Colombia’s ex-President Alvaro Uribe on Saturay launched one of its fiercest attacks to date on his successor, President Juan Manuel Santos, accusing him of turning Colombia into a “Castrochavistic” state.
In an interview with Spanish daily “La Gaceta,” Uribe said his successor “is now showing his true face, which makes many of us panic.”
Uribe said he fears Santos — whose government has maintained cordial relations with both the Cuban and Venezuelan governments — is aligning with the communist regime of Raul Castro in Cuba and the “Bolivarian” system implemented in Venezuela by that country’s late President Hugo Chavez. Both governments have received fierce criticism over their totalitarian approach to government and human rights violations.
Santos has done “the complete opposite of what he proposed in the campaign” of the 2010 elections in which he was elected with the support of his predecessor who also faces numerous allegations of having allowed grave human rights violations when he was president.
Uribe and his successor have not seen eye to eye since almost immediately after Santos took office and appointed political enemies of the former President in his cabinet. The former President subsequently formed a political movement, the Pure Democratic Center, to oppose a number of Santos’ policies, particularly ongoing peace talks with rebel group FARC.
Sources
- Álvaro Uribe: ‘Santos conduce a Colombia al castrochavismo’ (La Gaceta / behind paywall)