Colombia

In a presentation at the Center for American Progress on July 23, 2008 in Washington, D.C., Colombian Minister of National Defense Juan Manuel Santos addressed lingering questions regarding the extraordinarily successful July 2 rescue of fifteen hostages from the grip of las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionárias de Colombia (FARC). Santos touched upon topics ranging from the status of Colombia’s controversial democracy, now in the hands of President Álvaro Uribe, to the current status of the wounded FARC, including the government’s plans in the aftermath of a stunning victory against its longtime enemy.

Santos painted a picture of triumph in all areas. He attributed the successful transformation of Colombia’s nearly “failed state” in 2000 to Uribe’s democratic security initiative, which has revived the presidency. The president’s military initiatives, Santos insisted, have improved the state of the country. Just a few years ago, 480 municipal mayors, approximately 35% of the country’s total, were unable to work in their respective localities due to safety concerns and rural roads were virtually unpassable as a result of alternating leftist guerrilla and rightist paramilitary control. The FARC was allowed to occupy a demilitarized zone during three and a half years of negotiations with Uribe’s predecessor, Andrés Pastrana, but the zone was used by the group as a place to keep hostages and kidnapping victims as well as a platform for arms and drug trafficking. Negotiations subsequently failed after a Colombian senator was kidnapped and the demilitarized zone was retaken by the Colombian armed forces in 2002. Uribe was able to build upon the negative political repercussions of the failed demilitarized zone strategy, which helped reveal the FARC’s weakened state and which began swinging the pendulum of public opinion back towards a military solution, culminating in the dramatic July 2 rescue operation.

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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Susan Schaller.

¿Qué Es Lo Que Quiere Juan Manuel Santos? The Colombian Defense Minister’s Visit to Washington and His Likely Bid for the Presidency in 2010

Colombian Defense Minister, Juan Manuel Santos, arrived in Washington D.C this week to promote the pending Free Trade Agreement between the U.S. and Colombia, one of Bogota’s most sought after, and least likely to obtain, aspirations under President Uribe. The defense minister will try to win over House and Senate Democrats on the FTA issue, and then wrap up his campaign to get a reluctant congress to pass the foundering legislation. Santos hopes to smooth over a wide crack in his relations with Washington by amazing his audience with the details of Operation Jaque, which led to the rescue of 15 hostages being held by the FARC, the left wing guerrillas who have been battling the government for decades.

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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Erina Uozumi.

Colombian Defense Minister, Juan Manuel Santos, arrived in Washington D.C this week to promote the pending Free Trade Agreement between