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His own worst enemy: Law and politics in Colombia
From The Economist print edition
The president misses an opportunity to stake out the high ground.
Apart from the presidency itself, few jobs are as important in Colombia's battle to impose the rule of law as that of the attorney-general. Constitutionally independent, he must grapple with the pending prosecution of scores of former paramilitary bosses and drug lords, while probing hundreds of claims that soldiers have killed civilians and supervising the digging up of some 30,000 clandestine graves, as well as investigating common crime. It matters all the more who holds the job today, since Álvaro Uribe, the president since 2002, wants to change the constitution to allow him to run for a third consecutive term next year. That has raised widespread fears that the independence of the judiciary will be eroded.
The attorney-general is chosen for a four-year term by the Supreme Court from a list of three candidates drawn up by the president. On September 22nd the court rejected, for the second time, all three names put forward by Mr Uribe in July, ruling that none have the necessary "qualities, qualifications and abilities". The most promising of the three was hurt by allegations that he used undue influence with a judge. Another was briefly one of Mr Uribe's defence ministers. A third is widely seen as not being up to the job. None of the three has experience in criminal law.
The 14 (out of 23) justices who rejected the slate hope that Mr Uribe will come up with better candidates. But the president shows no sign of doing so. His supporters say that the court's ruling is part of a judicial vendetta against him. The court is investigating 67 legislators, 56 of them from Mr Uribe’s coalition, over their ties to paramilitaries. >>>>Go to Full Story >>>
Colombia seeks eco-tourism boost
By Henry Mance | BBC News
Residents of the town of La Macarena frequently toss a phrase into conversation: "Cuando estaba la guerrilla..." — "When the guerrillas were here..."
It is an understated way of describing the region's past troubles. Between 1998 and 2001, La Macarena, together with four other municipalities, formed part of the demilitarised zone created by the Colombian government during peace talks with the country's biggest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).
The guerrillas were not just a presence; they, and the drugs economy they brought with them, dominated the lives of the local population. Farmers and merchants experienced an unprecedented boom from coca production. Food crops virtually disappeared and plantains and cassavas had to be imported.
Meanwhile, instead of state law enforcement, there was a guerrilla-run complaints office. Men caught stealing chickens and other items were ordered to walk around the town with sandwich-boards announcing their crimes; other offenders were taken off to work clearing runways for drug trafficking.
The broader conflict's victims were visible: a group of hostages was kept in a barbed-wire enclosure before being handed over to relatives. At that time eco-tourism was impossible. But after peace talks between the government and the Farc broke down and the army retook the town within a week, the idea took root.
This year has been the busiest since the guerrillas left, with around 200 tourists from Colombia, North America and Europe flying in on tiny aircraft. "I've wanted to come for years, but the trips were always cancelled for security reasons," says one visitor from Bogota. The region's main attraction is Cano Cristales, a river famed for its pink plants. >>> Go to Full Story >>>
Colombia Confronts Drug Lord's Legacy: Hippos
By SIMON ROMERO | The New York Times
Sixteen years after the infamous Mr. Escobar was gunned down on a Medellín rooftop in a manhunt, Colombia is still wrestling with the mess he made.
Even in Colombia, a country known for its paramilitary death squads, this hunting party stood out: more than a dozen soldiers from a Colombian Army battalion, two Porsche salesmen armed with long-range rifles, their assistant, and a taxidermist.
They stalked Pepe through the backlands of Colombia for three days in June before executing him in a clearing about 60 miles from here with shots to his head and heart. But after a snapshot emerged of soldiers posing over his carcass, the group suddenly found itself on the defensive.
As it turned out, Pepe — a hippopotamus who escaped from his birthplace near the pleasure palace built here by the slain drug lord Pablo Escobar — had a following of his own. The meticulously organized operation to hunt Pepe down, carried out with the help of environmentalists, has become the focus of an unusually fierce debate over animal rights and the containment of invasive species in a country still struggling to address a broad range of rights violations during four decades of protracted war with guerrillas.
"In Colombia, there is no documented case of an attack against people or that they damaged any crops," said Aníbal Vallejo, president of the Society for the Protection of Animals in Medellín, referring to the hippos. "No sufficient motive to sacrifice one of these animals has emerged in the 28 years since Pablo Escobar brought them to his hacienda."
Wildlife experts from Africa brought here to study Colombia's growing numbers of hippos, a legacy of Mr. Escobar's excesses, have in recent days bolstered the government's plan to prevent them — by force, if necessary — from spreading into areas along the nation's principal river. But some animal-rights activists are so opposed to the idea of killing them that they have called for the firing of President Álvaro Uribe's environment minister. >>> Go to Full Story >>>
