[URPE] Colombia at the Crossroads: May 3

[Amy Offner]

COLOMBIA AT THE CROSSROADS
The Economy and the Armed Conflict at the end of the Uribe Era

Monday, May 3
6:15 - 8:15 p.m.
Room 707, International Affairs Building, Columbia University
420 West 118th Street, New York, NY

This May, Colombians will elect a new president, bringing to a close Alvaro
Uribe’s eight years in office.  The elections come just three months after
the Constitutional Court ruled that a referendum designed to give Uribe a
third term was unconstitutional.  Uribe, an ally of both the Bush and Obama
administrations, leaves office with enormous popular approval, and his
“Democratic Security” policy is admired even by some opponents.

On the other hand, the Uribe administration has failed to alleviate
unemployment and poverty, and has been tied to some of the most serious
political scandals in recent Colombian history.  His administration has
constrained  the independence of the judiciary and eroded the system of
checks and balances. Nearly 27% of Congress members—the vast majority from
Uribe’s coalition—have been investigated for links to paramilitary
organizations.  There is evidence that the state intelligence agency has
monitored members of the opposition and the Supreme Court, and the attorney
general’s office is investigating over 700 cases of extrajudicial killings
by security forces.

What is Uribe’s legacy?  What comes next for Colombia?

JOHN COATSWORTH: Dean, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia
University
MICHAEL EVANS: Director, Colombia Project, National Security Archive, George
Washington University
CLAUDIA LOPEZ: Colombian journalist, analyst of paramilitary influence
within the state
JOSE ANTONIO OCAMPO: Director, Economic and Political Development
Concentration, SIPA
MARY ROLDAN: Professor of History, Hunter College
JOSE MIGUEL VIVANCO: Director, Human Rights Watch, Americas Division

Sponsored by the Columbia University Department of History, School for
International and Public Affairs, Institute for Latin American Studies,
Institute for the Study of Human Rights

Contact: cc2618 at columbia.edu or aco2102 at columbia.edu
Visit our Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=114123421955429<http://www.facebook.com/#%21/event.php?eid=114123421955429>
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