Controversial ex-Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos elected President of Colombia

Colombia’s presidential elections on Sunday 21st June saw ex-Minister of Defence Juan Manuel Santos win a landslide victory over his rival candidate Antanas Mockus. Santos was congratulated by President Alvaro Uribe, and vowed to continue with Uribe’s hardline security and neoliberal policies. Santos gained 69% of the votes to Mokcus’ 27.5%, with an abstention rate of 55%, and will take power on 7th August.

Santos pledged his full support to the armed forces, but promised to ensure that they operate with ‘full respect for human rights’. The claim failed to convince human rights organisations, which point to the fact that Santos was Minister of Defence between 2005-2008, when the bulk of the three thousand cases of extrajudicial executions which are being investigated by Colombian prosecutors took place. The scandal of the ‘false positives’ saw state forces murder civilians then dress them up in combat fatigues to present them as guerrilla combatants. In Chile’s military dictatorship, 3000 people were murdered between 1979 and 1990.

The President-elect also stated that his priority would be to continue to create jobs, whilst also vowing to improve relations with Colombia’s neighbours. Last year an Ecuadorian judge issued an arrest warrant for Santos in relation to an attack by Colombia in 2008, when Colombian commandos crossed the border into Ecuador to attack a camp of FARC rebels, deep in the jungle.

Santos vowed that there will be no negotiation in the armed conflict with FARC guerrillas, and that the only option is to continue to fight the FARC until they surrender. Despite widespread human rights violations, these hardline security policies continue to be popular amongst an electorate suspicious and hostile towards the FARC, which Amnesty International says also systematically violates human rights.
Many have pointed to widespread vote-buying and fraud in the election process in seeking to explain Santos’ victory. However, the margin of the victory is also testament to the success of President Uribe’s 2 administrations, with the help of partisan national media, in shifting public opinion to the right, despite a string of high-profile corruption scandals and international condemnation for its disdain for human rights.

Note: Colombian prosecutors say they are investigating around 2000 false positive cases. However, many human rights organisations and commentatos say that the real number is almost certain higher than 3000, but many victims' families are too fearful of reprisals to come forward.

Indigenous Leader Aida Quilcue Loses Out in Senate Elections

Aida Quilcue narrowly missed out on a seat in the Colombian Senate in the national election on Sunday 14th March. Despite winning more votes than any of the other candidates for the two Senate seats reserved for indigenous leaders, Aida lost out because the competition is based on the total number of votes accrued by each party. Aida broke away from the national Social Indigenous Alliance party (Alianza Social Indigena)to start the Social and Indigenous Movement (Movimiento Social e Indigena) because of its support for Sergio Fajardo’s candidacy for the presidency, despite Fajardo’s support for the current government’s militaristic Democratic Security policy which has seen a huge increase in human rights violations and forced displacement in Colombia.



Aida, who visited the UK in September at the invitation of Unison Northern and Northern TUC, and in conjunction with the Colombia Solidarity Campaign, vowed to continue to work for a change in Colombia and to continue her community-oriented work, saying “Not much changes, it just means I will continue the struggle from outside the Senate not from within it”. Aida has campaigned for human rights and social justice in Colombia, and until last year was the spokesperson for the Minga of Social and Communitarian Resistance, a broad-based social process led by Colombia’s indigenous movement.

The elections were dominated by parties which form part of the hard-line right-wing governing coalition of Alvaro Uribe. They were, however, steeped in controversy, with much talk of armed groups interfering with the electoral process in rural areas, and many seats were won by family members and close friends of politicians who are currently in prison for their links to ultra-right wing paramilitary death squads. Colombia’s presidential elections will be held in May.

Constitutional Court Rules Out Second Re-election for Colombian President Alvaro Uribe

In a historical decision on Friday 26th March the Colombian Constitutional Court ruled out a referendum proposed by President Alvaro Uribe’s supporters over a constitutional amendment which would have allowed Uribe to stand for election for a third consecutive term. The magistrates voted 7-2 against the referendum, ruling that the proposed amendment was unconstitutional because it would upset the balance of power between state institutions. It also cited the numerous procedural irregularities in the referendum project’s financing and its passage through the Colombian congress. The Congress illegally changed the text of the constitutional amendment.

Politicians, social organisations and large sections of the media celebrated the decision and praised the independence of the Constitutional Court, which came under heavy pressure from the government to pass the motion. President Uribe’s Legal Secretary paid a last minute visit to the Court on Thursday to try and convince magistrates to approve the referendum, and the government put huge pressure on the magistrates in its public discourse. The presidential elections will take place in May, and have now been thrown wide open.

Meanwhile, many are predicting that President Uribe could end up facing justice for the systematic human rights violations against the civil population and crimes against humanity which have taken place during his time in office. President Uribe will leave office on August 7th.

Aida Quilcue registers her candidacy for Senate elections

On 2nd February, Colombian indigenous leader Aida Quilcue registered her name for March’s Senate elections after collecting more than 65,000 signatures in support of her candidacy in just 2 weeks. Aida, who was in Britain at the end of September at the invitation of Unison Northern and Northern TUC and in conjunction with the Colombia Solidarity Campaign, is aiming to be elected to one of two Senate seats which are reserved for indigenous senators.
Aida split from the Alianza Social Indigena (Social Indigenous Alliance) party in late January over political differences, leaving her with very little time to collect the 50,000 signatures needed to run for election as an independent candidate. She has been critical of the national Alianza Social Indigena’s national policies, including its support for presidential candidate Sergio Fajardo, who has proposed the continuity of President Alvaro Uribe’s security policies which have led to systematic human rights violations and (the prosecution service is investigating the murder of up to 2000 citizens by the Colombian army over the past 5 years).
Aida said, “I’d like to thank everybody who has supported my candidacy. My standing for election is the result of decisions by indigenous communities, and not imposed by political parties as is usually the case”. The Senate and Congressional elections will be held on 14th March.