Uribe Denies The Validity Of The Colombian Peace Agreement

In a letter sent to United Nations Secretary Antonio Guterres on Wednesday, former President Alvaro Uribe denied the legal validity and political legitimacy of the 2016 Peace Agreement signed between the Colombian State and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

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Mimicking the discourse deployed by far-right militias and political organizations, Uribe said the Peace Agreement violated international and national law so as to favor the impunity of the former FARC leaders and allow them to get involved in democratic processes.

The laying down of arms, however, is precisely the goal of any peace deal, a goal that this conservative politician refuses to understand and admit. Uribe alleged that this agreement threatens the youth and the environment because it banned the State from spraying small farmers’ crops.

He also blamed the Peace Accord for the current political polarization existing in Colombia and alleged that its commitments are a call to "class struggle" because they are against the principle that those who commit heinous crimes cannot take up public offices charges.

Uribe’s statements showed the lack of political unanimity within the Colombian elites regarding the handling of the armed conflict in this South American country. On Wednesday, while that far-right senator was complaining about the Peace Agreement, President Ivan Duque announced that he is exploring the possibility of resuming peace talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN).

Besides being investigated for his links with paramilitary gangs, Uribe currently faces 60 judicial processes for receiving political funding from cartels led by drug kingpin Pablo Escobar and ordering 6,400 extrajudicial killings from 2000 to 2010.

"Incapable people believed that increasing the efficacy of the fight against guerrillas was producing more crimes," Uribe said and alleged that accusations against him are part of a political persecution.