Appointment of Colombian Ex-President Sparks Controversy at Georgetown

Appointment of Colombian Ex-President Sparks Controversy at Georgetown
Critics say Uribe's human-rights record makes him unworthy of the post.
by Mike Giglio
October 13, 2010

http://www.newsweek.com.nyud.net:8090/content/newsweek/2010/10/13/appointment-of-colombian-ex-president-sparks-controversy-at-georgetown/_jcr_content/body/image.img.jpg/1287004430911.jpg

E. Abramovich / AFP-Getty Images (left); M. Ngan / AFP-Getty Images
Former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe (left) was the object of protests last month at
Georgetown University, where some demonstrators held up a sign saying, in Spanish, “Goodbye Uribe!”

Last month, Álvaro Uribe, newly minted as a visiting scholar at Georgetown, gave a guest lecture in a political-science class that ended with an embarrassing confrontation. From the stage of a small auditorium, the former Colombian president discussed free markets and security, two hallmarks of the strategy that by the time his eight-year tenure ended in August had transformed Colombia from borderline failed state to international success story and the U.S. government’s staunchest South American ally. Then he fielded questions from students. Nicholas Udu-gama rose from his seat in back, began to clap and, as he made his way down an aisle and onto the stage, accused Uribe of a wide range of human- and civil-rights crimes.

Udu-gama, 29, was pulled through a back exit and arrested, but this was no simple case of isolated campus activism. Uribe’s post at Georgetown has sparked a controversy at one of the country’s most esteemed international universities and across academia. On Sept. 29, more than 150 scholars, including 10 Georgetown professors and leading experts on Latin America and Colombia, signed a letter calling for Uribe to be fired. The letter, authored by a Jesuit priest, Father Javier Giraldo Moreno, one of Colombia’s foremost human-rights proponents, argued that Uribe’s appointment “is not only deeply offensive to those Colombians who still maintain moral principles, but also places at high risk the ethical development of the young people who attend our university.”

In a phone interview with NEWSWEEK, Udu-gama, part of a student-led coalition opposing Uribe’s appointment, spoke directly to the point: “This was Uribe trying to clean his image, basically, in front of our future leaders. He needs to be put in front of a criminal court.”

Such sentiments fly in the face of the usual narrative about Uribe as a man who beat back a guerilla insurgency, significantly reduced coca production, and jump-started his country's economy—and as someone who certainly would appear fit for an honorary university post. Georgetown had no comment, but in a statement said the university “is not endorsing the political views or government policies enacted by an individual,” and that “having such a prominent world leader at Georgetown will further the important work of students and faculty.”

More:
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/13/appointment-of-colombian-ex-president-sparks-controversy-at-georgetown.html

rumors posted here a few days ago seem to be false.

Uribe will deliver a fresh round of lectures at Georgetown early next month. His opponents have promised to keep pressing their case. And the university, willingly or not, will continue playing host to a worthwhile debate.

The good thing is that if he does deliver the lectures next month there will be plenty of time to plan the massive protests for them that failed to materialize last time.

Uribe’s personal secretary barred from public office for 18 years
HeadlinesOctober 4, 2010

Inspector General Alejandro Ordóñez convicted Bernardo Moreno, former president Alvaro Uribe’s personal secretary, for the illegal wiretappings that the DAS (Security Administration Department) made against Supreme Court magistrates, politicians, journalists and human rights organizations. Moreno was disqualified for holding public office for 18 years. Former DAS directors Jorge Noguera and María del Pilar Hurtado were barred as well, along with other former members of the intelligence agency. Uribe denied his own involvement in the wiretappings, after some said he might have given the instructions to do them.

http://www.semana.com/noticias-headlines/uribes-personal-secretary-barred-from-public-office-for-18-years/145541.aspx

(This is a google translation from a Colombian radio website. In the idiom in the country, the word "chuzada" popularly means "wiretap" although in literal translation in simply registers as "pikes." So in the title, they are speaking of "wiretaps.")

Pronouncements by the Solicitor, Committee to investigate accusations by Uribe 'pikes'
Jaime Andres Ospina | October 13, 2010

The representative to the House for the Party of the U, Augusto Posada said on W Radio that following the decisions taken by the Attorney Alejandro Ordonez and public domain information on the topic of 'pikes', the Commission on Prosecution decided to open an investigation against former President Alvaro Uribe.

"In Congress and public opinion had been commenting on the alleged role that could have the former President (Alvaro Uribe) on the theme of 'pikes'," said Representative Posada.

He said that yesterday, at a special meeting, the Commission took the decision after speaking of "the legal and political arguments" to start the investigation.

"After discussion it was decided to open this research based primarily on the pronouncements of the Attorney and public information," he said.

http://www.wradio.com.co/nota.aspx?id=1370775

eltiempo.com / file
New letter of protest against former President Uribe classes at Georgetown
The letter was sent about 80 academics, including the philosopher Noam Chomsky.

The undersigned delivered the letter to Georgetown University in Washington, calling for reconsidering the decision to invite former President of Colombia Alvaro Uribe to be part of this prestigious school. The letter was delivered to the University president, John J. DeGioia, is in support of a similar request made a few weeks ago the Jesuit priest Javier Giraldo. "His appointment is an affront to teachers and their educational mission," wrote the signatories. Uribe was invited to Georgetown as "distinguished scholar" and issue some classes during the fall. Although not officially confirmed, sources have said that the University has already made the decision not to extend an invitation to next year. Giraldo, in a letter that won a strong public showdown with former Minister Diego Palacio, said that the invitation of the Jesuits Uribe "is not only deeply offensive to those Colombians who have moral principles, but at high risk places ethical development of young people attending university in Washington. " Sergio Gomez Maseri TIME Washington Correspondent

Publication
eltiempo.com
Section
International
Publication Date
September 28, 2010

http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-8004880

Arrested for Confronting Power
Written by SOA Watch
Sunday, September 26 2010 11:01

~snip~
And what was it that we were hearing in the Georgetown University Intercultural Center's auditorium that afternoon? Álvaro Uribe, the Colombian ex-president, presenting himself as a soft-spoken academic, was telling his students that under his administration, “no one from the opposition had been killed or displaced.” My heart jumped to my throat. What about my friends in the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó who had been massacred on February 21st and 22nd, 2005? After the massacre, Uribe attacked the Peace Community as being a safe-haven for “terrorists”. (The head of the 17th Brigade at the time of the massacre – Gen. Hector Jaime Fadino Rincon – was a graduate of the School of the Americas). Uribe had perjured the memory of the victims, and he was doing it again here.

What about the hundreds of campesinos who left the Nordeste Antioqueño in the Magdalena Medio, fleeing the violence caused by paramilitary and military incursions at the service of multinational gold companies? Uribe's “Democratic Security” policy had made sure that soldiers would be given bonuses and vacation time for “guerrilla fighters” they had killed, and they were killing campesinos and presenting them as guerrilla combatants. A report by FOR and USOC showed that during Uribe's administration, where there were SOA-trained brigade commanders, there were higher rates of extrajudicial executions.

In his speech, Uribe talked about how he brought “social cohesion” to Colombia. I thought about the mass grave of 2,000 victims, found near the military base of La Macarena in 2009. After the gruesome discovery - the largest in Latin America-, Uribe called the people who denounced the massacre “spokespersons of terrorism”; less than a month later, Norma Irene Peréz, one of the main investigators was tortured and killed. (The area of La Macarena was an important staging area for a U.S.-supported military offensive known as Plan Patriota). I also remembered how Uribe “brought confidence back to government” by authorizing wire-tapping of his political opponents.

The Adios Uribe Coalition was formed by a group of people dedicated to preserving the memory of those Colombians who have been killed in a war fueled and funded by U.S. imperialism and the Colombian oligarchy. We reject Georgetown University inviting a person like Uribe to teach our students about how to kill social opposition for the sake of the market – and then lie about it. Why is Georgetown – an institution which claims to work by the Jesuit values of peace and social justice – allowing a criminal to clean his past in the notebooks of tomorrow's leaders? Why are our institutions of higher learning becoming training grounds for future human rights abusers?

More:
http://medialeft.net/main/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2133:arrested-for-confronting-power-&catid=104:north-america&Itemid=216

Check out this video, interview of an investigative reporter who attended alvarito's first class at GT.

http://uribe-georgetown.org/information/163/

and she looks barely old enough to be out of school, how is it our corporate "journalists" don't lower themselves to grapple with the facts? Have they NO sense of honor?

Not surprising she indicated there's a heavy police presence when he shows up, and that State Department people sat in, and that the way he was maneuvered into position at Georgetown was completely non-transparent, completely different from the procedure used for all other people, engineered through State Department, CIA.

We already had guessed that much, but it's great hearing her say it, anyway. She also has another important point, in that it isn't really free speech when the only people allowed into his classes are already people who are known to be sympathetic to his positions, not people who can challenge him.

It's great to see a journalist who still believes in the real purpose of her profession. It almost makes one too close to tears, knowing how the others have been perverted, sold, turned, compromised, and jaded. Hope this journalist will refuse to give up without becoming one of those who end up like so many others in Colombia: dead as a bloody doornail, after being tormented for months by death threats.

our "investigative reporter" also referred to Santos as Uribe's predecessor. and she also exaggerated on the already unsubstantiated claim that 2000 bodies were all murder victims. she stated "all of whom were killed civil rights leaders and union leaders"

not union members or civil rights activists mind you, but all of them were "leaders"

on the other hand she referred to the class as very jovial, which I would think would be a positive environment.

has she gotten her degree in journalism???

If you have to resort to attacking this young lady you're simply far too desperate. She might very well be someone working for the school paper.

leaders was not a slip of the tongue, but a demonstration of lack of knowledge and/or lack of preparation. not a very sound job of investigative reporting thats for sure.