Since October 2008, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, has consistently stressed the importance that public opinion plays in a state under the rule of law. This emphasis started a few weeks after Congress formally commenced studying the popular initiative to call for a referendum on an immediate presidential re-election.
In Uribe’s words “the equilibrium between participative democracy and representative democracy has made that public opinion, of escalating activity, becomes the determinant factor of the legislative product. (speech given last week during a dinner in honor to the visiting heir of the Spanish throne)
Since Uribe, by his own accounts, does not read newspapers, it is obvious that by public opinion he means the general population that consistently regard his administration as the best in living memory, rather than other important voices representing public opinions such as op-ed columnists.
In Colombia, deep polarizations along political party lines have led to bloody periods as in 1948 when 180,000 people died in 10 years, in a period remembered as “The Violence”. However, today’s deep polarization has become more pronounced along educational and political awareness lines.
A way to prove the sentiment of the more educated and politically-aware people is by reading the op-ed columns in the two national newspapers, El Tiempo and El Espectador. The former is naturally more pro-government given that it was funded, and is run, by the family of the current Vice-president and the former Defense minister, Juan Manuel Santos. Their op-ed columnists are academics, lawyers, journalists, human rights advocates, politicians, former government officials, among others.
In the op-ed columns published last week (Mon-Sun), explicitly addressing the government, the pattern in terms of the opposition to the president continued despite the lack of new incidents affecting his administration. From the 45 columns related to Colombian current affairs published in El Espectador there were 14 anti-Uribe articles and only one pro-Uribe opinion. In El Tiempo there were 29 columns with five explicitly anti-Uribe and only one pro-Uribe.
In turn, the sentiment of the general population is best gauged by the latest poll on current political affairs. For instance, 67 percent of people would vote for the re-electionist referendum, with 83 percent supporting it. Moreover, if Uribe is a candidate he would obtain 57 percent of the votes. And if the president does not run again the most favored candidates are Juan Manuel Santos and the former Agriculture minister Andres Felipe Arias, who are the epitome of Uribe’s war policies.
In a democracy, the majority decides elections. However, this does not signify that their perceptions on the political environment are correct. For example, in the same poll, 30 and 8 percent respectively think that Santos and Arias have fought corruption. Thus, the many incidents evidencing the contrary have been heavily discounted.
Furthermore, 55 percent of the respondents did not think the recent illegal wiretapping by the government’s security agency on Supreme Court judges, the opposition and journalists, influenced their perception of the president. More disturbing still is that 13 percent claimed the scandal has positively influenced the president’s image.
This great divide between the more educated and politically-aware class and the general population may not lead to a repeat of “The Violence”. However, it demonstrates the condition of media consumption in Colombia where analyzes on political developments are seldom read by the general population. This great divide only highlights the power of the media for manufacturing popular consent that is then used by Uribe to boast his “democratic principles” in front of foreign dignitaries.
Author Sebastian Castaneda is Colombian and lives in Hong Kong
gringo michae
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... And the writers point is what other then taking another swipe as always of Uribe. Is the point to call the vast majority of his countrymen stupid because they don't read the op ed page which is only someone elses opinion ,who more then likey has no idea what the everyday Colombian deals with because they are educated elitist? Or is the point that there continues to be a class of snobs who continue to look down their noses as the vast majority of their countrymen? |
Sebastian
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... The article seeks to point out at the divergent points of view towards the government. This happens to be more explicit between the more politically aware (and more educated) op-ed columnists in the two national newspapers -- which can be representative to that segment of the population -- and a vast group in the population -- who support Uribe's policies despite the many incidents where these have been counter-productive to the country. However, the article is not claiming that the rest of the population are just plain stupid because they may not have had the opportunity (which in Colombia is limited) to attend prestigious universities or hold positions where following the everyday Colombian political developments is crucial. However, they may be more easily convinced by media coverage of the political landscape. |
Rachel Godfrey Wood
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... I think Sebastian´s making a fair point, you can say that the majority is wrong without saying they´re stupid. It´s clear that there are certain issues which, from an objective perspective are extremely serious but which the electorate rarely picks up on. You only have to look at the constant voting in of congressmen and senators from parties shown to have been strongly linked to paramilitarism, the population´s relative indifference towards issues like social cleansing and false positives, or discrimination of minority groups, to know that popular opinion is not always right. Of course, all that has it´s own logical explanation, but you can definitely critique it without being patronising. I´d be interested to hear Gringo Michae´s view of the Venezuelan electorate. |
cococo
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... I am sorry, but what you have written could apply to every country in the World. As a British citizen I am appalled at the lack of politcial knowledge of the vast majority of my fellow countrymen who take their direction from the sensational tabloid press. In the USA the vast majority of citizens have a very limited political awareness and in fact are completely polarised on so many issues. In every society the educated classes will always be more politically aware, but not necessarily politically astute. Having personally witnessed the transformation in Colombia under the presidency of Alvaro Uribe I would suggets that the vast majority of Colombians are very politcially astute and you do not need a university degree to tap into the mood of society and the feeling that although far from perfect, President Uribe is one of the best things that has ever happened to Colombia. |
gringo michae
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... It seems those that write the op ed pieces are educated elistist total out of touch with the country they live in, the fact is the majority in Colombia don't care about some higher level of political debate, it is more interested in everyday surival . Onr thing is clear some people go overseas to a prestigious universities and think some how Colombia should be just like the country they are getting educated in. Colombai is not Hong Kong, the USA, Britain. , But it seem that those that are highly educated like to tear down thier homeland instead of realizing it takes time to bring change and growth and instead of working to help it reach better tings, If I was a Colombia in all honesty I would have been insulted by this article. Becuase most Colombians I know rather build the country brick by brick then waste time in some high educated political debate. |
