Colombia: When Uribe Meets Obama

On Monday, the president of Colombia Álvaro Uribe will come face to face with president Barack Obama. The meeting is scheduled at a very sensitive moment for Colombia. Used to considerable familiarity with president Bush, Colombia is probably one of the few countries in the world where the election of the first U.S. African-American president was greeted with skepticism. The leadership of the country has been anxious to approve a free trade agreement currently opposed by the U.S. Congress. Colombians took offense for such resistance.

Domestic concerns urge Uribe to meet with President Obama; blamed for neglecting relationships with democrats, he needs to demonstrate to the country's leadership that he is in good terms with the Obama administration.

The anxiety many feel in Colombia about Obama is inflated. Beyond the rhetoric of change, the first months of the Obama administration have indicated a pragmatic and prudent approach to international affairs. Such attitude will guide also the relation with Colombia, an important U.S. ally in the region. Nevertheless, president Uribe arrives in Washington when grave scandals question his government. At a time when Washington is designing a new Plan Colombia, many elements may complicate the relation between the two countries: a second reelection of Uribe -- which he is strenuously pursuing; illegal wiretaps and surveillance of judges, journalists and political opponents by the Colombian intelligence agency; and the extrajudicial killings, the so-called "false positives," of hundreds if not thousands of civilians by the army.

The Obama administration, in continuation of the Bush years, vigorously supports the stabilization and reconstruction policy to consolidate former guerrilla dominated areas secured by the Colombian armed forces. The strategy mirrors U.S. efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq. But it is very likely that if there will be a second reelection Congress will deepen its inflexibility, conditioning in significant ways the aid to Colombia. A new reelection sends the message that Colombia has no leadership beyond Uribe and that Colombia's democracy is after all not in optimal health.

Uribe will need to convey two messages to president Obama: that he renounces to a third term because the conditions subsist for a new president to consolidate Uribe's security policy; and that the so-called "false positives" will not fall into forgetfulness and impunity. The Obama administration has still not delineated in an accurate manner its policy towards Latin America and Colombia in particular. Apart from a photo opportunity, the meeting between the two presidents can turn into an important political opportunity. But much will depend on the message president Uribe will relay to the White House.

Follow Aldo Civico on Twitter: www.twitter.com/acivico

Comments

[Juxtapositionen]

I think it's wrong to assume, Colombians in general are not happy with Obama being chosen as President.

[altohone]

HuffPost's Pick

It seems fitting that Obama refuses to end unconstitutional spying on Americans and will meet with a leader who shows the world how easily such power can be abused.
Obama wiretapping every Republican in Congress would surely expose their civil libertarian streak, despite their silence about such things in Colombia.

Colombia is an ally of the right wing in America... friends to the military, corporations and the "good" drug dealers who hate leftists. Obama's "pragmatism" in meeting Uribe is just another sign that neoliberalism continues to rule despite the many failures we've witnessed. Some change.

[Nostradamyus]

In 1990, Alvaro Uribe was Director of the Aerocivil, the Colombian equivalent of the FAA. It's absolutely proved that from that position, Uribe authorized hundred permits and licences to airplanes and airstripes that the Cartel of Medellin used to smuggle tons of cocaine toward the United States. Those criminal activities caused that the DEA sent in 1991 to the Pentagon a list of the 104 more important Colombian drug dealers. Alvaro Uribe appears in the number 82. The commmentary annex to Uribe says literally: Alvaro Uribe Velez: A Colombian politician and senator dedicated to collaboration with the Medellin Cartel at high government levels. Uribe has been linked to business involved in narcotic activities in the US. His father was murdered in Colombia for his connection with drug actitivies

1991, the
DEA agents residents in Colombia sent a sort of documents detailing the criminal activities when Uribe was the Director of the Aerocivil in Colombia. According reports of the federal agents, Uribe "was linked to business involved in narcotics activities in the United States" and "has worked for the Medellín cartel," the narcotics trafficking organization led by Escobar until he was killed by Colombian government forces in 1993. The report adds that Uribe participated in Escobar's parliamentary campaign and that as senator he had "attacked all forms of the extradition treaty" with the U.S.
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[Nostradamyus]

Through the next link, you can see a copy of the list-report that the DEA sent to the DIA, the Pentagon Intelligence Agency in 1991. Just check the # 82. ......Yes. This is the same crook that Barack Obama will receive tomorrow in the White House ........Besides, also we are talking about the most corrupt politician in Latin America, co founder of bloodthirsty paramilitary groups, accused of killing almost 100,000 Colombians in 12 years and displacing over 3 million of humble peasants since Uribe grabbed the Presidence in 2002. .........SHAME ON YOU, MR OBAMA. ..