Álvaro Uribe was president of Colombia from 2002 to 2010.
By Ricki Heicklen
For The Times of Trenton
PRINCETON -- Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe spoke at Princeton University recently and defended his years leading the South American nation, following opposition from several professors concerning his address.
Uribe's speech, sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International affairs, came after a petition signed by 22 Princeton professors and 55 professors and scholars from varying universities.
The petition, addressed to dean of the Wilson school Cecilia Rouse and University President Christopher Eisgruber, protested the announcement and format of the talk, expressing concern that the one-sidedness of the school's portrayal of Uribe would not be conducive to an open exchange of views.
"We regret that the Woodrow Wilson School, an institution committed to rigorous scholarship and critical thinking, has announced Uribe's presence in a way that overlooks Mr. Uribe's government's abuses of human rights and the weakening of the democratic process," it continued.
In his speech, Uribe addressed many of the allegations mentioned in the petition. He denied their validity, claiming that his government did not commit human rights violations.
"There have been many cases of false accusations. For instance, [critics] said the armed forces killed 4,000 innocent people," Uribe said, addressing a crowd of approximately 180 students, faculty, and community members in the Wilson school's Dodd Auditorium.
"My reply, how can a country reach security during my years if we did not shoot down the rebels and instead we killed innocent people?," he continued, referring to his military pressure on left-wing guerrilla groups such as FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
These guerrilla groups are terrorist organizations, and were responsible for the extreme violence and security risks affecting the Colombian people, Uribe said.
Once Uribe took office in 2002, though, the violence and security risks decreased significantly, due in large part to the demobilization of right-wing paramilitary groups.
But according to several international human rights groups, these armed right-wing paramilitary groups are responsible for at least 70% of political murders in Colombia, and much of paramilitary violence is targeted toward peasants, unionists, journalists, and left-wing political activists.
Uribe denied any links between his government and human rights violations, acknowledging that the paramilitary groups were corrupted by drug trafficking but arguing that his government did not support this behavior.
"My government treated opponents with the same respect that we treat those that share our political ideas," he said.
He added that the democratic institutions promoted by his government increased the security and freedom of civilians.
"We placed special interest in protecting teachers, trade union leaders, and journalists," Uribe said. "With democratic security they began to have much more freedom."
Under his presidency, which lasted from 2002 until 2010, Colombia made significant strides towards democracy and prosperity, Uribe said.
"When I was elected president for the first term, we introduced three priorities: security, with democratic values; investment, the promotion of private investment; and social cohesion," Uribe said.
During the course of his time in office, the Colombian economy strengthened, and poverty went down from 50% to 33%, he said.
Uribe took a strong stance against FARC and other guerrilla forces, and criticized current Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos for his leniency toward FARC and in addressing narcotics trafficking.
He also condemned neighboring countries, in particular Venezuela, for their tolerance of extremist left-wing guerrillas, who would often flee to those countries seeking immunity.
"Venezuela was a paradise for Colombian terrorist groups," he said.
Uribe also emphasized that his military used very different tactics from these terrorist groups.
"We cannot consider our military forces the same as FARC," he said. "Our military forces have never been dictator military forces."
But he also protested the mantra of 'human rights' which is "the cheer of leftist people in Latin America," he said.
"In Latin America, in my country, human rights is a privilege, Uribe said. "An exclusive privilege of leftist people."
The petition circulated prior to his speech begged to differ. It delineated the human rights abuses under Uribe's government, and expressed disappointment in Princeton treating Uribe as a "guest of honor."
The letter did not argue that Uribe should not have been invited, but rather that a more nuanced announcement and conversation format are necessary for productive dialogue.
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