Colombia and Europe: Battling for the moral high ground

Date: 14/02/04

Uribe tackles his European critics

ALVARO URIBE has never been one to shrink from confronting his opponents. So it was on a trip to Europe this week. In 18 months as president, Mr Uribe has done much to bring greater security to Colombia, long wracked by the violence of the FARC and ELN guerrilla groups and of right-wing paramilitaries. Colombians are impressed: polls say that 80% of them approve of their president. But Mr Uribe's critics, of whom there are many in the European Parliament, want the EU to halt its aid to Colombia. They argue that security is coming at the expense of human rights.

In a speech to the parliament, Mr Uribe gave a vigorous, if rambling, defence of Colombian democracy and of his policies. “To take on 30,000 terrorists is not easy,” he said, arguing that it is they, not the government, who are the great violator of human rights.

Mr Uribe is entitled to feel some irritation. Albeit unwittingly, European citizens who buy illicit drugs help to finance Colombia's armed groups. In return, the EU has offered Colombia a miserly €105m ($133m) in aid over four years. Moreover, the European Parliament condemns American military aid to Colombia at the same time as it calls for tougher Colombian military action against the right-wing paramilitaries.

On the other hand, Mr Uribe's actions have aroused some legitimate suspicions. His government pushed through an anti-terrorism law granting powers of arrest and interrogation to the army. That was contrary to recommendations by the UN Human Rights Office, which Colombia had promised European aid donors it would implement. And a proposed peace deal with the paramilitaries, who are reported to have killed 600 people since declaring a “ceasefire” in December 2002, seems to involve their leaders escaping the punishment that is their due.

Last month, Cesar Gaviria, the secretary-general of the Organisation of American States, offered to monitor this sweetheart deal. Following the objection of some OAS members, the monitors will now have regard to human rights as well. A similar compromise is likely with Europe. Chris Patten, the EU foreign-affairs commissioner, said this week that Europe will support any democratically elected government in its fight against terror. Though the EU has not offered the free-trade deal Colombia wants, the president said he won a promise to renew existing trade preferences until 2016. Even so, Europeans will continue to press Mr Uribe to live up to his promises on human rights.