[Gletkin]

Debate over Uribe’s alleged paramilitary past shot down in Senate
by Daniel Medendorp Escobar
Colombia Reports
Jul 29, 2014

A debate on Senator Alvaro Uribe’s alleged links to now-defunct paramilitary groups was shot down by Colombia’s Senate on Tuesday, after days of the debate monopolizing the first week of the former president’s new political playground.

Senator Ivan Cepeda from the Alternative Democratic Pole (Polo Democrático Alternativo — PDA), a fierce opponent of the the president-turned-senator, proposed a debate over the topic but saw it shot down by the Senate in a 52-30 vote.

During the preliminary debate about whether or not to approve the debate, prominent left-wing and centrist members of congress including Jorge Enrique Robledo, Luis Fernando Velasco and Claudia Lopez spoke in favor of the initiative. Senators Ernesto Macias and Roy Barreras were included in those who spoke against the debate.

Uribe, supported by his bench and numerous senators from other parties, spoke out against the debate. Uribe, despite his apparent opposition to the debate on the Senate floor, voted in favor of the motion. Uribe’s party, the Democratic Center (Centro Democrático — CD) voted against the motion.

Although the U Party and Conservative Party are both officially opposed to the party founded by Uribe, many dozens of (former) senators have been investigated for ties to paramilitary groups which possibly influenced the vote against Cepeda’s proposed debate.

The constitutionally mandated committees that will steer legislative agenda were also chosen during the day’s Senate plenary debates, special committees will be chosen tomorrow, according to Senate President Jose David Name.

Prepare for more related proposals
Even before Cepeda was inaugurated into the Senate, he pushed for a debate so that Uribe would be held accountable and investigated for his alleged ties to paramilitary groups.

Uribe has been a fierce critic of Cepeda, while many of Uribe’s allies have called him a “Castro-Chavista,” in reference to Cepeda’s left-wing leanings and alleged support of left-wing leaders Hugo Chavez, Piedad Cordoba and Fidel Castro.

Cepeda’s father, Manuel Cepeda, a member of the Patriotic Union (Unión Patriótica — UP) party, was assassinated by factions of the military and paramilitary groups along with thousands of other UP members in 1994. Since then, Ivan Cepeda has been a staunch critic of paramilitary groups and politicians with connections to them in Colombia’s para-politics scandal.

Uribe, President from 2002-2010, witnessed a spike in paramilitary activity and a decrease in guerrilla activity from groups such as the FARC and ELN. The paramilitary umbrella group the AUC officially demobilized during Uribe’s presidency, called a “sham” by groups such as Human Rights Watch, as many leaders received only eight years in prison as a part of the process.

Uribe formed the CD with the intention of providing an opposition to the government of his ex-minister and former ally Juan Manuel Santos. His candidate for the Presidency in the 2014 Presidential elections, Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, placed second, garnering 45% of the vote in the legally mandated second round of elections, after no candidate received more than 50% in the first round of elections.

Uribe’s first cousin, Mario Uribe is currently in prison for his ties to paramilitary groups, while many of Uribe’s political allies – as well as President Juan Manuel Santos’ – have been investigated or questioned for their ties to the illegally armed groups.

Congressmen tweet
Several Congressmen took to Twitter to criticize or defend the decision made by Congress.

Cepeda, the author of the initiative tweeted, “The debate will happen. Although Uribe will try to refuse it.”

Prominent Senator Juan Manuel Galan of the Liberal Party tweeted, “I voted in favor of the fulfillment of the debate. They defeated us. Democracy in the Senate plenary was defeated.”

Paula Holguin, from the CD tweeted a statement from her fellow party member Ernesto Macias, “Cepeda proposed a debate to transmit personal hatred towards people in Congress.”

I wonder how the senators from Santos' own party voted? They're the biggest group in the Senate and Uribe cannot stop bashing Santos. Santos was re-elected earlier this year but just barely. He needed the support of the left in order to defeat the Uribist candidate. I've always suspected that a major reason for the fallout between Uribe and Santos was the busting of several "parapoliticians" (politicians with ties to right-wing paramilitaries) under Santos' presidency, which made Uribe nervous as it's always been alleged that was a "parapolitico" himself. Certainly Colombia's human rights record took a hit back when Uribe was president.

Yet the majority of senators who voted on this chose to avoid talking about it.

[Solastalgia]

I'm sure Santos' party senators were against having the debate. You can't open up a debate about Uribe's connections with the paramilitary without bringing Santos into it, as well (with his connections to the paramilitary as Minister of Defense). Santos' guys will just have to agree with Uribe on this one, despite their current opposition to each other.

What I don't get is that Uribe voted for the debate despite rallying against it, and his entire party voting against it. I guess that's just his way of saving face, because if he officially voted against it, that would look bad (like an admission of guilt, almost). Even though informed people already know his and Santos connections, as this stuff would have just been for the official record.

[Gletkin]

Yeah I think Uribe was confident that his followers would vote against the measure.
Allowing him to vote in favor of it and as you say, appear as if he's got nothing to hide.

Disappointing for Santos' erstwhile leftist allies, but likely for the reasons you've speculated on, perhaps something that realistically wasn't going to happen.
Still, for Sen. Cepeda, this must've been somewhat personal as well. His father, also a senator, was killed by right-wing paramilitaries 20 years ago. Of course this was before Uribe's time. Uribe wasn't even governor of Antioquia yet (that's when most people seem to suspect he began "parapoliticking"). But a governor-turned-president accused of using the same type of rightist death squads that killed Cepeda's dad and who still has enough clout to have the majority of legislators blatantly say "We don't feel like talking about it"....it must be especially bitter for him.

[Solastalgia]

Disappointing for Santos' erstwhile leftist allies, but likely for the reasons you've speculated on, perhaps something that realistically wasn't going to happen.

Yes, as well as Uribe's leftist allies. His right-wing Democratic Center Party actually has a handful of leftists and even some far-left Marxist FARC allies in it, who support him simply because the party is against the current peace agreements in Cuba. Just as there's leftists that like these peace talks, there's leftists that don't. Just as there's rightists that like these peace talks, there's rightists that don't.

Colombia is such a hodge podge of politics; wouldn't you agree, Gletkin? I mean, where else in the world do you see this kind of confluence of left and right, with the background of a half-century-long armed conflict between far-right and far-left forces (adding in the government, and it's long-time US empire master into the mix)? In terms of pure politics, there can't be a more interesting place than Colombia. Right?

Still, for Sen. Cepeda, this must've been somewhat personal as well. His father, also a senator, was killed by right-wing paramilitaries 20 years ago. Of course this was before Uribe's time. Uribe wasn't even governor of Antioquia yet (that's when most people seem to suspect he began "parapoliticking"). But a governor-turned-president accused of using the same type of rightist death squads that killed Cepeda's dad and who still has enough clout to have the majority of legislators blatantly say "We don't feel like talking about it"....it must be especially bitter for him.

I'm sure there's somewhat of a vengeful spirit in him here. But at the end of the day, most of the moderate left (regardless of their personal connection to the conflict) in Colombia wants the right-wing and center-right to be officially outed for parapolitics, anyway. As this could possibly be the push that's finally needed to turn the country leftward from the right-wing US proxy that it's played for close to half a century. Colombia is clearly the last remnant of that US right-wing dictatorial proxy past in Latin America, and hopefully Colombia will soon emerge out of this and join the pink tide. With the caveat that the latin leftists don't start serving China willingly, the way that they served the US unwillingly.

[Gletkin]

The end of the Cold War put paid to many of the old simple left-right divides worldwide.
But it is surprising to see the recent developments in Colombian domestic politics.
The fact that they're currently tailing two rival center-rightists can't be doing much for the Colombian left's morale. Probably because, as with leftist parties around the world, they lack a cogent message on economic growth and are seen as almost entirely "redistributors".

That said....Uribe's still a dick. If I were Colombian, I think I'd mark for Santos.