By: Ernesto Cardoso Camacho
On the occasion of the announced visit to Huila by former President Uribe scheduled for today, Saturday, May 20, it is necessary to remember that we are very close to experiencing one of the most important decisions of the judicial system that, for better or worse, will define a large part of the immediate future of national politics.
As is well known, on Tuesday, May 23 and Wednesday, May 24, the public hearing will be held to resolve whether the former president is precluded from the criminal investigation for the alleged crime of witness tampering and procedural fraud, in the notorious judicial case where the star witness is the criminal Monsalve imprisoned in La Picota.
It should be remembered that the origin of the investigation is based on the decision adopted more than 5 years ago by Judge Barceló; who resolved to exonerate Senator Cepeda; denounced by Uribe for visiting prisons seeking testimonies from criminals so that they testify against the former president and his brother Santiago, as promoters of the so-called paramilitary group of the Twelve Apostles. In other words, Barceló, in a judicial maneuver with a very high political content, turned former President Uribe from a whistleblower to a defendant.
Then the controversial decision of Magistrate Reyes was known, who as a rapporteur instructor did not call the former president to speak freely as is customary in such proceedings, ordering the arrest measure against Uribe, a fact that led to his resignation from the Senate and his confinement to his residence, after having been described as a common criminal and widely exposed to public ridicule through the various media.
Thus began a whole well-designed and executed strategy aimed at weakening the personal image and political leadership of the former president, after having won a tough democratic battle when the plebiscite for peace between Santos and the Farc was voted. There his main political opponents converged in a systematic chorus where the prominence of the creators of the JEP and the Truth Commission were in charge of selling him as the worst murderer in national history responsible for more than six thousand victims of the so-called “false positives”.
This is how the infamy aimed at getting him out of the way was structured, to open the political space to the forces associated with the radical left that sought to obtain power through democratic means, since he was the one who had the courage to abort his arrival through the bloody armed route. with its successful policy of democratic security.
Once his freedom was recovered, he had the visionary clarity of noticing what was to come with his famous phrase “watch out for 2022”. Petro rode on the devastating effects of the pandemic and skillfully took advantage of the serious shortcomings and mistakes of President Duque. Many did not believe Uribe and today we suffer the consequences.
The strategy of infamy has produced abundant fruits. The Prosecutor’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office have requested the preclusion of the criminal investigation considering that there is no probative evidence to proceed to the trial stage. However, the pack of detractors continues to move with unusual audacity. Now they have turned to the statements of the criminal Mancuso before the JEP.
In this context, it is well worth asking if justice will triumph or if infamy will prevail. The outcome could be that, if justice is imposed, there would be estoppel, although the decision will surely be appealed to prolong the effects of infamy. If, on the contrary, infamy prevails, it would mean that the final objective would be to bring him to trial to convict him and thus liquidate a brilliant political career, which would also manage to destroy the only political retaining wall that Uribe’s leadership means. Although the most serious thing would be, in this case; the unpredictable consequences for the institutional stability of the Nation, given the very high levels of ideological and political polarization that are stimulated from the presidential balcony.