More Problems for Colombia

The New York Times and some of the wire services have some interesting news on Colombia. In the Times, Juan Forero reports about Colombia's debt problems and how that will impact the nation's future, especially after President Uribe's referendum was defeated last month:

Colombia's public sector debt - both foreign and domestic - now tops $40 billion, with the cost of debt servicing alone expected to reach $9.4 billion next year. To come up with the $1.1 billion in savings Mr. Uribe expected next year had the referendum passed, he is proposing legislation that will cut state spending sharply and, by 2004, lead to a series of new taxes.

"If something urgent and broad is not done, we could be on the edge of the abyss in months," said Semana, Colombia's leading newsweekly. The solution is the "famous Plan B," said Semana, what the magazine calls "a draconian tax reform that will inevitably step on toes and leave everyone unhappy."

The new challenge comes as Mr. Uribe is facing the toughest patch of his 15 months in office. Though most polls find that he is still hugely popular, with approval ratings topping 70 percent, he is smarting over the defeat of his political and fiscal reform package.

As Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue noted, "He's got to figure out how he's going to really build a governing coalition. He didn't really have to worry about that until now." I don't think compromise with his political opponents is one of Uribe's stronger suits and with the election of a left-leaning mayor of Bogotá as well as a congress that will not roll over for him, the going will get tougher.

One way to ease some of these problems would be to crack down harder on things like this:

The commander of the Colombian National Police and five other senior police officers have lost their jobs after lawmen in Medellin dined in the most exclusive restaurants, bought expensive jewelry and staged lavish parties -- all on government money.

President Alvaro Uribe, an anti-corruption crusader, accepted the resignations late Tuesday of National Police Chief Gen. Teodoro Campo and his four closest deputies, said presidential spokesman Ricardo Galan. Uribe also fired Medellin's police chief, Gen. Leonardo Gallego, Galan said.

In a country whose government is trying to raise money to fight drug trafficking and guerrillas, the scale of the spending spree by police in Medellin was astounding. One single restaurant bill came to almost $1,700.

``The police are very good clients of ours. They come here often and have an open tab,'' an employee at Medellin's expensive La Fragata restaurant told the newsmagazine Semana, which first reported the scandal.

I live in a community with a large Colombian immigrant population and I have several Colombian friends and neighbors. While I would never try to stereotype anyone, everything I have read (and some things that I have witnessed) all seem to indicate that the high level of machismo in Colombian society may explain why something like this has happened:

Colombia's first woman defense minister, who launched all-out war on leftist rebels but openly feuded with the military brass, refused to say Monday why she abruptly resigned after 15 months in office.

Martha Lucia Ramirez read a statement describing how the military and police under her command improved security in the war-torn South American country. But she did not say why she resigned Sunday and she refused to take questions from reporters.

She certainly seemed to be effective:

Under Ramirez's stewardship, nationwide security improved, with homicides down 22 percent and kidnappings down 35 percent.

The results helped make her one of Colombia's most popular politicians, though she never sat well with the military brass.

Her decision to take control of military budgets from the generals and unify spending under one central administration was widely resented. She also angered some generals with public suggestions of corruption within the military.

Earlier this year, Ramirez accused the country's top police chief of deliberately withholding information from her about the disappearance of 3 tons of seized cocaine.

Three members of Uribe's cabinet have now resigned, his referendum failed and he has to make some hard decisions about making ends meet. It certainly seems to me that despite high approval ratings, he's in trouble.