Colombian President Alvaro Uribe
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New Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, inaugurated on August 7, 2002, cannot be taken seriously as a man seeking peace with the rebel movement, including FARC, but he has proved effective in appearing to be a leader at least seeking an alternative to the extremes of the hard-left and hard-right. Underneath this alternative approach, however, Uribe seems to be far more a hawk than a dove. Increasingly, he appears to be pursuing a policy with the intention of defeating the various rebel factions, with the unofficial aid of the right-wing paramilitary forces. Of course, even if Uribe seriously pursued peace negotiations with the rebels, there is no guarantee that any meaningful results would follow. The war has been going on for 38 years, and the two sides (or more, if the rebel factions and paramilitary forces are seen as separate entities) seem too far apart to hold much hope for true or lasting peace. This is especially true when the issue of drugs is included. Both rebel and anti-rebel forces appear deeply involved in drug sales to support their causes, creating a completely corrupted ends-justify-the-means reality on both sides. The role of the United States further complicates the war, with $1.5 billion in U.S. funds flowing into Colombia since 1998 in military aid to fight the drug trade (Villelabeitia). Is that money being spent to fight the rebels as well, or to fund the paramilitary squads, or to fight the right-wing drug trade as well as the left-wing?
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the threat of the rebels, making clear that Uribe and the Colombian government are figuratively fighting for their lives against "Marxist rebels that dominate almost 40% of the country" and "are just one of the challenges facing the
Oxford educated right wing president" (McDermott). The other problems facing Uribe include political corruption related to the drug industry, high crime rates, a weak economy, and simply meeting the high expectations of the electorate that he will change the country. Part of Uribe's increasingly aggressive attitude toward the rebels, then, can be attributed to the genuine fear that the integrity of the government is under threat. If all his resources are spent fighting the rebels, he will be unable to attack the other problems. However, if Uribe is tacitly accepting the aid of the paramilitary right, or even supporting them behind the scenes, does not that association also threaten the integrity of the government?
The Columbia Human Rights Network report, for the week ending September 26, 2002, lists numerous incidents of violence, terror, kidnappings, disappearances, and torture suffered by all sectors of the Colombian population related to the war, including many against Colombian NGO (non-governm
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Approximate Word count = 1486
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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