Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe will receive an award for his contribution to the fight against terrorism from Spain’s International Observatory of Victims of Terrorism.
The “La Puerta del Recuero” prize will presented to Uribe at the Casino de Madrid on October 27 for his “fight against terrorism” through “firm security and defense policies undertaken during his mandate in spite of the difficult political and social conditions in his country, as well as his service rendered to the existence of all Colombians, especially victims of violence.”
The announcement comes as Uribe commences his first week at Washington D.C.’s Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, where he is scheduled to hold seminars and work with faculty on international issues in the 2010-11 academic year.
Uribe’s post as an invited professor has sparked controversy, with NGOs such as Witness for Peace and the Dorothy Day Worker Foundation planning to hold protests against the former Colombian leader’s appointment later in the week.
Uribe handed over the reigns of power to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on August 7. On August 10 he took his seat as vice chairman of the United Nations (U.N.) inquiry into an Israeli attack on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who appointed Uribe to the panel, defended the selection of the former president against international criticism.