Uribe will be judged by history for an effective Presidency in many ways that was a watershed in the conception of Colombia as a country. There is a general consensus that his shock plan worked when violence predominated. 22 years have passed since he came to power and people continue to talk about him. But also for the false positives ―the murder of 6,402 innocent people at the hands of soldiers who received rewards for killing false guerrillas― and their opposition to a peace process that they could have actually made their own and taken the credit for. He is also blamed for the rise of paramilitarism, the most lethal and ruthless criminal phenomenon of the last quarter of a century, and for promoting polarization instead of calling for calm. At times he has demonstrated a sense of state, like when he sat down with Gustavo Petro to reach a truce that would lower the decibels of a tense nation, and at other times he has put himself at the level of Andrés Pastrana, the craziest of the living former presidents. In any case, none of this bothers him now in life, he has more pressing matters. The Prosecutor’s Office does not accuse him of the shadows that run through his mandate, but of bribery of witnesses and procedural fraud in a tangled case worth studying in law schools. The general opinion, among those who admire and detest him, is that he did not know how to retire in time, the drug of power slowly led him to this abyss.
On the third floor of the Casa de Nariño, where President Gustavo Petro and Laura Sarabia, his right-hand man, have their offices, the news has been received with silence. Petro gives his opinion on the most unexpected matters in X, but remains silent when something has to do with the judicial process of his nemesis. When Uribe achieved overwhelming popularity at the beginning of the century due to his heavy hand against the FARC guerrilla, Petro was one of the few who opposed that strategy, he was a driver in the wrong direction on a highway. Uribe’s overwhelming speech and his work ethic did not touch his heart, to the point that he would get up at the Tequendama hotel at four in the morning to put his feet in cold water so as not to fall asleep and start reading reports and give orders over the phone. From then on they were each other’s adversaries and had harsh words for each other. Uribe is not more talkative about the case. “Man…”, he answers on the phone and refers to some YouTube videos. He has not given a personal interview in years, without submitting himself to uncomfortable questions. He prefers, microphone in hand, to take refuge among his coreligionists, universities and trips between Bogotá and a farm in Montería called The Ubérrimo.
Uribe began this judicial process that reveals him by denouncing Senator Iván Cepeda years ago, close to Petro, a serious and solid politician, with integrity. Uribe hit a wall, he didn’t know who he was facing. Cepeda had a left-wing father who was murdered by paramilitaries and he picked up that witness and is committed to seeking the demobilization of the last guerrillas. He made a book against Uribe and a summary of the history of paramilitarism called At the doors of the Ubérrimo (the title doesn’t leave much room for interpretation). They have stigmatized him for a long time, telling him that he was a guerrilla or at least a partner. Uribe went against him due to a dispute in Congress and the case turned against him and now it is Uribe himself who is going to sit on the bench. The excuse of a politicization of justice does not work in this situation because the investigation crosses the governments of Iván Duque and Petro. In the Duque era there was a prosecutor, a friend of his from university, who asked to file the case, but even then Uribe was not saved.
The understanding with Petro has not served as a brake either. In one of the four conversations they had, this topic was discussed, according to sources consulted at the time, and Cepeda was discussed, although the topic was quickly avoided. On some occasion someone has spoken to Petro about a pardon for Uribe, in the event that he is convicted, that he would unite the country, that he would close that gap. Cepeda remained silent a year ago when he was asked about it on a Police plane returning from Saravena. By phone, he says that what just happened is an act of justice: “It is a huge step in the direction of being a truly democratic society. The privileges before justice, the invulnerability of the powerful and politicians who allow them all kinds of abuses and arbitrariness, are erased. And even criminal actions.”
Jorge Orlando Melo is one of Colombia’s most respected historians. He picks up the phone when he has already taken over Bogotá at night. To Melo, Uribe’s issue seems very relevant, but somewhat lackluster because it is a “marginal” issue that has nothing to do with either his Presidency or his time as governor of Antioquia. Melo looks through binoculars at a time in which those who are on the face of the earth right now are gone: “He comes out of that historical trial relatively badly. As president he was effective; However, he created a political environment that led to the consolidation of the paramilitaries, to which was added inadequate management with the FARC. He became better with Santos (his successor to him).” He considers it a major mistake that Uribe opposed the Havana agreement. And he considers that the great judgment against him would be that of the false positives.
But this is the reality of low, low flight. A former president mired in minor issues for not having retired on time. His defense could seek the statute of limitations, which is not clear if it is in two, three or four years, depending on the jurist who is consulted. In any case, seeing him sitting in a dock provokes astonishment.
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