Colombia's freedoms are threatened by a campaign of far-right lies [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Colombia's freedoms are threatened by a campaign of far-right lies

As his country votes for a new president, a leading writer fears a result that could lead to years of hatred and butchery

Héctor Abad
The Observer, Saturday 14 June 2014 08.55 EDT

According to the most recent polls, former president Álvaro Uribe and his puppet, Óscar Iván Zuluaga, will win the elections on Saturday. His campaign, deceitful but effective, will bring the far right to power in Colombia, actively assisted by the utopian, Chavist left – represented by the bard William Ospina – and assisted (through blank votes) by the Maoist left, represented by senator Jorge Enrique Robledo. Zuluaga is Uribe's puppet in much the same way that Dimitri Medvedev was Vladimir Putin's when he placed Medvedev in the Kremlin while he (briefly) stood down.

As an Italian politician once said, power corrupts those who do not have it, as they are prepared to do whatever it takes to regain it. The strategy of lying has worked and everything seems to indicate that most Colombians have fallen for these tall campaign tales and so will return Uribe to power and, with him, the most fanatical representatives of the Colombian far-right. Because, if we don't pinch ourselves before we vote, something even more serious than lies will triumph in these elections: a backlash against the most precious gains of freedom in recent times.

In fact, part of this far right has already taken control of one of the state's most important departments. It is there that an ally of Uribe-Zuluaga, Alejandro Ordóñez, Colombia's Inspector General (akin to a US attorney general) is fighting what they consider a Catholic crusade against liberalism and modernity. Among the rights they do not support and would like removed are such fundamental things as birth control, gender equality and sex education in schools and others, such as gay marriage, that are still battles we are far from winning.

Another element of the far right that looks set to gain is represented by the guild of cattle farmers, headed by José Félix Lafaurie, who still defends feudal land ownership privileges. Lafaurie was cleared by his friend the Inspector General of having been among those who bribed an ex-minister to change her vote so as to ensure Uribe's re-election. Lafaurie does not deny that he financed paramilitaries although, he makes clear, only as a way to protect himself from guerrilla groups.

More:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/14/colombia-freedoms-threatened-by-far-right-lies-hector-abad