Monday 01 September
2008, San José, Costa
Rica
ECLA Proposes
Measures Against Impact From Food Price
Hikes
Colombia Crisis Brews,
Uribe Stews
Colombia Alerts Public
Over Probable
Contamination Of River
Venezuela Rejects Visit
Of U.S. Anti-Drug Chief
Venezuela Energizes
South Bank Initiative
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Colombia Crisis Brews,
Uribe Stews
BOGOTA - Colombia
has had a long week of
strong institutional
crisis including
President Alvaro Uribe,
the Supreme Court,
District Attorney's
office and the
opposition.
The conflict heated up
considerably when Uribe
repeatedly accused the
Supreme Court, District
Attorney's office of
bias and manipulating
witnesses. Uribe claimed
the government of Cesar
Gaviria (1990-1994)
paved the way for para-militarism
in the Constitution of
1991 and that he would
fight hard against any
attempt to take him to
the International
Criminal Court for
obstructing justice.
The so-called para-politics
case involves dozens of
politicians close to his
administration and Uribe
appears to be trying to
mitigate the
implications of many
secret meetings by his
legal and media staff
with two close
collaborators of the
ex-paramilitary chief
Diego León Murillo (Don
Berna).
The Court said those
meetings were subversive
and the District
Attorney's office opened
investigations into the
implicated presidential
advisors.
Liberal Party president
Cesar Gaviria accused
Uribe of covering up the
country's true problems
and challenged him to
clear up the frequent
visits to the known
criminal Casa de Nariño
to conspire against the
Supreme Court.
In the heat of the
moment the government
filed several political
and legal reform bills
to Congress which were
harshly criticized by
the opposition.
The Liberal Party said
it will not look at them
and rejected as mediator
the Interior Minister
Fabio Valencia, whose
brother Guillermo
Valencia was removed
from the District
Attorney's office for
proven contact with the
para-militaries and drug
trafficking.
On Friday Uribe tried to
smooth over the raging
crisis and said at the
annual assembly of the
Bogota Chamber of
Commerce "there are
political debates here
every day. We have to
learn how to live
without shooting each
other, but we must also
say the truth." |
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