23 April 2008
Democracy in Colombia Seen Making Measurable Gains
Colombian democracy has similarities to U.S. system of government
Washington -- Democracy sometimes is defined as being a work in progress and under that standard Colombia is recording measurable improvement, an expert on Colombia tells America.gov.
Gerard Martin, director of the Colombia program at Georgetown University in Washington, said that despite rampant drug trafficking and civil unrest that has continued for more than 40 years, Colombia is becoming a Latin American success story and much of its democratic system of government resembles that of the United States.
Martin said that over the last 50 years, every Colombian president peacefully has handed the reins of power to his successor in the same manner that outgoing U.S. presidents, starting with George Washington in 1797, have been followed by their elected successors.
A new Colombian law allowed incumbent President Álvaro Uribe to be re-elected in 2006 to another four-year term. Prior to 2006, Colombian presidents were limited to a single term to prevent the executive branch from assuming too much authority.
Like the United States, Martin said, Colombia’s Congress is bicameral, with a Senate and a House. Colombia also has individual states (departments) with senators, as well as mayors and city councils.
Martin said the country also has an independent judicial branch and “constitutional oversight has been pretty strong” in the country.
“I don’t think there’s much room for illegal” activities by Colombian officials, said Martin. When it does occur, he said, the news “comes out immediately,” which is a sign that the country’s independent media are not subject to strong censorship.
Martin recognizes that due to the country’s difficult security situation, a “significant” number of journalists have been killed in Colombia, most by guerrilla groups and organized crime syndicates.
But in another sign of improving conditions, the press advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said that in 2007, for the first time in 15 years, no journalists were killed because of their work in Columbia.
MORE POSITIVE NEWS ABOUT COLOMBIA
Michael Shifter of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue told a U.S. congressional panel April 10 that Colombia is “going through a collective catharsis” after enduring a “dreadful drug-fueled armed conflict and a severe humanitarian crisis for decades and is now palpably struggling to confront and overcome the trauma.”
Shifter, his group’s vice president for policy, told the House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere that “whether Colombia is on the verge of ending its armed conflict is unclear, but the signs” that the leftist guerilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), are “weakening are unmistakable.”
“This progress is to be celebrated,” said Shifter, though he cautioned that violence in the country may continue “especially since the drug problem remains formidable in Colombia and throughout” the Andean region of South America.
Admiral James Stavridis, commander of the U.S. Southern Command, also expressed optimism about Colombia, telling the Senate Armed Services Committee March 6 that with steady support from the United States, Colombia is “on the brink of winning its peace and making its successful gains against terrorism and social disorder irreversible.”
Stavridis said Colombia has improved “within an increasingly open and transparent political and judicial system.” The press in Colombia, he said, has “free rein to investigate and publish on any subject that it wishes” and that “just as in the United States, as illegal activity becomes known, accusations are made public and trials take place in an open legal system.”
REPORTER GIVES MIXED VIEW OF COLOMBIA
Juan Forero, the Washington Post correspondent in Bogotá, told America.gov that “there certainly are improvements” in Colombia in terms of fewer homicides and less violent crime, and with the country enjoying a “booming” economy.
But he said a political scandal involving demobilization of former right-wing paramilitary groups has been very damaging to the government.
Forero said the demobilization program has proven so cumbersome and been done in such a “shoddy fashion” that there has been a resurgence of paramilitary groups and paramilitary gangs involved in drug trafficking.
However, the FARC has been battered, with desertions by its top commanders “hitting them really hard,” Forero said.
While calling the FARC “increasingly irrelevant,” Forero said it still has some 11,000 members, which makes the group probably the largest guerilla force ever in Latin America. Its numbers are down from about 18,000 in previous years, and increasingly its ranks are younger as it uses more child soldiers, Forero said.
Forero said Colombia definitely is safer for journalists especially those representing large and high-profile media outlets such as the Washington Post or Semana, a Colombian weekly news magazine. Colombia’s print media is vigorous and can report freely without fear of retaliation, he said.
For additional information, see “Remarks by President Bush on Situation in Colombia.”
