Costa Rica Denies Political Asylum to Mario Uribe

Arias Denies Asylum to Mario Uribe
Arias Denies Political Asylum to Mario Uribe.

Accused of seeking the support of right-wing paramilitaries in the 2002 elections, former Colombian senator Mario Uribe sought asylum from the Costa Rican government. On April 22, his request was denied. Mario Uribe is the cousin of current Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. Along with about one third of the Colombian Congress, Uribe is accused of having colluded with paramilitary gunmen, as well as purchasing lands obtained illegally by the right-wing group.

His prominent arrest has highlighted the growing “parapolitics” problem in Colombia, which has been an issue in Colombia for the last few years. In 2006, prosecutors began to put the pieces together, when researchers discovered links between several politicians and paramilitaries/drug traffickers. Testimony from previously captured paramilitary leaders helped secure arrests, and there are currently 31 politicians in jail. More than double that are under investigation, and four have been convicted.

When Uribe learned of his impending arrest, he rushed to the Costa Rican embassy in Bogotá;, hoping to be granted political asylum by the Costa Rican government. He holed up in the embassy for 10 hours, during which time Costa Rican President Oscar Arias deliberated over whether to grant his request.

Costa Rica had previously granted asylum to Alvaro Leyva, a Colombian accused on similar charges. However, after reviewing the evidence with Vice President Laura Chinchilla and foreign minister Bruno Stagno, Arias decided to deny Uribe his requested asylum. Before doing so, however, Arias says that he called President Alvaro Uribe to discuss the request and Costa Rica’s impending decision.

In the end, Arias says his decision was based on what was best and most prudent for Costa Rica. After ten hours at the embassy and his asylum denial, Uribe was arrested. Unfortunately for his Colombian counterpart, politicians say that Alvaro Uribe will suffer significant embarrassment from his cousin’s arrest.

Though President Uribe says that the arrest will not affect efforts to protect the Colombian government, some believe that the family scandal will follow him. In addition, chances are high that part of the presidential coalition is also linked to Colombian paramilitary forces. President Uribe’s ties to cousin, Senator Uribe, were tight, and it’s likely that Senator Uribe’s paramilitary connections have bled into the president’s coalition.

Before this recent scandal, opinion polls had President Alvaro Uribe as the most popular president in Latin America. Though Colombia is far from perfectly peaceful, many Colombians believe that President Uribe has helped bring peace and order to their violence and drug-plagued nation. However, Mario Uribe’s arrest has shown the people how far corruption has spread - right into their own government.

In addition to national effects, the arrest will likely affect United States-Colombian relations, which are already strained over the stalled free trade agreement between the two countries. However, despite recent setbacks, President Uribe plans to continue with his administration’s tough security measures against the paramilitaries and drug traffickers, improving Colombia for his citizens.

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