Colombia: Empowerment of non-violent Groups

1
Colombia Empowerment of non-violent Groups the
Future

• Former hostage Marcos Baquero (kidnapped 2009),
  center top, embraces his wife Olga Lucia Tao,
  right, after he was released by the Revolutionary
  Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, in Villavicencio,
  Colombia, Wednesday Feb. 9, 2011. Baquero, member
  of the municipal council of San Jose del Guaviare

2
1991 Constitution A New Beginning

• Protecting the Presidential Palace

• National Executive
• President elected by a plurality (every four
  years)
• Re-election initially prohibited
• Liberal and Conservative party leaders fear an
  independent political leader
• Concern with dictatorship

3
1991 Constitution A New Beginning or not?

• Traditional Political Elite continues to dominate
  the national executive
• 2002 Uribe breaks hold of Liberal
  Conservative Parties on the presidency
• 2004 - Uribe gains approval for reelection of the
  president
• Uribes success with pacification
• Discrediting of Liberal Conservative political
  parties

4
Senate of Colombia (2010)

• -
• Composition by Political Party .
•    Partido de la U 28 senadores.
•    Partido Conservador 23 senadores.
•    Partido Liberal 17 senadores.
•    Partido de Integración Nacional 9 senadores.
•    Partido Cambio Radical 8 senadores.
•    Polo Democrático Alternativo 8 senadores.
•    Partido Verde 5 senadores.
•    Movimiento Mira 3 senadores

5
Institutions Legislative Power 1991
Constitution

• National Legislature
• Congress (more powerful than under 1886
  Constitution)
• House
• by departmental constituency,
• proportional representation

• National Congress

6
Political Institutions Constitution of 1991

• Judiciary
• Code law system typical of Latin America
• Remains weakest of the three branches of
  government
• Office of National Procurator separated from
  the courts

• New Palace of Justice Building

7
Changes in Political Institutions Departments

• Departmental Governors traditionally named by the
  national executive
• Constitution of 1991
• Initially kept the traditional system of
  appointed departmental governors
• Popular pressure forced move to direct election
• Plurality in one department-wide election

8
Government Machinery other features

• 1991 constitution made efforts to decentralize
  power to the Departments
• Plans for revenue sharing
• Value added taxes
• Municipal Government
• Popular elections of mayors
• Municipal Councils strengthened

9
Non-governmental organizations

• Proliferation in 1990s
• Most commonly encompass middle classes
• Support for Colombian NGOs strong in Europe and
  the USA
• Influence on policy making is limited

10
Traditional Groups

• Roman Catholic church
• Historic conservatism
• Efforts to mediate violence relatively
  ineffectual
• Camillo Torres worker priests

11
Traditional Groups

• Association of large industrialists (ANDI)
• Founded in 1944
• Leading advocate of free enterprise in Colombia
• Interests of members overlap with large
  agricultural producers

12
Traditional Groups

• National Federation of Coffee Growers (FEDECAFE)
• Founded in 1927
• Dominated by larger coffee producers/exporters

13
Organized Labor

• Labor Federations
• CTC (Confederation of Colombian Workers)
• Founded in 1935
• Ties to the Liberal Party
• UTC (Union of Colombian Workers)
• Founded during presidency of Conservative Mariano
  Ospina (in 1946)
• Surpassed CTC in 1950s
• CSTC (Syndical Confederation of Workers of
  Colombia)
• Became Colombias largest labor federation in
  1980s
• Largely independent from the political parties
• Most aggressive of the three in upholding worker
  rights

14
Policy Making and the New Actors

• Peasants
• not well organized
• Displaced and cluster around large cities
• Urban poor
• Drug Dealers
• Large cartels broken apart due largely to
  international pressure
• After the Cartels?  

15
Policy Making and the Violent Groups
(anti-establishment elements )

• Guerrillas
• FARC
• ELN
• M19 (largely destroyed)

• FARC guerrillas in Putumayo where Plan Colombia
  is being implemented

16
Paramilitary GroupsAUC (violent
pro-establishment)

• Formed initially by large land owners for
  protection against the insurgents
• Ranks of AUC filled by same kinds of individuals
  who were in the surgency
• Often turned against large land owners and siezed
  property for themselves

17
USA Offers Counterinsurgency Assistance - 1999

• Colombia supplies 90 of the United States
  Cocaine
• Main Refinery for Latin American drugs
• FARC. ELN, and AUC are continuous threats to
  peace and prosperity in Colombia and the United
  States
• U.S.A. Interest
• Prevent drug traffickers from taking over
• Preserve a stable democracy

18
Pastrana

• Accepts Plan Colombia 1999
• Military to military relationships strengthened
• Equipment provided to Colombian military
• U. S. trainers teach counterinsurgency tactics
• Pastrana policy of providing sanctuaries for
  insurgents worsens the situation
• Conservative political party loses credibility

19
URIBE

• Wins election of 2002 by promising to be hard on
  violence and drugs
• Close alliance with President Bush
• No sanctuaries
• Increased commitment of central government to
  fight FARC and ELN

20
Results of Uribe Policies

• Homicides both individual and massacre down by
  19.2 and 62 respectively
• Drug trading set record lows and believe that
  half of cocaine did not make it to the market
• Many FARC, ELN and Parliamentary leaders have
  been captured
• Reports of success must be taken with a grain of
  salt (In terrorists best interest and on
  occasion that of the government not to reveal
  unfavorable information)

21
Álvaro Uribe Vélez Success in restoring order
Key issue in 2006 Presidential election

• Campaigning for the 2006 presidential elections
  in Bogotá, Colombia.

22
Summary Results of 28 May 2006 Colombian presidential election Summary Results of 28 May 2006 Colombian presidential election Summary Results of 28 May 2006 Colombian presidential election
Parties - Candidates Votes
Álvaro Uribe Vélez - Colombia First (Primero Colombia) 7,363,421 62.20
Carlos Gaviria Díaz - Alternative Democratic Pole (Polo Democrático Alternativo) 2,609,412 22.04
Horacio Serpa Uribe - Colombian Liberal Party (Partido Liberal Colombiano) 1,401,173 11.84
Antanas Mockus Sivickas - Indigenous Social Alliance Movement (Movimiento Alianza Social Indígena) 146,540 1.24
Enrique Parejo González - National Democratic Reconstruction (Reconstrucción Democrática Nacional) 44,610 0.38
Álvaro Leyva Durán - National Movement for Reconciliation (Movimiento Nacional de Reconciliación) 22,039 0.19
Carlos Arturo Rincón Barreto - Colombian Community and Communal Political Movement (Movimiento Politico Comunal y Comunidad Colombiano) 20,477 0.17
Total votes for candidates 11,607,672 98.05
Blank votes 230,749 1.95
Total valid votes 11,838,421 100.00
Null votes 136,326
Unmarked ballots 84,041
Total votes cast (turnout 45.1) 12,058,788
Registered voters 26,731,700

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Criticism of Plan Colombia

• Leftist governments question the real objectives
  behind the Plan(i.e. oil and natural resources)
• US help intended to suppress the peasants and
  strengthen exploitative ruling elites
• Despite over a million acres of coca plants being
  destroyed, the same percentage of cocaine is
  supplied to the United States as was supplied
  when Plan Colombia began in 2000

24
No Third Term End of the Uribe Era

• Supreme Court rejects referendum proposal to to
  allow for a second reelection of President
• Liberal Conservative political parties unable
  to regain traction
• Contenders
• Party of U
• Greens

25
Presidential Run Off Election(June 20, 2010)

Antanas Mockus
Green Party
Bogotá
Sergio Fajardo
3,587,975
27.47
Juan Manuel Santos
Party of the U
Bogotá
Angelino Garzón
9,028,943
69.13
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The Future of Political Order in Colombia

• Capture of Mono Joyoy Sept. 2010 (Víctor Julio
  Suárez Rojas)
• Will the gains in political order be
  consolidated?
• Role of the United States

27
Other Critical Questions for Assessing the
Political Future of Colombia

• Can the poor be integrated into national public
  life?
• Displaced peasants
• Slum dwellers
• Will the political system become more responsive?
  
• Can the economy be diversified?
• Will relations with Venezuela other South
  American states improve?