Colombia: Uribe OKs Cordoba as hostage mediator

In what could be a promising sign for dozens of Colombians held captive by rebels, President Alvaro Uribe okayed Sen. Piedad Cordoba to serve as a mediator.

Cordoba- who had previously helped arrange the unilateral liberation of several hostages- had been barred from helping arrange the freeing of Colombian soldier Pablo Moncayo. Uribe's initial move- which had been denounced by Moncayo’s relatives- was reversed at a news conference on Wednesday. Cordoba will thus share her mediating duties with the International Red Cross and the Colombian catholic diocese.

Uribe conceded to the FARC guerillas’ demands that Cordoba serve as a liaison but on the condition that they also free 24 kidnapped policemen and soldiers. In addition, he called on the rebels to hand over the bodies of three hostages who died while in captivity.

Uribe had accused Cordoba of using the hostages for her own political gain though she has not expressed running for a political office higher than senator. The disdain for Cordoba’s role in the previous freeing of hostages even led to an investigation against her for supposed illegal ties with the rebels. She has vehemently denied these charges which she has deemed as a “political farce” against her.

The rift between Uribe and Cordoba symbolizes the dangerously divisive nature of Colombian politics. This has not only caught the attention of casual observers but even officials at the U.N.:

The director of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (UNHCR) in Colombia told BBC Mundo that he is "concerned" about increasingly polarized views on human rights and peace in the country.

Christian Salazar, who has just started as director of the UNHCHR in Colombia, said extra judicial execution committed by the army, illegal wire-tappings, forced displacements and paramilitary violence are of primary concern to his office.

He said that Colombia was "divided and polarized" over key issues such as peace and human rights.

Image- El Mundo
Online Sources- LAHT, The Latin Americanist, Colombia Reports, AP