Previous Colombian president Alvaro Uribe said Thursday that Colombia is less secure under the current government of Juan Manuel Santos.
In an interview with Teleantioquica, Uribe accused the current government of abandoning the controversial network of paid civilian informants he had set up against guerrillas and criminals, saying, “How can you pretend to advance public order when you have neglected — that which we built with such great difficulty — a team of 4,000 civilian informants working from cellphones?”
The ex-president also said Colombia’s Armed Forces were suffering from low morale due to the government’s withdrawal of a recent military prosecution reform bill. “How can you pretend the Armed Forces are motivated when everyday there is doubt about military jurisdiction?” Asked Uribe.
The reform bill proposed that all acts, including human rights violations, committed during military operations are presumed to be related to service and would be tried in military courts. Critics said the bill threatened to promote and facilitate human rights abuses.
Of his own time in office Uribe said, “I didn’t leave a paradise, but things were getting better.”
A survey Thursday said approval has dropped for Santos. According to poll, 62% of the respondents said the situation regarding the country’s leftist guerrilla groups was getting worse.