10 August 2010

What a REAL Leader Looks Like: Alvaro Uribe

-Gracias, Señor Presidente-

Colombian patriot and brave national hero Alvaro Uribe has now retired from the presidential office he first took in 2002... when Colombia was nothing short of a failed state. How did he do? Besides the fact that he all but defeated the FARC rebels and numerous drug cartels over his eight years, Uribe's presidential approval rating has hovered between 60-70%... as recently as 2008 hitting an astounding 91%...

George W Bush honored his accomplishment, principles, and valor with a Presidential Medal of Freedom...  while today's radical Democrats refuse to support Colombia's great strides with even a free-trade pact.  But as a thankless Obama chums-up to anti-democratic enemies at Colombia's expense, Uribe can rest assured that history will treat him and his nationalist/pro-victory/free market record well... very well.

Faced with a pugnacious Hugo Chavez providing cover and support for Colombian FARC commie/drug cartel rebels just over the Venezuelan border, Alvaro Uribe displayed admirable restraint too... much of South and Central America could have been drawn-in and split into to camps -creating permanent rifts- if Comrade Hugo had succeeded in baiting Colombia into an all-out war. 

Just this last Sunday, Uribe -clearly sick of relentless Chavez insults- dismissed the red-shirted  Marxist clown as a "coward" on Twitter... as Colombian victims of FARC violence now pursue remedy against Venezeula through legal means.

IBD provides some background on the towering success of this truly great leader and good friend to the United States... 
Presidente Alvaro Uribe:
Leadership: Colombia's Alvaro Uribe leaves office as one of the hemisphere's most successful leaders, courageously transforming a failed state to a rising star.

His friendship has also paid off handsomely for the U.S. As with Australia's John Howard and the U.K.'s Tony Blair, President Bush knew what he was doing when he presented Colombia's president with the Medal of Freedom, America's highest honor, in 2009.

Rarely has our country benefited so greatly from an alliance. Before Uribe was elected in 2002, Colombia was one of our biggest headaches. A rural, underdeveloped society, it was unprepared for the first wave of the global drug trade, and its name had become synonymous with cartels. Corruption stretched from the lowliest slum dwellers to the presidential palace and seemed incurable. The cartels then turned into guerrilla groups that by 1998 almost claimed victory in the drug war.

But as sometimes occurs in times of crisis, a real leader stepped forward. Uribe focused on just two things: human rights and development. He called his plan "democratic security." He marshaled the best in his people and cultivated an alliance with America.

And contrary to what the past suggested, it worked. Colombians detested chaos and were willing to make sacrifices to create something new. Uribe's leadership brought out the best in a society whose roots were still intact. Thanks to a strong work ethic, Colombia's economy grew every year but one.

And unlike other Latin American states, it kept its word and never defaulted on debt. This made it possible for the U.S. to help. The $7 billion spent on Plan Colombia is one of America's biggest foreign-aid success stories.

As Uribe leaves office with a nation better off politically, socially and economically, the U.S. has learned some important lessons of its own: * The wars we fight these days against extralegal and extraterritorial groups motivated by ideology can be won.

Our experience with Plan Colombia is an encyclopedia of lessons that can be applied to conflicts such as Afghanistan.

* Drug wars can be damped down. Colombia's experience in destroying large cartels is now Mexico's template for winning its war.

* Illegal immigration can be stopped in its tracks. Ten years ago, Colombia shipped an estimated 141,000 illegals to the U.S. Today, the numbers are so small the U.S. no longer publishes them. Uribe's freeing of his economy brought exiles — and tourists — back.

* Things can change in Latin America. Given the long arc of progress in Colombia, the cycle of populism and caudillos seems to be broken, opening more avenues to U.S. engagement.

* The U.S. has a true ally in Latin America. Until now, our relations with most Latin neighbors have been contentious. But our close ties with Colombia — despite Congress' inexcusable failure to pass a free-trade accord — suggest we can develop others.

So bravo to Alvaro Uribe, who has shown how true leadership rather than cult of personality can make all the difference in the world.