- Arthur Wallace
- BBC World, Bogota (@bbc_wallace)
image source, ap
Uribe has previously been accused of ties to paramilitaries
It is a debate that in one way or another has been taking place in Colombia for years.
But led to Congress this Wednesday, the discussion on the alleged links between the former president and today Senator Álvaro Uribe and the paramilitaries once again captured the attention of many Colombians.
Several television channels broadcast it live, and the hashtag #DebateParamilitarismo dominated social media.
And in second place was #EstoyConUribe, promoted by those who see the objections against the former president as slander designed to discredit him.
Immediately after, however, #UribeCobarde and #SeRetiraComoUribe followed, referring to the former president’s decision to leave the Senate during the first part of the morning.
Although the former president would eventually return to the venue to reply to his colleague in that corporation, Iván Cepeda, the organizer of the controversial debate.
Because before that, and for more than an hour and a half, Cepeda used the congressional platform to offer evidence of the alleged relationship between the former president and drug traffickers and paramilitaries over the years.
«Slanderous Event»
image source, ap
Left-wing senator Iván Cepeda has been one of Uribe’s main critics.
The accusations made by Cepeda against former President Uribe are well known in Colombia, although they obviously acquired a greater dimension in the Senate.
They range from alleged favors to the Medellín Cartel during his time as director of Civil Aeronautics in the early 1980s, to links between the Colombian intelligence apparatus and paramilitary groups during his two terms in office.
And Cepeda also addressed the alleged role of Uribe in the formation of these groups as governor of Antioquia, among other examples.
Uribe would eventually counterattack, also defending his probity and political career for more than an hour and a half and in turn accusing various personalities.
And he would close by accusing the President of the Republic, Juan Manuel Santos, of ordering what he described as a «defamatory event promoted by the terrorist group the FARC, its usual allies, the paramilitaries, its new henchmen.»
All very direct. Despite the fact that Senator Cepeda had initially been prohibited from even naming Uribe in the course of the debate.
The restriction had been imposed by the Senate Ethics Commission, which argued that political control debates could not take place between parliamentarians.
But Cepeda had already told BBC Mundo that he was willing to mention the name Uribe as many times as necessary, because his questions were not against the current senator but rather referred to what he had done in his previous positions.
And, at least formally, the debate also directly questioned the Ministers of the Interior and Justice, questioning them for their lack of action in the face of the numerous accusations against the ex-president.
image source, EPA
The armed conflict in Colombia between guerrillas, paramilitaries and government forces has left thousands of victims.
Thus, the president of the Second Commission, Jimmy Chamorro, limited himself to making Cepeda see on several occasions that he was failing what was ordered by the Ethics Commission.
And both Uribe and Cepeda made it known that they planned to carry out the discussion before the courts.
While the tension of spirits was evidenced by the decision of the former president and the majority of his bench to leave, among shouts, immediately concluding his defense.
Polarization
Interior Minister Juan Fernando Cristo immediately reacted to Uribe’s accusations against Santos as a «smokescreen» for the ex-president.
And strong accusations, among which there was no shortage of insults, marked the rest of the day.
Now the question is whether the debate, or the legal actions that arise from it, will manage to change anything.
In his speech, Cepeda noted that 84 pieces of evidence had been made against the former president in the Commission for Investigations and Accusations of the House of Representatives, which had never been duly processed.
And, according to the senator from the Polo Democrático (left), there are currently seven preliminary investigations against the president in the National Prosecutor’s Office and at least one in the Supreme Court of Justice.
image source, EPA
Uribe also accused the presidency of wanting to attack him.
Uribe, for his part, criminally charged Cepeda again for libel and slander, among other crimes. And during the debate, the senator was openly linked to the FARC by supporters of the ex-president.
While, in his final speech, the former president did not hesitate to affirm that everything was part of a campaign organized from the presidency in agreement with the guerrillas to prosecute him.
Outside the congress, many welcomed a debate that they described as difficult, but necessary. Although everything seems to indicate that the discussion this Wednesday in congress will not be able to change the opinion of the extremes of an increasingly polarized society.
Because those who support Uribe continue to think that the popular ex-president is either innocent or simply did what was necessary.
And many of those who criticize him continue to think that without his alleged links to narco-paramilitarism, it is not possible to explain the recent history of Colombia.
Because the debate has not just begun, nor has it ended. It just continues to happen.
