5.16.2005
Justice, 16 Years Later
The buzz in Colombia the past few days has centered on the arrest of ex-congressman and Minister of Justice Alberto Santofimio Botero for the 1989 murder of fellow Liberal and presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galan. According to several sources, John Jairo Velásquez (alias Popeye), one of Pablo Escobar's hit men and the only person to have spent time in prison for the crime, has called out Santofimio from behind bars:
Justice has not yet been served in another brutal murder: the 1990 assasination of presidential candidate Carlos Pizarro, who was killed in cold blood aboard a commerical flight from Bogota to Barranquilla. I recently spoke with Carlos's brother, Eduardo, who is a renown sociologist at the Universidad Nacional and columnist for El Tiempo. Eduardo survived an attempt on his life in 1999 when he was shot twice by unknown attackers on a motorcycle as he was leaving the university. He then left Colombia for a number of years and I was lucky enough to have him as a professor my senior year at Princeton.
There has been no justice in the Carlos Pizarro case, fifteen years later. Eduardo told me the Avianca flight his brother was scheduled to take was changed at the last minute from a 6 AM departure to 7 AM. Supposedly, the only person who knew of this change was a DAS (Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad) employee, who presumably planted the machine gun that was used by the hitmen that morning. Eduardo's decision to continue to risk his life in returning to Colombia and his determination in seeking peace in the armed conflict is inspiring.
Despite having been an academic his entire career, it appears that he will be rewarded with an important political appointment in the coming months: the Colombian ambassadorship to England. I wish Eduardo well as he soon embarks on a three-week tour in Europe to give a series of presentations in coordination with the Foreign Ministries in the EU. If Colombia is to emerge from the violence and corruption of the past decades, it will need this sort of pragmatic leadership in the fight for peace.
"Alberto Santofimio Botero had the idea of killing Luis Carlos Galan," Velasquez said. "Alberto Santofimio recommended that he be killed because the man, with the weapons of the state, would go after Pablo Escobar."
"He was 100 percent calm ... he was removing a political enemy from his path," Velasquez said.This development 16 years after the murder of one of Colombia's most charasmatic politicians is promising for the legitimacy of the Colombian justice system. This justice system will be tested as former guerillas and paramilitaries continue to step down and must be reintegrated into society. Some 6,000 ex-guerillas and ex-paramilitaries live in Bogota and suffer from severe mental and drug problems. They are often illiterate and do not have any marketable skills other than being able to shoot a machine gun.
For Escobar, the assassination of Galan meant eliminating a candidate who would likely extradite drug traffickers to the United States for trial.
Justice has not yet been served in another brutal murder: the 1990 assasination of presidential candidate Carlos Pizarro, who was killed in cold blood aboard a commerical flight from Bogota to Barranquilla. I recently spoke with Carlos's brother, Eduardo, who is a renown sociologist at the Universidad Nacional and columnist for El Tiempo. Eduardo survived an attempt on his life in 1999 when he was shot twice by unknown attackers on a motorcycle as he was leaving the university. He then left Colombia for a number of years and I was lucky enough to have him as a professor my senior year at Princeton.
There has been no justice in the Carlos Pizarro case, fifteen years later. Eduardo told me the Avianca flight his brother was scheduled to take was changed at the last minute from a 6 AM departure to 7 AM. Supposedly, the only person who knew of this change was a DAS (Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad) employee, who presumably planted the machine gun that was used by the hitmen that morning. Eduardo's decision to continue to risk his life in returning to Colombia and his determination in seeking peace in the armed conflict is inspiring.
Despite having been an academic his entire career, it appears that he will be rewarded with an important political appointment in the coming months: the Colombian ambassadorship to England. I wish Eduardo well as he soon embarks on a three-week tour in Europe to give a series of presentations in coordination with the Foreign Ministries in the EU. If Colombia is to emerge from the violence and corruption of the past decades, it will need this sort of pragmatic leadership in the fight for peace.
# posted by Juanson : 1:32 PM
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Hola Chris Jr.
What an excellent post... You are absolutely right that Santofimio Botero´s trial will be a much needed and important test for the battered Colombian justice system. Even though Colombia is reknowned for its legal traditions and legalistic view of the world, (its legislature used to be called the Athens of America for the well crafted speeches legislators used to give) it is a fact that the rule of law has been trampled mercilessly since the two traditional parties started killing each other in the 1950's in the period commonly known as "la Violencia". Those cruel killings and their repeated revenges evolved into the civil war that now is fought between the guerilla forces (FARC and ELN) the Army and the AUC paramilitary forces.
You are right to point out that now that, for the first time, we are seeing tens of thousands of fighters forsaking their weapons and joining society, it is essential to have a functioning justice system. In fact we need a system which will not only pardon those who chose to adhere to the armistice offered by the governmenmt, but a system which wil also guarantee their safety and help them enter productive lives as regular citizens.
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What an excellent post... You are absolutely right that Santofimio Botero´s trial will be a much needed and important test for the battered Colombian justice system. Even though Colombia is reknowned for its legal traditions and legalistic view of the world, (its legislature used to be called the Athens of America for the well crafted speeches legislators used to give) it is a fact that the rule of law has been trampled mercilessly since the two traditional parties started killing each other in the 1950's in the period commonly known as "la Violencia". Those cruel killings and their repeated revenges evolved into the civil war that now is fought between the guerilla forces (FARC and ELN) the Army and the AUC paramilitary forces.
You are right to point out that now that, for the first time, we are seeing tens of thousands of fighters forsaking their weapons and joining society, it is essential to have a functioning justice system. In fact we need a system which will not only pardon those who chose to adhere to the armistice offered by the governmenmt, but a system which wil also guarantee their safety and help them enter productive lives as regular citizens.
# posted by 
: 10:21 PM
: 10:21 PM
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