Small News There but BIG News Here
In July, the Presbyterian Church (USA) held its biannual General Assembly to offer direction to the church nationally for the next two years. Over the course of the week committees and the assembly itself discussed various issues, some of which made it into the national news (primarily LGBT issues) and others generating a lot of discussion at least within the church (Middle East, church governance, confessional statements). Inevitably, however, some items barely made the radar – lumped in with “peace and justice” or some such moniker, but not really leaving much impression on anyone apart from those who were invested in the topic to begin with.
One of those issues was a little thing about ending the US Military Base Agreement with Colombia.
This overture passed through and became PC(USA) policy with virtually no discussion. While on the one hand this makes me quite pleased, I am also wondering whether many folks knew what they were doing or what this was about. I am also wondering if anyone in the US church is now going to do any of the actions encouraged by the church whether that be prayer or coming here to monitor the bases and their impact. Will anyone even know this happened?
What I can say is that for folks in the church here, this was big news. Any efforts by the US church to support peace in Colombia always gets a lot of attention here. Thank you letters were sent, praises were lifted, and even now the delegation from Chicago Presbytery is getting a lot of feedback about what happened as a result of their efforts to put this question before the General Assembly.
Given that the Colombian/US Base Agreement is now the volleyball of international relations between Venezuela and Colombia, the resolution could not come at a more appropriate time. It came too late to stop the agreement from being signed, but it certainly does not come too late to lobby against it still.
We will write more about the war of words between Colombia and Venezuela, the base agreement, and more, but for now we too offer our thanks to our church for the gift of support to our sisters and brothers here. If we can help you get the word out in your congregations about what happened at GA and how it could effect life here, please let us know. For us, this is pretty big news.
To read the text of the resolution click on the word “more” below.
Election Results – Santos in for Four Years
… and that might mean that the current president gets four more years on his agenda…
Juan Manuel Santos won last week’s second round Presidential election in Colombia. Santos is seen as the candidate most likely to continue current President Alvaro Uribe’s policies. While early excitement surround the opposition candidate Antanas Mockus of the Green Party, that didn’t translate into significant electoral support. Santos won 69% of the vote. (Below are two analyses of Santos’ victory, well worth reading)
- from Catalan Photography International
Santos: This Victory is Uribe’s
Many people we know are disappointed in the electoral results. Mockus’ promises of honesty and transparency attracted many in the church looking for a change in direction from Uribe’s security-oriented government, a government that has left a wake of human rights abuses and government corruption.
But in the end, the church reaffirms that it is of no party, no power on this earth. Our hope is not in elections or politicians, but fundamentally it is in the saving power of God. God among us, Emmanuel, chose to change the existing abuses and injustices of his day through an overwhelming love, through a touch to an untouchable, through a meal with the outcast.
Our work as a church continues in this path. A song sung in many churches here chant the words – celebrando, cantando, sonriendo, luchando – por la vida – (celebrating, singing, smiling, struggling – for life) words that define our work and life as followers of Christ, working for the healing of this world. (You can hear the song on the IPC’s Days of Prayer and Action for Colombia video)
Elections Today
So yes, you might notice that this is the post title as the one before, but no, its not a mistake. Colombians today go to the polls again for second round voting for president.
Juan Manuel Santos and Antanas Mockus are the two candidates today. Santos had a strong showing in the first round, with ~46% of the vote, and Mockus had a weaker than expected showing, with ~21% of the vote. Prior polling had the candidates virtually tied; yet on election day Santos trended up about 12-13% and Mockus trended down about the same. While there have been some allegations of election fraud – vote tallies that are different from official records, among others – generally, the Colombian press have attributed the difference to the much larger and better organized Santos political machine. This includes some more legitimate get out the vote operations, but also stretches into more strong armed tactics, such as allusions by Santos that families that receive government aid must vote for Santos to continue receiving these benefits.
We pray that today’s election proceed with safety, transparency, and honesty.
(And just to note – it has been a while since our last posting. There have been family visits, trips around the country, and rabbits jumping a work. We get some more posts (and photos) coming out soon. Thanks for sticking with us!)
Colombia Election Primer – Part 2
This is Part 2 of our Colombian Election Primer. See Part 1 here.
The Horse Race:
Santos was the strong front runner early in the campaign. Colombia held congressional elections in March, and the conservative parties did very well, taking a majority of seats. (The Congressional elections have also had significant levels of fraud, see here)
In April, Fajardo joined Mockus on the Green ticket, and polls began to show a significant surge. Starting from around 10%, Mockus jumped into the 20′s for a few weeks, and then in May into the 30′s. In April, Mockus announced that he is in the early stages of Parkinson’s Disease, which traditionally would have been a large liability for a politician. Surprisingly, Mockus’s poll numbers continued to rise, even jumped on the news. We attribute this and much of Mockus’ popularity to the Colombian people’s thirst for a more transparent, honest class of political leadership.
Santos numbers have dropped, and the most recent polls have shown Mockus and Santos close to a dead heat, around 35%. The other candidates are all now under 10%. The campaign has been mostly focused on Mockus’ rise.
In general, President Alvaro Uribe factors heavily in this campaign. The candidates are often portrayed by how close they are to Uribe’s policies. Very roughly, on the generally pro-Uribe side, Santos is seen as the closest, then Lleras, then Sanin as the more moderate pro-Uribe candidate. On the other side, Pardo is seen as more moderate, yet critical of many Uribe actions, then Mockus, and Petro as the most critical of most Uribe policies.
The other significant factors are Colombia’s neighborly (or not so much neighborly) relations. Most significant has been the candidates’ stance on the idea of carrying out attacks against the FARC on foreign soil. This occurred in 2008 under Uribe and Santos, and has proven a very large stumbling block between the two countries. In debates, Santos vowed to continued these types of attacks, which led Ecuador to begin processing criminal charges against him for the earlier attacks. Other candidates have shown varying degrees of opposition to foreign attacks, with Mockus and Petro, showing the most emphasis on peaceful relationships.
Our partners, the Iglesia Presbiteriana de Colombia:
Our partners in Colombia are faithful and passionate followers of Jesus Christ. They work for justice, seek peace, and are particularly concerned with the defense of life – which in this context means the upholding of human rights. With Colombia’s history of violence, corruption, and the rise of ‘parapolitics’ – the ghastly combination of paramilitary forces into the official political structure – the IPC seeks a national politics that pursues peace from the unending violence, justice for the thousands of victims and families, and a vision of development and governance that values all persons, not only the traditional elite of Colombian society. They have issued statements warning of an over-reliance on military solutions to societal conflicts, and steadfastly stand for a non-violent end to the conflict in the country. Of course, as a church, they are non-partisan, not supporting any particular candidate, rather speaking up for policies that promote full life and justice for Colombia’s many victims of decades of violence. The IPC is also concerned about the plight of Colombia’s campesinos, or poor farmers, and the desplazados, the persons displaced by the violence, who are often neglected in the national debates yet suffer the majority of the violence and econmoic exploitation. Because Colombia has a long history of violence around elections and of corruption and fraud in the voting process, the IPC is particularly concerned for transparency and honesty in the carrying out of the voting.
Prayers for Elections:
- Pray for candidates, for honesty, integrity, and an openness to the Spirit in their quest to gain the power to govern.
- Pray for the judges and other election workers, that they may work fairly and openly to conduct the business of voting, without intimidation or corruption.
- Pray for the people voting, for courage and wisdom, that they my courageously use their vote without fear or intimidation, and that they my widely use their voice for a country of peace and wholeness for all.
- Pray for Colombia on May 30th and June 20th, but also pray for the country on the days after, for we know that democracy does not only consist of elections, but of a society of accountability and honesty, of respect and peace.
Colombia Election Primer – Part 1
Colombia will be holding a presidential election on May 30th, and it will be a significant day for this violence-torn country. It will mark the end of the Uribe presidency after 8 years. President Alvaro Uribe was first elected in 2002 on a platform of a strong military response to the country’s major guerrilla group, the FARC, after years of on-again, off-again peace negotiations. While the Colombian Constitution originally limited the presidency to one four year term, in 2006 Uribe’s supporters successfully changed the Constitution to allow two terms, and Uribe was re-elected. Earlier this year, with striking similarity, Uribe’s supporters tried to again change the Constitution, allowing for Uribe’s open ended election (that is to say, and unlimited term for the presidency). Colombia’s Constitutional Court, however, blocked this effort in February, and the race for the presidency truly began.
There are six major candidates running for the seat on May 30th. If no candidate obtains 50% of the vote, there will be a run off election on June 20th. The six candidates represent a broad swath of Colombia’s political tradition. Colombia, almost since its inception 200 years ago, has been dominated by two political parties – the Conservative and Liberal parties (those are their actual names). This dominance of the two parties ended with the election of Uribe, whose previous party affiliation was Liberal, ran as an independent, and governed as a Conservative.
A good site for English language news concerning the election is Colombia Reports 2010 Election site.
John Manuel Santos was the early front-runner to succeed Uribe. Santos is running as a part of the newly formed Partido de la U – literally, the party of Uribe. Santos served as the Defense Minister under Uribe, and is a part of a political and media family that has long been involved in Colombia’s politics. Santos, and others in the Partido de la U, are generally running on a platform to continue Uribe’s security and economic measures. Santos has been hindered by several of the scandals of Uribe’s time in office, particularly those around the issues of human rights abuses by Colombian military forces and cross-border attacks.
Antanas Mockus, running as the Green Party candidate (also a newly formed party), has been the surprise of the election season. A former mayor of Bogota, Mockus has run a very spirited campaign that has seen a huge rise in popularity and support from young people and online activists. Mockus is running a campaign based on increasing citizenship as a way to develop the country – a theme that he used with generally good results in the city of Bogota. Mockus also interestingly has teamed up with previous rival Sergio Fajardo, a popular former mayor of Medellin, and two other former mayors of Bogota, to run as a unified group that is seeking to bring the significant changes of Colombia’s two leading cities to the entire country. Mockus has been a colorful character in Colombian politics (not too often that you get to talk about elephant rides, mooning, and superhero stunts in politics, right) but has become a more traditional candidate as his poll numbers have risen.
The Conservative Party is represented by Noemi Sanin, who has a long history in Colombian politics. The Liberal Party is represented by Rafael Pardo. Polo Democratica is a left party, and is represented by Gustavo Petro. The last major candidate is German Vargas Lleras of the Cambio Radical (Radical Change) party, a close Uribe ally.
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Tune it tomorrow for part 2 – a snapshot of the horse race as it is now, the Iglesia Presbiteriana de Colombia’s views on the elections, and prayer requests.
Weekly Roundup
Interesting Colombian tidbits from across the web from the past few weeks:
- Here is Adam Isacson’s collection of links from the week, with notes on recent Colombian politics, South American geo-politics, and possible changes to US Drug policies. (Adam Isacson’s blog)
- For a more in-depth overview of the state of Colombian politics, between the congressional elections in March and the presidential elections in May, here is another Isacson post.
- The release, after 12 years of imprisonment with the FARC, of Corporal Moncayo has been in a lot of international media recently. Here is a good overview.
- Here is a strong critique of the recent Colombian congressional elections from a Canadian source. Canada is also currently considering a Free Trade Agreement with Colombia. (from the Nova Scotia Chronicle Herald)
- Here’s an interview with the US Ambassador to Colombia, William Brownfield, with the US State Dept.’s view on the US – Colombia relationship. (from Colombia Reports)
Third Time is Not the Charm
On Friday, the Constitutional Court of Colombia ruled that the current President, Álvaro Uribe, would not be able to run for a third consecutive term this year. This was not guaranteed. Having changed the constitution previously to be able to run for a second term, a referendum was put forward last year to allow Uribe to change the constitution yet again to go for another four years. Most people here would have told you they considered it a toss-up as to how the court would decide, and other candidates seemed to agree as many chose not to announce until they heard the outcome. To Uribe’s credit, he immediately accepted the court’s decision preventing him from running this year.
What this means is that there will really be an honest-to-goodness presidential race this year. It was presumed that if Uribe ran then he would win, so with him out of the picture the Executive seat is much more up for grabs. The first round of elections will be in May with run-offs three weeks later.
We’ll keep you posted…
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