Colombian president Alvaro Uribe visited the White House yesterday where he and Barack Obama discussed several vital topics. Obama admitted that he was confident that a free trade pact between both countries would be passed though some concerns related to human rights abuses will need to be addressed.Though Uribe has not committed to running for a third straight term, his administration is pushing his allies hard to change the constitution again and allow him to run next year. Though Obama said that it’s up to the countries themselves to decide which way to go, he implied that Uribe should step down once his term is done:
We know that our experience in the United States is that two terms works for us and that after eight years usually the American people want a change.Two weeks ago the Colombian legislature delayed voting on the bill. With eleven months to go until Election Day, Uribe will have to make up his mind ASAP.
You know, I related to President Uribe the fact that our most revered president, or at least one of our two most revered presidents, George Washington, part of what made him so great was not just being the founder of our country, but also the fact that at a time when he could have stayed president for life, he made a decision that after service he was able to step aside and return to civilian life. And that set a precedent then for the future.
Image- Al Jazeera English
Online Sources- Al Jazeera English, Washington Post, Reuters, Xinhua
I agree with Obama. I know Uribe personally and I think he's done a good job in many ways. Without going into current affairs in Colombia (human rights violations, etc.), I believe that two terms is enough for Uribe, and eight years is enough for anyone to be President in any country. Venezuela, Ecuador, and several other countries are going to be stuck with their leaders for long times, unfortunately. On the bright side, Honduras (a country I didn't see to be progressive in this area) had the foresight to impose Constitutional term limits, and over the weekend, we saw that they intend to make those limits stick.
ReplyDelete