"Georgetown University Welcomes Colombia’s Ex-Pres. Uribe"

[VioletLake]

Excerpt:

Georgetown’s appointment of Uribe is “shameful,” Jesuit theologian Jon Sobrino said last week in El Salvador. “Uribe is a symbol of the worst that has happened in the tragic conflict in Colombia. There is a great deal of blood involved here, a very great deal. ”

“Does this appointment reflect the mission and the Catholic and Jesuit identity of Georgetown?” Fr. Dean Brackley, a Jesuit professor at the UCA in El Salvador, writes. "This will, literally, cause scandal. The U.S. Congress has held up passage of the trade agreement with Colombia because it is a place where the government, under Uribe, has consistently failed to defend labor unionists from death squads. Uribe is widely accused of having had direct links to the paramilitary groups who have massacred countless innocents. Whether or not those charges are true, he has irresponsibly and cruelly accused human rights activists in Colombia of collusion with ‘Communist terrorists,’ endangering their lives."

A few years ago, I traveled to Colombia to see for myself. There I learned about the U.S.-backed war against the poor waged by Uribe under the guise of a “war on drugs.” I learned how the repressive Colombian government, under the democratically elected but dictatorial President Uribe, a drug benefactor and close friend of George W. Bush, killed some ten thousand people a year, leaving 200,000 dead in the last twenty years. This war isn’t about drugs but about expropriating Colombia’s rich land and natural resources, from the indigenous people to the U.S. and multinational corporations.

In Bogota, Colombia, I met one of the world’s leading voices for human rights, Fr. Javier Giraldo, a Jesuit priest whose institute has documented all the killings and massacres in Colombia. For his efforts, he’s suffered countless death threats, especially under the Uribe regime. Last week, my friend Fr. Giraldo wrote to me about the situation, and I share his letter here, so we can all learn about Colombia and the disgrace of Georgetown’s hiring of Uribe:

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/09/07-0

[Judi Lynn]

1. This is so clearly a political demand pressed upon them from the State Department.

From John Dear's statement:

~snip~
“President Uribe will bring a truly unique perspective to discussions of global affairs at Georgetown,” said Carol Lancaster, dean of the Walsh School of Foreign Service. “We are thrilled that he has identified Georgetown as a place where he will share his knowledge and interface with Washington, and I know that our students at the School of Foreign Service will benefit greatly from his presence.”

Friends and I have urged Georgetown’s leaders to disinvite Uribe, and have also begun a campaign to protest his presence. I personally asked Dean Lancaster on the phone to do everything she can to prevent Uribe’s arrival. To my chagrin, most everyone I speak with at Georgetown seems to know little about Colombia or Uribe, and refers to the State Department’s respect for him.

I say this without hyperbole—that should have been their first warning.

Please do take time to see the message sent to the author from his associate in Colombia, Fr. Girardo, who has suffered, himself, DEEP, DEEP persecution from Uribe's administration, of which many DU'ers here have been aware, as well as so many human beings everywhere:

"I write to you with great concern regarding the fact that Georgetown, our Jesuit University, has hired the outgoing president of Colombia, Álvaro Uribe, as a professor. I am constantly receiving messages from individuals and groups who have suffered enormously during his term as president. They are protesting and questioning the mind-set of our Society, or its lack of ethical judgment in making a decision of this kind.

It is possible that decision makers at Georgetown have received positive appraisals from Colombians in high political or economic positions, but it is difficult to ignore, at least, the intense moral disagreements aroused by his government and the investigations and sanctions imposed by international organizations that try to protect human dignity. The mere fact that, during his political career, while he was governor of Antioquia Province (1995-1997) he founded and protected so many paramilitary groups, known euphemistically as “Convivir” (“Live Together”), who murdered and “disappeared” thousands of people and displaced multitudes, committing many other atrocities, that alone would imply a need for moral censure before entrusting him with any responsibility in the future.

But not only did he continue to sponsor those paramilitary groups, but he defended them and he perfected them into a new pattern of legalized para-militarism, including networks of informants, networks of collaborators, and the new class of private security companies that involve some millions of civilians in military activities related to the internal armed conflict, while at the same time he was lying to the international community with a phony demobilization of the paramilitaries.

In addition, the scandalous practice of “false positives” took place during his administration. The practice consists in murdering civilians, usually farmers, and after killing them, dressing them as combatants in order to justify their deaths. That is the way he tried to demonstrate faked military victories over the rebels and also to eliminate the activists in social movements that work for justice.

The corruption during his administration was more than scandalous, not just because of the presence of drug traffickers in public positions but also because the Congress and many government offices were occupied by criminals. Today more than a hundred members of Congress are involved in criminal proceedings, all of them President Uribe’s closest supporters.

The purchase of consciences in order to manipulate the judicial apparatus was disgraceful. It ended up destroying, at the deepest level, the moral conscience of the country. Another disgrace was the corrupt manner in which the Ministers closest to him manipulated agricultural policy in order to favor the very rich with public money, meanwhile impeding and stigmatizing social projects. The corruption of his sons, who enriched themselves by using the advantages of power, scandalized the whole country at one time.

In addition, he used the security agency that was directly under his control (the Department of Administrative Security) to spy on the courts, on opposition politicians, and on social and human rights movements, by means of clandestine telephone tapping. The corrupt machinations he used to obtain his re-election as President in 2006 were sordid in the extreme, with the result that ministers and close collaborators have gone to jail.

He manipulated the coordination between the Army and the paramilitary groups that resulted in 14,000 extrajudicial executions during his term of office. His strategies of impunity for those who, through the government or the “para-government,” committed crimes against humanity will go down in history for their brazenness.

The decision by the Jesuits at Georgetown to offer a professorship to Álvaro Uribe is not only deeply offensive to those Colombians who still maintain moral principles, but also places at high risk the ethical development of the young people who attend our university in Washington. Where are the ethics of the Society of Jesus?"

Had to bookmark this statement as soon as I saw what it contains.

Thank you so much for posting it here. It's invaluable.

Georgetown officials are entertaining a monster, and they are profoundly corrupt themselves, because this kind of information is known all over the world. There's NO CHANCE they are unaware.

[Judi Lynn]

2. I want my recommendation noted, it's the second. A lot of our recs. disappear in this forum. n/t

[rabs]

3. Thanks for posting this

The letter from Father Giraldo should make those responsible for inviting AU to Georgetown cringe.

Have been scanning GT student newspaper The Hoya and student/faculty blog Vox Populi but so far have seen no editorial or op-ed opinions on Uribe.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Surely a university which brings a mass murderer to campus wouldn't muzzle opinion!

Must be a mistake made by the students working on the paper's staff. Yeah, that's it.

I recall Dreyfus mentioned concern for the Colombian Jesuit around the time of the Presidential election. Giraldo had been getting more death threats than usual around then, and seemed to be in absolute danger from the military, as the government was breathing down his neck.

He must have expressed concern over a recent killing, or the discovery of the mass grave at La Macarena or something, and Uribe went ballistic. For whatever reason Fr. Giraldo was in peril, and it appeared to some he could be struck down any time.

[naaman fletcher]

22. Maybe

the student editors don't think that the student body cares.

[roody]

4. There will be some good protests happening!

[Judi Lynn]

6. Sure hope so! It's only right. n/t

[Downwinder]

7. Protest Uribe at Georgetown Wednesday

http://www.quotha.net/node/1166

[Judi Lynn]

8. Thanks for posting this super website.

Admired this comment:

What will Alvaro Uribe teach at Georgetown?

Doctorate in State Violence,Neocolonial Slavery 101,Advanced Mass Displacement,Create Your Own Paramilitary Industrial Complex,Advanced Narco-government,...Lessons from a Failed Dictatorship Grab,Social Cleansing 201,Wealth and Violence, a Mobeius Strip.

[Bacchus39]

9. from the "keep Uribe out of Georgetown" website, here is the coalition

About Us
In spite of his links to paramilitarism, attacks on human rights defenders, and the widespread condemnation of his administration by human rights organizations, former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has been selected to teach our future leaders as a Distinguished Scholar at Georgetown’s foreign service school.

We are a coalition working to keep Uribe out of Georgetown and to bring charges against him in the International Criminal Court.

Some of the organizations involved are:

<coming-soon>

</coming-soon>


http://uribe-georgetown.org/about-us/


quite impressive!!!!

[naaman fletcher]

26. Maybe..

Maybe there is so many of them it's caused the database to crash.

[Judi Lynn]

10. Controversial Georgetown gig for Colombia's Alvaro Uribe

Controversial Georgetown gig for Colombia's Alvaro Uribe
September 8, 2010 | 12:19 pm

The arrival of former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe at Georgetown University is sparking campus debate on the two-term leader's legacy in security and human rights. Uribe starts work this semester as a "Distinguished Scholar in the Practice of Global Leadership" at Georgetown's School of Foreign Service, where he will conduct seminars and other programs, the university said.

"We are thrilled that has identified Georgetown as a place where he will share his knowledge and interface with Washington, and I know that our students at the School of Foreign Service will benefit greatly from his presence," said the Georgetown school's dean, Carol Lancaster, in a university statement.

But not everyone in the Georgetown community is reacting with such enthusiasm. In comments on the personal site of university professor Anthony Clark Arend, one commenter identified as Charity Ryerson, a Georgetown law student, wrote:

I am a student at the law center and have worked extensively with the Colombian human rights community. While he was Governor of Antioquia, Alvaro Uribe was instrumental in the creation of the Convivirs, private self defense organizations that later morphed into the Colombian United Self Defense Forces, a paramilitary organization that has killed tens of thousands of Colombian civilians with the support of the Colombian state. As recently as 2006, the paramilitaries and the Colombian military ate together at the same military bases and carried out joint operations.

He routinely publicly denounced human rights defenders in his country, falsely claiming that they had ties to the guerrilla organizations in order to undermine their work. His party continues to work with illegal armed groups in the country, a situation which he, at a minimum, tolerated. He spied on opposition leaders and human rights defenders. His own DAS (similar to the FBI) passed hit lists to the paramilitaries containing names of trade unionists and human rights defenders, many of which were later killed.

More:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2010/09/uribe-colombia-georgetown.html

[rabs]

11. Protests have begun -- and they will grow as the word gets around .

Students and professors at Washington D.C.'s Georgetown University Wednesday protested against former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's appointment as an invited professor.

Under the name of "Coalition Adios Uribe," the protesters criticized Uribe's human rights record during his eight years as Colombian president.

Georgetown's naming of Uribe as a "distinguished scholar in the practice of global leadership" at the university's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service has been controversial, with critics arguing that the former leader does not represent the ideals promoted by the school.

While students handed out flyers criticizing Uribe, a peace studies professor at Georgetown, Mark Lance, told the crowd that "our message with this process is clear. We want to educate the university and the community on what Uribe has done. We want to remember the victims of 'democratic security,' to draw attention to the contributions that the U.S. has made to help Colombia, and, above all, to the fact that the decision to name Uribe as a distinguished scholar was not open to students or professors and has been kept secret until now."

The protesters also complained that information on which classes Uribe will teach has not been made public. They claim this is an attempt as to avoid further controversy and protests.

http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/11743-georgetown-protest-uribe.html

[Bacchus39]

12. video of protest

http://www.citytv.com.co/videos/266428/estudiantes-de-georgetown-en-washington-protestaron-contra-uribe

[Capitan Justicia]

13. Viva Uribe!!

It's truly despicable to see such ignorance coming from what is supposed to be a first rate US university. Do these idiots even know anything about Colombia? No, they probably only know about ColUmbia, thanks to Hollywood. Maybe these morons should do a little research and learn that thanks to Uribe, kidnappings decreased in Colombia by a staggering 90%, homicides went down by 45%, that more narcotraffickers were extradited to the US than under all previous Colombian governments combined, foreign investment and tourism reached all time highs, and the FARC were battered like never before. It's almost as if they're protesting against him for accomplishing all these wonderful things for Colombia, and these imbeciles are taking it out on Uribe for ruining the image they had of ColUmbia.

[Judi Lynn]

14. Protest Georgetown U's honoring of Colombia's Uribe

Protest Georgetown U's honoring of Colombia's Uribe
Submitted by WW4 Report on Fri, 09/03/2010 - 23:07. From SOA Wacth, Sept. 2:

Keep Colombian Ex-President Alvaro Uribe out of Georgetown and send him packing to La Picota prison in Colombia!
Georgetown University has recently announced that former Colombian president Álvaro Uribe will be named a "distinguished scholar in the practice of global leadership," and will soon begin giving seminars at the university's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS). Uribe has said it is a "great honor" for him, and that his "greatest wish and happiness is to contribute in the continuous emergence of future leaders."

Uribe's 8-year tenure in Colombia was rife with corruption, human rights violations and widespread impunity. In a letter in June to the White House, Human Rights Watch expressed "serious concerns" about the Uribe administration's record on and commitment to human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.

More than 3 million Colombians (out of a population of about 40 million) have been forced to flee their homes, giving Colombia the second-largest population of internally displaced persons in the world after Sudan.

More than 70 members of the Colombian Congress are under criminal investigation or have been convicted for allegedly collaborating with the paramilitaries. Nearly all these congresspersons are members of President Uribe's coalition in Congress, and the Uribe administration repeatedly undermined the investigations and discredited the Supreme Court justices who started them.

Colombia has the highest rate of killings of trade unionists in the world.

A clandestine gravesite of 2,000 non-identified bodies was recently discovered directly beside a military base in La Macarena, in central Colombia. When the news became public, Uribe flew to the Macarena and said publicly that accusing the armed forces of human rights abuses was a tactic used by the guerrilla. These comments put the lives of those victims who spoke at the event in grave danger.

Starting in 2008, reports came out that the Colombian military was luring poor young men from their homes with promises of employment, then killing them and presenting them as combat casualties. The practice not only served to stack battle statistics, but also financially benefited the soldiers involved, as Uribe's government had, since 2005, awarded monetary and vacation bonuses for each insurgent killed. Human rights groups cite 3,000 or more "false positives".

http://www.ww4report.com/node/9068

[rabs]

15. Two anti-uribe protests set for today

“On what basis was this man appointed to Georgetown?” Mark Lance, director of Georgetown’s Peace Studies Program, asked the group of about fifty protestors and onlookers. “He’s not a scholar of anything. … This is a man who shows contempt for the very idea of human rights work.”

-----------------------------
Students at Washington D.C.'s Georgetown University plan to protest against the appointment of former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe as an invited professor by sabotaging his classes, according to Caracol Radio.

Caracol Radio claims to have access to emails passed between students, which organize a protest on Thursday before a class on economics in Latin America, at which Uribe is scheduled as a guest speaker.

Carolina Rodriguez, a Colombian student at the prestigious U.S. university, told Caracol Radio that two protests are planned for Thursday, one before the class and another in the afternoon.

According to Caracol Radio, the emails mention "six or more who are prepared to be arrested" in order to sabotage Uribe's participation in the class.

http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/11762-georgetown-sabotage-uribe-class.html

[Judi Lynn]

16. That Colombian student, Carolina, should hope her parents back in Colombia have enough body guards,

if she intends to protest Uribe's presence at Georgetown.

You have to wonder if he's bringing henchmen with him to class to sneak up behind anyone frowning, or challenging Uribe, and whisper death threats to him/her. Maybe they'll handle it through a Condor operation and let someone like an "exile" assassin shoot him, or car bomb him, or put a match in his shoe.

http://www.maxbaer.org.nyud.net:8090/images/maxpix/hot-foot.jpg
Will Uribe deal with any problems at Georgetown himself, or will there be a mass grave discovered behind a shed somewhere?

Thank you for this news. It's good to know more people have found out who their guest "celebrity" speaker is.

[Judi Lynn]

17. Here's more on yesterday's protest: Georgetown students protest against Uribe

Georgetown students protest against Uribe
Wednesday, 08 September 2010 15:27 Kirsten Begg

Students and professors at Washington D.C.'s Georgetown University Wednesday protested against former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's appointment as an invited professor.

Under the name of "Coalition Adios Uribe," the protesters criticized Uribe's human rights record during his eight years as Colombian president.

Georgetown's naming of Uribe as a "distinguished scholar in the practice of global leadership" at the university's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service has been controversial, with critics arguing that the former leader does not represent the ideals promoted by the school.

While students handed out flyers criticizing Uribe, a peace studies professor at Georgetown, Mark Lance, told the crowd that "our message with this process is clear. We want to educate the university and the community on what Uribe has done. We want to remember the victims of 'democratic security,' to draw attention to the contributions that the U.S. has made to help Colombia, and, above all, to the fact that the decision to name Uribe as a distinguished scholar was not open to students or professors and has been kept secret until now."

The protesters also complained that information on which classes Uribe will teach has not been made public. They claim this is an attempt as to avoid further controversy and protests.

More:
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/11743-georgetown-protest-uribe.html

[Bacchus39]

18. see post #12 for video of massive protest n/t

s

[naaman fletcher]

19. how many people showed up? nt.

[Judi Lynn]

20. Apparently you remained unaware the university kept his invitation to Georgetown secret

from the students.

They had absolutely no knowledge he was coming until the slimy guy was there. No time to organize.

They plan to protest until he has taught his last class and cleared out.

AS IF this deformity would actually be popular with the students.

He'd be more popular at the School of the Americas, of course. That's HIS kind of scumball people.

[naaman fletcher]

21. So then,

We should expect a lot more for his next class? What do you think? Hundreds? Thousands?

[VioletLake]

23. Take Action - Send a letter to Georgetown University

Take Action - Send a letter to Georgetown University to oppose the hiring of state terrorist and Colombian ex-President Alvaro Uribe

Please join in solidarity and memory with all the victims of human rights abuses under Uribe's Presidency in Colombia. Georgetown University has recently announced that former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe will be named a "distinguished scholar in the practice of global leadership," and will soon begin giving seminars at the university's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS). Uribe has said it is a “great honor” for him, and that his “greatest wish and happiness is to contribute in the continuous emergence of future leaders.”

Please help us in denouncing Uribe's presence at Georgetown and send him back to Colombia where he must undergo the criminal investigation that is needed for justice.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/727/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4711

[VioletLake]

24. Human Rights Watch:

Colombia: Obama Should Press Uribe on Rights
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/06/26/colombia-obama-should-press-uribe-rights-0

[naaman fletcher]

25. As I have learned from the long time posters here,

Human Rights Watch has no credibility.

[VioletLake]

28. Here's an interesting wiki that breaks it down:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Human_Rights_Watch

But it is correct about Alvaro Uribe. Perhaps Mr. Uribe's sins are too well documented and well known for any legitimate human rights organization to deny.

[Judi Lynn]

29. They will be if this investigation in Colombia of his links to the narcotraffickers is allowed

to operate.

The U.S. government knew all about him when they put him and his father on a list of high profile Colombians with ties to the narcotraffickers all the way back in 1991, after an investigation by a group within the Pentagon. That report has been published through the Freedom of Information Act.

If the truth about him gets the airing it should, he's in for a LOT of trouble.

[naaman fletcher]

30. thanks for the link. nt.

[VioletLake]

27. Some people decide whether something is right or wrong by how popular it is.

:eyes:

[Judi Lynn]

31. Georgetown students are missing the point

Georgetown students are missing the point
Friday, 10 September 2010 09:01 Sebastian Castaneda

The news that Colombian former president Alvaro Uribe was to be appointed as a distinguished scholar at Georgetown University surprised many, especially his Colombian critics. But what is more surprising is the level of criticism among faculty members and students at the university, which has even led to protests on campus. This outcry misses the real significance that a political leader of Uribe’s standing has for their education as future leaders.

In August, soon after Uribe ended his eight years as tenant of the Nariño Palace in Bogota, Georgetown University named him "Distinguished Scholar in the Practice of Global Leadership" at the university's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. Information about his specific role in lectures and topics to be covered have been kept under wraps. What is clear is that Uribe will only be a guest speaker, rather than a full-time lecturer.

On Wednesday September 8, the day before Uribe was to hold his first lecture, there was a widely-publicized protest on campus organized by lecturers and students under the name "Coalition Adios Uribe." This coalition will continue protesting outside the halls where Uribe is speaking, denouncing the Colombian's lack of moral and ethical authority to lecture on global leadership. They highlight the various negative aspects, and abuses, of Uribe’s presidency.

The most problematic aspect that all his critics in the university have agreed on is his miserable track record on human rights: illegally wiretapping judges, politicians and journalists; extrajudicial killings; widespread murders of trade unionists. Another key component triggering the ire of the coalition stems from Uribe's alleged links to paramilitary armies that wreaked havoc in the countryside and were instrumental in his ascent to power, if judged by the more than 30% of Congress members that had links with the paramilitaries.

These protesters, however, are mistaken in believing that they will gain by preventing Uribe from delivering his lectures, or even throwing him out of Georgetown University altogether. The opposite is true. With Uribe on campus delivering lectures the students have a great opportunity to question Uribe and get the answers that the millions of Colombian affected by his policies have never been able to ask.

More:
http://colombiareports.com/opinion/cantonese-arepas/11780-georgetown-students-are-missing-the-point.html

[rabs]

32. Brief video of uribe speaking at GT University

But first, from the Castaneda article:

With Uribe on campus delivering lectures the students have a great opportunity to question Uribe and get the answers that the millions of Colombian affected by his policies have never been able to ask.

------------------------

I am inclined to agree with that statement. Jesuits are considered to be the "brains" of the Catholic Church, the "deep thinkers."

So I have been wondering whether the Jesuit-run Georgetwown University authorities have bestowed "Distinguished Scholar" status on uribe in order to provide students with a first-hand contact with EVIL.

--------------------

Here is a brief video on Uribe's speech on Thursday. It was taken by a reporter for Telesur who infiltrated the lecture and filmed with a cell phone.

Believe it or not but uribe is speaking in English. Talk about mangling the English language. uribe was supposed the talk about the Colombia/U.S. free-trade agreement (which has not been approved by the U.S. Congress).

But he strayed from the FTA issue. One has to read the Spanish subtitles to learn that uribe is again accusing Hugo Chavez of being a terrorist sympathizer.

At the end, the announcer sort of rolls her eyes and says, "Here we go again. Another certain Chavez-uribe fight."

http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/politica/articulo-223805-uribe-su-clase-de-georgetown-hablo-de-chavez-y-actividades-terrori


(Thanks to Judi for alerting on the El Espectador video.)

[Judi Lynn]

33. "You've done a heck of a good job teaching, Alvarito!"

http://mfpic.org.nyud.net:8090/m_blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/bushuriberiendose-150x150.jpg http://www.antifascistencyclopedia.com.nyud.net:8090/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/uribe-y-bush.jpg
How many students would you guess? 10? 15?

I'll bet he had paras make death threats to them all after the class to make sure they don't repeat what he said.

Truly, if you hadn't told us, I would have NEVER believed he was attempting to speak English. Was it a Castillian accent getting applied to English? What the heck! It sounded like pure gibberish!

One of the comments from readers of El Espectador said he ran away after the class. He must have been in a hurry to get to "The Tombs!"

[VioletLake]

34. Making fun of someone because of their accent

is like dropping a bomb to hit 1 person: it causes too much "collateral damage". It puts the target in a sympathetic light, as a victim, and it makes you look bad.

There are plenty of legitimate things to criticize Alvaro Uribe for, but his accent isn't one of them.