good person at Nariño... again we need to evaluate who is better for the next term Uribe or someone else

I agree gabo!

"All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire. "-Aristotle

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dwmte7 says on Jul 5, 2008, 12:52:

a constitution is more valuable than it's defenders. they come and go and--in theory--a constitution lives on. it is time for uribe to step aside and let his students, or others assume the post...whoever that may be. there are no guarantees. we've had fantastic presidents and some not so fantastic. that's the risk we take as constitutional democracies.

dwmte

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gabolicious says on Jul 5, 2008, 12:55:

"that's the risk we take as constitutional democracies."

Y una manera de reducir el riesgo es estar enterados, dejando a un lado la emocion del momento... el pueblo de una nación es muy vulnerable cuando le tocan el corazón... pero hay que votar con la cabeza mas alla de votar por mera simpatía

Elección no canonización....

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bamacellist says on Jul 5, 2008, 12:57:

It's not correct to say he went against the constitution. The constitution was changed according to the proper procedure. Obviously the procedure isn't as rigorous as it is in most places, but that's a whole other set of issues that need to be looked into in terms of solidifying democracy and constitutional order :)

I think gabo raises the point nicely, that there may not be technically anything wrong or inherently undemocratic with having no limits on terms in power, but it does bring an inevitable risk of a demagoguery headed by a cultist figure. Latin American history is littered with this sort of thing and it may be there is a cultural predeliction for this.

I for one am slow to interpret everything Uribe says in regards to his opposition as a sign of this because his opposition is not any more restrained in its proclamations... it seems to be the way of potlitical posturing in Colombia. But, in this shrill atmosphere it is hard to have faith that this could not come to pass. The political landscape can shift seismically and rapidly.

I think it's reasonable to say that if any particular course of government is truly sensible, based on rationallity and producing benefit, it ought to have enough serious and capable promoters that there should be someone both interested in and capable of managing its perpetuation. It should more or less drive itself, indepenent of any figurehead. It is also true that merely stepping down from the presidency would not deny Uribe the power of influence.

He said last summer he didn't believe a third term was the best thing for the nation and that his coalition should find within itself a successor. It's my opinion that that's correct. I forsee a third term mired in stupid battles over the legitimacy of his mandate, wasting the energies of both sides and interfering too much with the real work of governing on behalf of the people.

"The future is much like the present, only longer."

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gabolicious says on Jul 5, 2008, 13:07:

un razonamiento tonto:

Si Uribe es colombiano entonces no es alguien excepcional ya que hay colombiaos que son igual que él con la capacidad, coraje y determinacion que tiene para que este país salga adelante peeeeeerooooo tenemos que distinguir cuantos de esos politicos tienen esas caracteristicas y quienes no...

Elección no canonización....

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tejasmarcos says on Jul 5, 2008, 14:08:

you guys have to remember that there are alot of people (high powered people) begging uribe to run for a third term.

trying to walk a straight line on sour mash and cheap wine...

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huskie says on Jul 5, 2008, 14:49:

MT says: "I wonder if the murder of Uribe's father by the FARC was the single biggest motivator in Uribe's strong-will to destroy the FARC."

You bet, he has a vision, not short term but long term, a true leader always has a goal in mind, he set himself for that goal and has been achieving it since he was elected. No b***t there. Too many Colombian presidents promissed a lot and did nothing. President Uribe is the best thing that has happened to Colombia ever.
Cheers

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds-"

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Medellin Traveler says on Jul 5, 2008, 15:03:

bamacellist says, "He said last summer he didn't believe a third term was the best thing for the nation and that his coalition should find within itself a successor. It's my opinion that that's correct. I forsee a third term mired in stupid battles over the legitimacy of his mandate, wasting the energies of both sides and interfering too much with the real work of governing on behalf of the people."

es la verdad

"Huevos Rancheros en Medellin, No Quiero Taco Bell." - www.medellintraveler.com

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Lcacique says on Jul 5, 2008, 15:26:

Damn Gabo, where in the hell have you been? Great to see that you are back.

Hoy se nota en la floresta un ambiente de alegría. ¡Y el rumor de ranchería es mas dulce y sabe a fiesta!

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MaFe says on Jul 5, 2008, 15:34:

And it will be VERY hard to replace Uribe...the man has great passion for his country and people...

"All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire. "-Aristotle

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Lcacique says on Jul 5, 2008, 16:37:

MaFe, you have great passion for your country and people, what makes you think this is a rare feature amongst Colombians?

I personally do not buy into the idea that he is so unique. He has made some great strides, but it should be remembered that Colombia was already on the path to improvement before he was elected. For example, he was allowed the opportunity to focus his attention on one enemy (for the most part) because the other enemies of state had been destroyed or severely weakened by the efforts of previous governments. Not to mention he arrived in office at a time when the US provided unprecedented amounts of military aid both through Plan Colombia as well as the Andean Initiative, allowing him opportunities that those before him did not have. This does not diminish his accomplishments, I simply disagree that there is a shortage of equally worthy leaders in Colombia.

In addition, I think that people are to quick too place all of the praise on the shoulders of a single leader when things are moving in a positive direction just as they place all of the blame on their shoulders when things are headed in a negative direction. In both cases, it is hard to distinguish how much of a role the individual played in the events; therefore, one never knows how much praise or blame is justifiably applied to the individual actor. Again, I do not intend to downplay the success that Uribe has had in office and it is commendable that he is so well liked amongst the population.

Hoy se nota en la floresta un ambiente de alegría. ¡Y el rumor de ranchería es mas dulce y sabe a fiesta!

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huskie says on Jul 5, 2008, 16:41:

97% of Colombians praise Uribe, is that peanuts? The man must be doing something right
Cheers

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds-"

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Medellin Traveler says on Jul 5, 2008, 16:58:

Huskie,

No one is arguing Uribe's popularity, but we are trying to discuss if it's a good idea for the future of Colombia with the possible 3rd term re-election for Uribe. I personally don't think it's a good idea.

I wish Michael Jordon, the greatest player in the NBA, was still on the Chicago Bulls, but he's not.

"Huevos Rancheros en Medellin, No Quiero Taco Bell." - www.medellintraveler.com

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billyb says on Jul 5, 2008, 16:59:

Yeah MT, but didn't MJ make 3 comebacks?

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Lcacique says on Jul 5, 2008, 17:00:

Yes, billyb. And I think you remember the terrible results of the third comeback, jajaja.

Hoy se nota en la floresta un ambiente de alegría. ¡Y el rumor de ranchería es mas dulce y sabe a fiesta!

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billyb says on Jul 5, 2008, 17:02:

Very True :)

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Lcacique says on Jul 5, 2008, 17:03:

huskie, can you show me where I said anything about peanuts?

Hoy se nota en la floresta un ambiente de alegría. ¡Y el rumor de ranchería es mas dulce y sabe a fiesta!

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Lcacique says on Jul 5, 2008, 17:06:

What poll show his approval rating to be at 97%?

I know that it is high, I believe I acknowledged that it is commendable.

Hoy se nota en la floresta un ambiente de alegría. ¡Y el rumor de ranchería es mas dulce y sabe a fiesta!

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huskie says on Jul 5, 2008, 17:08:

Yes MT I agree it will not be healthy for him to be on another term, I did not mention he should, new blood should be given a chance, problem is I heard congress is trying to change the constitution again, so he can be re-elected once more, so if that is true, mind you, I just heard that, I am no saying it is the truth or not, It is up to him to run or not. I think he should step-out.
Cheers

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds-"

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billyb says on Jul 5, 2008, 17:12:

I think that by the time his term is over there won' the overwhelming need for Uribe that there has been up to this year. It will kind of be like Churchill after the war.

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