#Pastrana

Colombian Conservatives and sexual morality

The Colombian Conservative Party is on a moral crusade. Top of its list of priorities is the outlawing of abortion. Colombia is a deeply Catholic country and traditions are proudly respected here. So will the Conservatives´ campaign gain popular support?
As reported on this website a month ago, abortion in Colombia is already forbidden in all but the most extreme of cases – if the woman’s life is threatened, if the pregnancy is the result of rape, or if the fetus is expected to die shortly after birth. Before 2006 abortion was illegal, in all cases.
The change in the law has not had a dramatic effect. While legal abortion in the UK stands at around 200,000 abortions a year, Colombia has recorded as few as 641 cases of legal abortion between 2006 and 2010. Not surprising perhaps, given the tight perameters of the law.
What, then, is the imperative to return to the pre-2006 legal position? The Conservatives´ argue that they are supported by the traditional values on which Colombian society is built. Pointing to a petition to abolish legal abortions, signed by 5 million Colombians, they also assert that they are backed-up by p

Turbulent times for Colombian Conservatives?

What will the Conservative Party do next?
Two days ago I reported on ex-president Andres Pastrana’s efforts to become the next president of the Conservative party. Since then current President, Jose Dario Salazar, has made it clear that in order to do so, Pastrana would have to wait and submit himself to the Conservative electorate in 2012. But Pastrana’s allies appear determined to get him in post in November, following the local and regional elections.
For Salazar the constitution of the Conservative party prevents Pastrana’s planned return. Pastrana’s allies must then decide their next course of action. Will support for Pastrana be sufficient to force a change to the constitution?
First the Pastranistas will have to call an extra-ordinary congressional meeting to advance their proposal – from there it will be a question of politics and will.
Although it’s unclear how this story will develop, it does appear that the Conservatives are at something of a crossroads. Particularly so in the post-Uribe, Santos era.
The Conservatives have been seen as a largely Urbisita party. They did not field a candidate in 2006, instead choosing to support President Uribe’s re-election bid. Most recently there has been evidence of an internal struggle between the wing still loyal to Uribe and the ‘post-Uribistas’. Jose Dario Salazar is considered a Uribista. A party led by Pastrana – who as noted in my earlier post has been highly critical of Uribe – would appear to represent a victory for those looking to take the Conservative party in a different direction.
All this is in the context of a mixed 18 months for the party. Although they remain members of President Santos’ coalition, there has been disquiet at the government’s direction of travel. Many appear to argue that Santos has been less Conservative and more Liberal than they were promised. Some have questioned the return they have received for being part of the coalition.
There has also been some cause for concern in terms of public support for the party. The Conservatives are the second largest group in both houses of Congress (Representatives and Senate). However, they fared badly in the presidential elections last year. Candidate Noemi Sanin came a distant fifth with only 6 per cent of the vote.
All eyes will be on the local and regional elections in October, and on what Pastrana’s allies do next.

The nine lives of Colombian politicians

Today’s El Espectador newspaper reports that ex-president Andres Pastrana could become the next leader of the Colombian Conservative Party.
This is important in two ways. One, it reveals the trend in Colombian politics for longevity. And, two, it represents a potential further shift in power away from Alvaro Uribe – who only a year ago left office as Colombia’s most popular president (ever?).
In Colombia those politicians (that aren’t assassinated) seem to live forever. Colombian politicians can occupy top jobs throughout decades, often disappearing off the scene only to return later on in life.
This is in stark contrast to the UK where retiring or booted out Prime Ministers usually skulk to the back-benches of the House of Commons before being elevated to the House of Lords. No former Prime Minister would be seen dead for example running for Mayor of London. But earlier this year Alvaro Uribe was widely tipped as a (potentially unstoppable) candidate for Alcalde of Bogota.
Pastrana took a more conventional route to power by becoming Mayor of Bogota (at the end of the 80s) before president in 1998, leaving office in 2002. After a period of time away from high office, Pastrana became the ambassador to the US in 2005 (a position he admittedly held for a very short period of time).
Pastrana enjoys strong links with the US; when president he was responsible for signing the Plan Colombia -with President Clinton. Colombia then became the US’s number one ally in Latin America.
In his own country as well as within the international community, Pastrana is widely respected for his efforts to bring about a peaceful solution to the internal struggle in Colombia – through dialogue with the ELN and the FARC. It was these views on the security situation in Colombia that led Pastrana to become highly critical of his successor as president, Alvaro Uribe whom he claimed had a secret pact with the Paramilitaries.
Pastrana’s public views were controversial. Together with his opposition to Uribe’s efforts to seek re-election, a collision course was set.
The Conservative party was once one of the strongest supporters of Uribe. So, if Pastrana is to return to front-line politics and lead the Conservatives what does this say for the party’s current view of the ex-president?
The Conservative party have been with Uribe since he established the Colombia First party – the movement that brought Uribe to power in 2002. Later, elements left the Conservative party to join the Party of the U, the platform from which Uribe sought to change the constitution (again) to permit him to run a third time. Others stayed in the party, but remained loyal to Uribe.
Jose Dario Salazar, the current leader of the Conservative party is seen as an Uribista. The Conservatives are part of the coalition that supports President Santos, but Salazar himself has appeared to criticise the president for certain policies seen as ‘un’ or indeed ‘anti’ Uribista in nature. Pastrana himself criticised this as an act of disloyalty.
Should the Conservative Party accommodate a non-Uribiste as leader after the elections in October…would this represent an important shift in power in Colombia? Certainly it would have been impossible for Pastrana to have held the position when Uribe was at the height of his powers.
Just before the congressional and presidential elections last year, The Economist published an article claiming that Colombian politicians were ‘all Uribistas now’.Only a rump of Greens and socialists ( Democratic Pole) were against him. That’s clearly not the case now.
As we’ve found out though, Colombian politicians have a knack for hanging around and getting another shot at it. Don’t write Uribe drown/off just yet.