Colombia: The economist critica a Uribe su aspiración reeleccionista
En su primer editorial de 2010, The Economist dijo que "con las elecciones presidenciales previstas para el 30 de mayo, los colombianos deberían estar sumergiéndose en un debate sobre las prioridades para los próximos cuatro años de su país, aquejado de problemas". En lugar de eso, la política ha sido tomada como rehén por una batalla iniciada por Álvaro Uribe, presidente desde 2002, para cambiar la constitución de manera que él pueda postularse para un tercer período consecutivo". En lugar de eso, la política ha sido tomada como rehén por una batalla iniciada por Álvaro Uribe, presidente desde 2002, para cambiar la constitución de manera que él pueda postularse para un tercer período consecutivo". The Economist elogia la labor del Primer Mandatario, de quien señala que ha hecho de Colombia un país mejor y más seguro, además de reconocerle su fuerte iderazgo, así como haber logrado la desmovilización de los paramilitares. "Uribe ha hecho de su país un lugar mejor y más seguro. A través de un incansable y decidido liderazgo ha logrado la expansión de las fuerzas de seguridad, respaldadas por la ayuda estadounidense, se ha reducido la guerrilla de las Farc de una amenaza mortal para el Estado democrático a una población dispersa", dice el editorial, que señala que las Farc, aún replegadas, siguen siendo muy peligrosas. Sin embargo, le advierte que Colombia debe avanzar en lograr unas instituciones fuertes en lugar de tratar de tener un hombre fuerte en el poder y le advierte que con su intención de reelgirse está corriendo el resgo de emular al presidente venezolano Hugo Chávez. "Sin embargo, él parece estar empeñado en seguir a Hugo Chávez, el caudillo de Caracas", sugiere el editorial fechado el 30 de diciembre. La revista le sugiere a Uribe que siga los ejemplos de "otros líderes democráticos inmensamente populares y respetados en América Latina, como el brasileño Luis Inacio Lula da Silva y la chilena Michelle Bachelet", que se han negado a abolir los límites de sus períodos presidenciales. El semanario londinense, que también publica en este número un artículo titulado "La Colombia de Álvaro Uribe / Todavía no es la tierra prometida", dice que el próximo gobierno tendrá que resolver otros temas urgentes. Según el editorial, Uribe "no ha logrado reformar las agobiantes leyes laborales que obligan a los colombianos más jóvenes a entrar en una vasta economía informal". El artículo también acusa al gobierno colombiano de haber pasado años hablando de mejorar el sistema de transporte sin haberlo logrado. Además, pone en duda la capacidad de Uribe para reformar el sistema judicial "de buena fe". Fonte: Infolatam, 03/01/2010. Acesso PORT.A.L. em 04/01/2010. LEIA O EDITORIAL NA ÍNTEGRA: Colombia's presidential non-campaign Time to enter historyDec 30th 2009
From The Economist print edition. Acesso PORT.A.L. em 04/01/2010. Álvaro Uribe should stand aside and let would-be successors campaign to lead Colombia
AP WITH a presidential election due on May 30th, Colombians should be plunging into a debate about their troubled country’s priorities for the next four years. Instead, politics is held hostage by a battle begun by Álvaro Uribe, the president since 2002, to change the constitution to allow him to run for a third consecutive term. Later this month or early next the Constitutional Court will rule on the validity of a law that would clear Mr Uribe’s path. The court might reject it, over procedure, or rule that Mr Uribe could stand only in 2014. If it upholds the measure, this must then be approved in a referendum in which at least a quarter of voters turn out, probably to be held in mid-March. If, despite his great popularity, Mr Uribe were unable to secure a high enough turnout, his would-be successors would have only a few weeks to secure a popular mandate. That is an indulgence Colombia cannot afford. Mr Uribe has made his country a better and safer place. Through tireless and determined leadership and by expanding the security forces, backed by American aid, he has reduced the FARC guerrillas from a mortal threat to the democratic state to a scattered, if still dangerous, band. He persuaded tens of thousands of right-wing paramilitaries to disband, albeit under a flawed agreement. Greater security has helped to bring a revival of economic growth and national self-confidence. That is why polls suggest that if Mr Uribe ran, he would win. Mr Uribe has indeed accomplished much. But for Colombia to progress it needs strong institutions rather than an eternal strongman. The ultimate success of Mr Uribe’s tough security policies depends on them being continued by others—and on being adjusted. FARC’s kidnap and murder of a provincial governor in late December was a grisly throwback to the bad old days of a decade ago. There are also new threats from criminal gangs made up of recycled paramilitary types. The next government faces other urgent issues. Mr Uribe has failed to reform burdensome labour laws that force younger Colombians into a vast informal economy. His government has spent years talking about improving transport links without doing so. Then there is the judiciary. It has done a vital job of holding government allies and the army to account for their paramilitary links and their human-rights abuses respectively. But in other respects its combination of judicial activism and legal paralysis is damaging. Mr Uribe, who has clashed with judges and upset constitutional balances designed for four-year presidencies, is the last man to be able to reform the judiciary in good faith. The risk of emulating Hugo ChávezMany of the capable Colombians in business and academia who once supported Mr Uribe now want change. His third administration would have to staff itself from a shallow pool of talent on the hard right. These backwoodsmen whisper in the president’s ear that if he relinquishes office he will be hauled before the International Criminal Court. Yet there is no evidence that Mr Uribe is a criminal. Colombia has several other plausible candidates to choose from who could build on Mr Uribe’s achievements. Other hugely popular and respected democratic leaders in Latin America, such as Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, have refused to abolish term limits. By following their example Mr Uribe might enter history as a democrat who saved his country. Yet he seems bent on emulating Hugo Chávez, the caudillo of Caracas. It is high time that Mr Uribe let his country begin the stringent presidential debate it so badly needs. He should pre-empt the court judgment, and say now that he will not run this year. |
