Colombia: Uribe, Human Rights = Terrorists

Do you think that perhaps massacring civilians is a pretty poor move? Have you wondered if Alvaro Uribe might, after all, not be the best thing since sliced bread? Then you're in league with the FARC and probably a terrorist yourself. I'm quite sure I qualify. Surprised? You shouldn't be:

The FARC’s “intellectual bloc” is very clever. In the past, in Europe, they said: “the FARC are justified, because Colombia is a very unjust country, there is no democracy in Colombia,” knowing that they taught this country and they taught the paramilitaries to murder mayors, to pressure governors, to eliminate democracy, and knowing that they cause more and more poverty, that they and the paramilitaries were the largest causes of displacement in Colombia, of unemployment, of the absence of investment.

And they shield themselves in something else: at all hours they live talking about human rights, simply to make our soldiers and police more timid.

It's just Uribe, lumping all his opponents in with armed guerrillas again. Why is this important? Well, we could just say "Hm, not a particularly nuanced argument there, my good man," and move on. But the fact is that in repeating, over and over, the statement that anyone who does not support him is a probable terrorist, and in particular that human rights organisations are part of the guerrilla machine, he puts more lives at risk. The lives of those brave activists struggling to do a dangerous job defending ordinary Colombians, and the lives of those Colombians who are victimised by military and paramilitary forces. Uribe's not alone in dismissing those pesky human rightsy folks as subversives, but he does seem to be the worst culprit right now.

The 'Intellectual Bloc' of the FARC (Plan Colombia and Beyond)