uribe/Georgetown protest

[rabs]

(from The Hoya, Georgetown student newspaper online)

Protesters Continue Call for Uribe's Exit

About 100 students and supporters of the Adios Uribe Coalition gathered in Red Square today in continued protest over former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez’s presence on campus.

According to Catalina Nieto, a representative of Witness for Peace who helped organize the event, the protest was intended to expose Uribe’s alleged human rights violations, which activists say include the displacement of 2.4 million people.

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His term as a lecturer is set to end on Nov. 12, at which point activists say the university should sever ties with the former president.

Protesters gathered in Red Square this afternoon and directed students to the four informational stations at which participants could learn about Uribe’s presidency and the crimes he allegedly committed. The Latin American Students Association staged a counter-protest in support of Uribe that drew about 20 students.

The protest, or peace rally, which began at 4:30 p.m., featured several speakers including Georgetown students and professors as well as outside activists including Gerardo Cajamarca, a Colombian native.

Professor Colman McCarthy, adjunct professor at the Law Center and founder-director of The Center for Teaching Peace, led off the rally by calling on Georgetown to better its social rights resume.

“This is a good university, but it will never be a great school until it stops inviting people who have a history of violence,” he said in his speech.

McCarthy also contended that Georgetown has brought other human rights violators to the school in the past, citing Henry Kissinger as an example. “This school has a history of human rights violations,” he said.

Other speakers called on the university to dismiss Uribe and to consider the implications of its Catholic identity.

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Have not found story on what uribe talked about today, how many students were allowed to attend etc.

[Judi Lynn]

1. Georgetown officials owe the world an explanation for their invitation to Uribe.

As everyone other than the right-wing juvenile fascists in the counter-protest acknowledges, life was NOT meant to be safe and pleasant only for the priviledged class at the tragic expense of everyone else.

The sick, diseased people usually end up scratching, clawing, biting, kicking, murdering their way to the top of the heap and get into the power spots, while everyone more evolved never would consider pursuing personal gain at others' expense. Same at Georgetown, apparently.

It's good to see that enough students have come forward, gone public in time to inform the ones who have not yet been awakened to more hidden, even concealed, heartless, ruthless, brutal greed-driven world events and their consequences.

Hope Georgetown officials might do the RIGHT thing and publicly announce they have WITHDRAWN the welcome mat to Uribe, and there will be NO second term.http://s7.thisnext.com.nyud.net:8090/media/largest_dimension/0796BACB.jpgThere's a good "letter" from Uribe at the link:

Cover Letter
Dear Student Body,

I am sure there are many of you wondering, “What is Álvaro Uribe qualified to teach?” Let’s just lay all of your concerns to rest right here. My resume speaks to the fact that I am well qualified to teach you all of the skills you will need in order to implement a vast paramilitary system to do your institution’s dirty work, and keep good track of dissidents, silencing them when necessary, all the while tapping into the limitless pockets of narcotrafficers.

You will find that I am amply qualified to teach you how to erode the rule of law until you can do whatever “needs to be done,” while maintaining high approval ratings. Ultimately, if you employ saavy public relations techniques you may even be hired by a prestigious university like Georgetown. This occupation will provide you a legal status so that you can remain within the United States, sheltered from prosecution by the International Criminal Court.

I look forward to our mutual relationship, and respectfully submit my resume (below) for your consideration.
Sincerely,
(signature)

Resume Education

St Antony’s College, Oxford University, England, 1998-2000

British Council Simón Bolívar scholarship

Harvard Extension School, 1993

Courses in administration and management

Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia, 1972-1977

Law Degree, honor student

Work Experience

Republic of Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia, 2002-2010

President

◦Increased civilian executions at the hands of State forces by 67%.
◦Saw internal refugee population balloon to nearly 5 million people (2nd only to Sudan).
◦Ordered illegal surveillance and wiretapping of human rights defenders, the political opposition, Supreme Court judges, journalists, and international organizations.
◦Undermined and attempted to disrupt judicial investigators and Supreme Court investigation into ties between paramilitaries and members of Congress.
◦Promoted political cronies accused of murder and drug trafficking.
◦Publicly denegrated the work of human rights defenders and the political opposition, often accusing them of ties with guerrilla groups.
◦Criticized the Supreme Court for convicting members of Colombian military for crimes against humanity.
◦Secretly negotiated an unconstitutional agreement to put 7 U.S. military bases in Colombia.
Department of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia, 1995-1997

Governor

◦Coordinated “Operation Genesis”, resulting in the displacement and murder of thousands of afro-colombians and usurping of their lands.
◦Cultivated relationships with paramilitary death squads.Thanks for the update.