While the divide between former President Alvaro Uribe and current President Juan Manuel Santos widened further Tuesday, former presidential adviser Jose Obdulio Gaviria admitted that there are “fundamental differences” between the two men.
The appointment of Rafael Pardo as Labor Minister provoked a harsh reaction from Uribe, who labeled the government’s actions “hypocritical and [lacking] popular support”. Pardo, the leader of the Liberal Party, defected from the then “Uribista” Cambio Radical party in 2005.
Gaviria, who spoke on W Radio, claimed that the former president should assume the leadership of the U Party, and supported Uribe’s reaction, judging that Pardo and the Santos administration “represent ideas opposed to Uribe’s core policies”.
The former adviser particularly insisted on the uncertain future of Uribe’s flagship democratic security.
Gaviria maintains close ties with the former president.
Also speaking to radio La W was Fabio Echeverry Correa, another former presidential adviser, who claimed that such a “scuffle” between Uribe and Santos was bad for Colombia.
Uribe lost a great deal of political influence in Sunday’s local elections, where candidates he supported lost in almost all major cities and the majority of departments.