One of the big winners of yesterday’s Colombian legislative elections were parties allied with President Alvaro Uribe. Sadly another victor was several corrupt politicians and their puppets.The primary for the Conservative Party’s presidential candidate became a two-horse race between former ambassador Noemi Sanin and ex-Agriculture Minister Andres Felipe Arias. With only a few hundred votes separating both hopefuls, electoral officials will hold a recount while Sanin and Arias have each alleged voter fraud.
Arias had been involved in one of several scandals that have hampered Uribe in his eight years of presidency. Under Arias’ time as minister over $113 million in “non-repayable, tax-free subsidies” ended up in the hands of wealthy contributors to Uribe. Dubbed by some as "Uribito" (Little Uribe), Arias foolishly claimed that lands originally destined for thousands of displaced families would be better served by politically connected agribusinesses. Now he is a stone’s throw away from being the presidential candidate of one of Colombia’s main political parties.
Perhaps worse were the gains made by numerous politicians linked to the “para-politics” scandal. Despite being created last year by politicos investigated of having strong ties to right-wing paramilitary armies, the National Integration Party won at least eight Senate seats. “PIN's success in several provinces provided strong evidence that right-wing criminal bands associated with drug trafficking continue to plague Colombia's countryside,” according to the AP. The PIN won more seats than the two main leftist parties- the Greens and the Alternative Democratic Pole- on a day when six of seven former hostages held by the FARC lost their legislative bids.
Several jailed politicos convicted of their paramilitary ties even won by using their family members as proxies:
With 92.19% of the vote counted the children of “La Gata” (Enilce López) and ex-governor Hugo Aguilar won senate seats for the PIN.Image- Al Jazeera English (Colombian president Alvaro Uribe voted in Sunday’s local elections).
For the Liberals one of the winners was the wife of Juan Manuel López Cabrales, convicted to seven years in jail. The cousin of former Senator Juan Carlos Martínez won a seat in the House of Representatives. – [ed. Translated text]
Online Sources- Colombia Reports, Plan Colombia and Beyond, IPS News, Canal Caracol, MSNBC, RCN Radio, El Tiempo
This is horrible ! - And this is true !
ReplyDeleteI can not contradict what this article says.
There is a little ray of hope that perhaps the Judicial Authorities can proceed against the stooges of the Paramilitary Criminals, the Narcos and Violent People that have gained access to the Colombian Congress.
Andres Felip Arias also called "Uribito" is a "lambón", a sycophant of Uribe, he has gained influence by adulation and flattery while the public monies have been stolen on his watch as minister of agriculture.
Lambón is one that licks, like a boot-licker, fawning over Uribe constantly in order to gain power.
I trust the people of Colombia to be intelligent enough never to vote for such a poor fool, so that he becomes ridiculous.
Uribe and Uribito are the best examples of a trend to not be responsible but to blame the lowest and poorest bureaucrats.
That is the character of Uribe, he always blames others that have no power. He is a God and is beyond Good or Evil.
He wanted to be a dictator but he failed. The History of his family and relatives is not that of the Charity Nuns. His father Alberto Uribe was best friends with Pablo Escobar and had many dealings with him.
The Future of Foreign Policies :
Prophesizing.com
Vicente Duque
Uribe's arrogant and dyscontrol personality - Too much given to wrath, rage, narcissism, egomania, egolatry, autolatry, being the demiGod
ReplyDeleteThis was Published before the elections of March 14/2009 - And this writer seems somewhat Uribista, however what he wrote is good and true. I don't share his admiration for the President, which I see as a guy suffering from Psychological Infatuations and tendencies to Despotism.
Colombia is the main ally of the USA in Latin America, so the Corruption and Criminality of the Colombian Legislative and Executive has an impact on U. S. Policy
Colombia Reports
Colombia more secure, but democratically weak
March 11 2010
By Pablo Rojas Mejia
Colombia more secure, but democratically weak
http://colombiareports.com/opinion/the-colombiamerican/8656-colombia-more-secure-but-democratically-weak.html
Some excerpts :
A third element of democracy, press freedom, is under attack in Colombia. Much of Colombia’s mainstream media is still run by oligarchic groups with strong ties to the political establishment. A perfect example is Cambio, a popular news weekly known for its vigorous and independent investigative reporting that was recently reduced to a monthly. Cambio is owned by the Santos family, which includes former Defense Minister (and likely Uribista candidate for the Presidency) Juan Manuel Santos and current Vice President Francisco Santos. The official story is that the Santos family decided to downsize the magazine and replace its leadership because Cambio was in financial disarray. However, the magazine was actually doing quite well and most observers agree that the shakeup at Cambio was a response to its vigorous and politically inconvenient investigative reporting.
Other independent media outlets and investigative reporters have been threatened, marginalized and silenced by the political establishment. President Uribe was notoriously dismissive of dissenting journalists and media groups and frequently accused them, almost always baselessly, of sympathies for or ties to guerrilla groups and the Venezuelan government.
Finally, despite the recent show of strength by the Constitutional Court, the independence of the judiciary is increasingly under threat. Throughout his Presidency, Uribe deliberately discredited the courts, accusing them of political bias and corruption when, in fact, the judiciary has long been known to be Colombia’s most independent, honest and transparent institution. Leonardo Efraín Cerón, spokesman for a national association of judges, recently said that Uribe’s rhetorical attacks on the courts created a dangerous environment for judges, contributing to the murder of Soacha judge Fernando Patiño. Other members of the judiciary - as well as reports by international observers - confirm this general sense of growing harassment and isolation.
In short, Uribe’s legacy as a democrat is not unambiguously positive. The President has indeed improved security, but he is also leaving behind a hopelessly corrupt Congress, an appalling human rights crisis and a weakened judiciary. Though not all of these problems are new, most observers agree that Uribe has done little to address them, in some cases, has stood in the way of efforts to reduce them. His successor would do well to put bolstering Colombia’s democratic institutions near the top of his agenda, but he will have his work cut out for him.
The Future of Foreign Policies :
Prophesizing.com
Vicente Duque
I have disliked the left but lately I am correcting some of my ideas :
ReplyDeleteJorge Enrique Robledo, the most voted leftist from the Polo Democratico Alternativo increased his votes from 80.969 votes in year 2006 to 152.936 in March 2010. ( Extremely Beautiful Result and most amazing because his party lost many seats )
That reflects a combative guy in Congress that fought against the corruption of Agricultural Subsidies and the Bad Behavior of the President's sons buying lands whose value was going to be increased by Executive Decision ( Zonas Francas for Free Trade ) ... He was the best of anti-corruption.
It seems that Lawyer Germán Navas Talero, member of the Chamber of Representatives for Bogotá has survived in his seat. This guy is extremely important because as a "Constitutionalist" he sued the President and the members of the Senate for breaking the Constitution with the third term for Uribe.
I dislike leftists Chavez Style but I am glad that some leftists that fought and will fight for cleanliness and against corruption of the executive survive in Congress.
"Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods."
-- H. L. Mencken
(1880-1956) American Journalist, Editor, Essayist, Linguist, Lexicographer, and Critic
It is a Great Colombian Custom that the sons of a President become rich without working or struggling, just by presidential decree.
And giving millions of dollars in agricultural subsidies to Uribe's rich relatives, friends and political supportes, is just stealing the taxpayers money, a theft.
That is why the fight of these two congressmen from the left : Jorge Enrique Robledo and Germán Navas Talero should be underlined and spotlighted.
Among the misery, poverty and violence of Colombia, having a Constitutional Court that fights the president with such energy and resolution and that forbids third presidential terms forever is a little ray of hope for a better future.
And definitely Uribe was on his way to become a satrap and dictator, another clown like Chavez.
The Future of Foreign Policies :
Prophesizing.com
Vicente Duque