This paper will prove that Alvaro Uribe’s policies are more effective in comparing them to past presidential attempts in negotiation as well as prove that Uribe’s actions are justified in pursuit to fulfill his responsibility as president to protect his people. Before being able fully analyze whether President Uribe’s actions are justified or not one must look at the history of the FARC. The group FARC was founded on May 27,1964 by peasants pursuing representation against the wealthier class of Colombia.FARC was created to serve as a military branch of the Colombia Communist Party after the national government began to attack small communist rural communities during a period of time known as “La violencia” (Brittain). However, the FARC has done nothing, but hurt the entire Colombian population. Records show that FARC participated in about 5,000 deaths in 2002 alone, two-thirds of them coming from innocent civilians (Mason).
How can an organization that says they advocate for the “people” of Colombia kill innocent lives?The FARC have not just gone after government officials, but also innocent people that may have nothing to do with the government. Ever since the FARC emerged it has converted Colombia into one of the most violent countries in Latin America. Not only has the FARC killed innocent lives, but there methods of income has severely hurt Colombia. FARC funds itself through active participation in drug trafficking as well as kidnapping civilians for ransom while keeping them captive in the most inhuman conditions.
In 2002, 1,358 Colombians were kidnapped and on average there are about eight kidnappings a day (Mason).These are innocent Colombian people being taken from their home and taken hostage. Not only are they taken hostage, but they also undergo terrible treatment by FARC soldiers. For example, after three American hostages were rescued after being held for five and a half years described that FARC soldiers would sometimes put chains “around their necks like dogs and forced at gunpoint to march while carrying heavy backpacks” (Gold).
These innocent victims are forced to live these conditions for years hoping that one day they will either be rescued or have their freedom negotiated.This guerilla organization has acted more like a terrorist group in recent times. Alvaro Uribe ran for president in 2002 with a different approach in regards to dealing with the FARC than any president before him. Instead of pursuing constant negotiations with FARC officials, Uribe implemented the “Democratic Security” agenda. Uribe called for Colombia to move to a “get tough” agenda and defeat the FARC.
“Democratic Security” refers to the “provision of internal security within a framework of democratic protections” (Mason).The agenda’s objectives are to consolidate state control in order to deny influence of terrorists, protect the population, destroy the illegal drug trade, maintain a deterrent military, and transparently and efficiently manage resources (Colombia). Uribe’s plan has been highly successful by attacking many FARC establishments and freeing thousands of hostages and killing high ranking FARC officials. Not only that, but the plan has been very successful in decreasing the cocaine production in Colombia, a major source of FARC’s income. The U.
N. eport stated that Cocaine production has decreased by 29% (McDermott).This is mostly due to the implementation of the aerial eradication program which consists of destroying Cocaine fields. Uribe has been able to bring life and hope back to the Colombian people, that one day being able to be free from the FARC’s harm. Uribe however has been called a murderer and a violator of human rights for his policies.
People criticize Uribe’s aggressive approach and believe he should instead pursue diplomatic solutions. However in the past this has proven to not work.Should Uribe sit back and watch the FARC violate Colombians human rights? Uribe as president has the responsibility of protecting his people and his policies reflect that. Also it’s interesting that Uribe is constantly being accused of violating human rights yet no one seems to accuse the FARC for violating humanitarian law. FARC has harmed Colombian society by kidnapping innocent lives, and committing many homicides, yet many people look past that.
Many people have also accused Uribe of being an advocate of paramilitaries. This however has been proven to be the contrary.For example, in 2003 Uribe was able to negotiate with paramilitary leaders and convince them to “surrender and demobilize 31,000 of their men in exchange for reduced jail terms” (Profile: Alvaro Uribe). This clearly shows that Uribe is not involved with any paramilitary activity and that this accusations just serve as a distraction of what really is occurring. The fact is that Uribe’s policy is the only one that has worked for years. Past presidents have tried to peacefully negotiate with the FARC and have failed, only helping the FARC get stronger.
A perfect example of this was Uribe’s predecessor, Andres Pastrana. In pursuit of making a peace agreement with the FARC, Pastrana created a demilitarized zone. His policy was to make peace at any cost with the FARC. This however failed and the peace negotiations ended and the FARC took over the demilitarized zone and emerged even stronger than before (Mason). It’s a proven fact based off of experience that negotiating with the FARC does not work.
So what option does Uribe have, but to fight back in order to protect his people.He can’t just sit back and watch the FARC kidnap more and more people each day and watch how the illegal drug trade affects not only Colombia, but the entire world. Uribe’s policy has brought many advancements militarily against the FARC. the Colombian military has been able to attack many FARC establishment and kill many of the FARC leaders that have been in control for many years. For example, Raul Reyes, and Jorge Briceno have both been killed in combat by Colombian state forces.
Not only that, FARC’s founder Manuel Marulanda also passed away from a heart attack recently.The death of the top leaders of the FARC only brings further hope that this war with the FARC will soon be over. This would have never been accomplished if Colombia continued their past policies of negotiation. Colombia has needed a president to protect and advance the country for years. Colombia found that candidate and thats why in 2002 Colombian citizens did the right decision in electing Alaro Uribe.
Uribe’s decision in implementing “Democratic Security” is completely justified and necessary in order to protect the Colombian population.Past approaches and policies by presidents over the years have been proven not to work and make the FARC even stronger. Uribe’s policy of attacking the FARC forces economically, judicially, and militarily has all worked in weakening the FARC. The aerial eradication program has worked to destroy cocaine fields, thus decreasing cocaine production by 29%, seriously hurting FARC’s funds.
The policy has attacked the FARC militarily by attacking FARC bases and establishments and killing many FARC leaders while freeing many hostages. A perfect example of this is Operation Jaque.Here the Colombian state forces were able to free three American soldiers, Ingrid Betancourt, and other high ranking military officials that have been held captive for years. Lastly the policy has attacked the FARC judicially by condemning their actions to the international community proving that they are a violent organization that needs to be stopped.
This can be seen by many countries categorizing FARC as a terrorist group such as United States, Brazil and Canada. Colombia is getting closer and closer to peace and tranquility that they have strived for a long time,largely due to Alvaro Uribe’s excellent leadership.
