Squabbles hurt Uribe's standing

news.ft.com By James Wilson Published: March 21 2003 4:00 | Last Updated: March 21 2003 4:00

Seven months in to Alvaro Uribe's four-year term as Colombian president, his long honeymoon appears to be over.

Having capitalised on his popularity to win approval for economic reforms during his first months in office, Mr Uribe's government is gearing up for a new session of Congress, when the focus will be on tougher anti-terrorism legislation. But the president's plans are threatened by discord within his government.

"He is losing cohesion," says Pedro Medellín, executive director of the Ortega y Gasset Foundation in Colombia, which researches governability and public policy. "If the president does not react, this could happen more and more, with various groups all trying to impose their own agenda."

A significant jolt to Mr Uribe (pictured) arrived out of the blue on February 6, when his welfare minister, Juan Luis Londoño, was killed in an air crash. The following day, a huge bomb at a Bogotá social club killed 35 people. A week later another massive bomb in the southern city of Neiva killed 16. Authorities think the blast may have been meant for Mr Uribe, who was due to visit.

But violence, and even attempts on his life, are what Mr Uribe could have expected when he took office. More frustrating will have been the public fights inside his government, sparking domestic criticism, souring international relations and putting the president on the defensive.

Fernando Londoño, the outspoken interior minister, railed against Brazil and Venezuela for their supposed failure to denounce Colombian rebels as terrorists which Mr Uribe views as diplomatically important. The president chided Mr Londoño for interfering in foreign affairs, calling for "less talk and more action". But relations with Venezuela worsened as a result.

More serious has been the friction between the defence minister, Marta Lucía Ramírez, and senior soldiers. Having put security at the heart of his government's strategy, Mr Uribe can ill afford differences between his ministers and his troops. Yet Ms Ramírez and Héctor Fabio Velasco, the air force chief, had a bitter public spat when Spain donated eight second-hand Mirage military jets to Colombia last month. Gen Velasco said they would be too expensive to maintain. Ms Ramírez retorted that Colombia should not thumb its nose at offers of help.

Once again Mr Uribe had to intervene. But the argument put the spotlight on wider tensions in military ranks over attempts by Ms Ramírez, Colombia's first female defence minister, to impose a more results-oriented culture.

There have been calls for some ministers to be sacked. But before taking office Mr Uribe insisted the same cabinet team would serve throughout his term.

At the same time, Mr Uribe's attempts to tackle long-standing security problems have emphasised the scale of his task. After another bomb this month killed 12 in the north-eastern city of Cúcuta, he named a new police chief and accused local judicial authorities of being riddled with terrorists.

Colombians' expectations of their president are great, and if he is perceived to be failing, Mr Uribe's programme could be threatened. In particular, his plan to introduce political reforms and spending cuts via a referendum this year would be less likely to gain acceptance. Economists in Colombia and abroad say that without the referendum's approval, the government would struggle to control public finances.

Mr Uribe's personal approval ratings are still high. But Mr Medellín says his passion for micro-managing is aggravating problems. The president's telephone calls to mid-ranking officials and soldiers to demand results go down well with the public, but Mr Medellín says Mr Uribe is distorting relationships between ministers and their departments, and should focus on political leadership and strategic direction: "He should stop worrying about little things and worry about bigger things."