Santos, of the Social Party of National Unity (party of the U), was elected the new President for the next four year term, after obtaining a landslide victory in the runoff against Antanas Mockus, who had prematurely declared his intention of continuing outgoing Uribe’s policies in economic and “democratic security” matters. A euphemism to refer to the installation of a police state in Colombia.

Real World Radio interviewed political sciences professor of the National University of Colombia, Daniel Libreros Caicedo. He analyzed the political context of his country and the “Uribista” phenomenon.

According to Libreros, Uribe’s regime has managed to get the support of different social sectors after eight years through combined strategies such as: legal-military action and illegal action against the opposition; relations with the drug mafia, the gambling mafia, administrative corruption, fuels corruption; social and political clientelism and control of mass media.

With Santos the Colombian administration will continue the national economic crisis, the employment and humanitarian crisis, says Libreros, while Mockus failed to offer a different model for the country.

He was originally a member of the Liberal Party. In 2002, after Alvaro Uribe became President, Santos became one of the creators of the Party of the U, organized at the end of 2005.

As Minster of Defense, he led several international confrontations with neighboring countries. He is a member of an aristocratic family and is considered the follower of the outgoing president.

Colombia is going through a social and political polarization, where the opposition is excluded from the institutional spaces of debate and dissent, says Libreros.

Meanwhile, the popular sectors have created their own territorial resistance. The political opposition needs to be united in the social resistance to confront what is coming, with the antiglobalization streams, ethnic movements and bottom-up processes.

Daniel Libreros thinks the way out to the economic, humanitarian and environmental crisis is ecosocialism, and that Alvaro Uribe could be taken before the International Criminal Court once he leaves office.

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