Carlos Gaviria visits Austin


The president of the colombian political party Polo Democrático Carlos Gaviria was one of the speakers invited to the XXVIII Annual ILASSA Student Conference. His speech was basically a critique of the current government because it claims that Colombia has a strong democracy while he considers that many aspects of Colombia’s situation (like the high percentage of poverty) are clear signals that Colombia doesn’t have a democracy but instead what he refers to as a sudo-democracy.

I think Colombia does have a democracy, but it has many flaws. As he recognizes, there is not a country in this planet with a perfect democracy and Colombia by no means is close to have that.

Even recognizing that Uribe has many flaws I sincerely think Colombia is better today than how it was 6 years ago. And after hearing Gaviria today, it gives you the impression that this is not the case and that Uribe is the devil itself following a master plan to be a dictator. I honestly believe that this is not the case, and I definitely don’t want Uribe to be reelected again.