Colombian election flaws

In addition to the significant victory of pro-Uribe parties and the election of 8 new legislators from the controversial PIN party, reports surrounding the various problems with Colombia's electoral process have emerged.

According to the electoral observation mission of the Organization of American States (OAS), Colombia's recent elections were the least violent in recent history. However, the mission expressed various concerns about the electoral process and noted that many of the grave failures that affected the 2007 elections were repeated on Sunday. Six of these failures cited by the OAS election observers, which include problems with keeping votes secret, vote buying, a confusing and complex voting system, and the potential for distorted preliminary results, are detailed in Colombia’s Semana magazine.

In terms of vote buying, OAS observers said they saw these practices in six of the 16 provinces they monitored. The Inter-Press Service also reports that "polling stations in one-third of the country's municipalities were at risk of violence, corruption or fraud."

In the Washington Post, Juan Forero writes about the questionable connections of some newly-elected lawmakers.

...Voters instead elected scores of political novices who are either under investigation or are relatives or associates of lawmakers implicated in a range of crimes. Political analysts say a third of the incoming lawmakers have questionable connections, as many as when prosecutors began leveling charges against members of Congress more than three years ago.

One of these newly-elected legislators includes Teresita Garcia, the sister of former Senator Alvaro Garcia, who is in prison for ordering the Macayepo massacre in 2000. Others include:

the wife of a former governor who was sentenced to seven years in prison; the son of an imprisoned lottery businesswoman charged with murder and money laundering; the political partner of a congressman; and the cousin of a former senator who is on trial.

An Independent Pre-Electoral Observation Mission in Colombia, led by Global Exchange, expressed additional concerns about the Colombian electoral process. Some of the "electoral risk factors" cited by the report include: the presence of illegal armed groups in the electoral process; questionable practices that could lead to electoral fraud, such as vote buying and intimidation; illegal campaign financing; and manipulation of government aid programs for political purposes. The mission's full report can be downloaded here.

And on to other news:

• The FBI has suggested that the hitmen who killed 3 people with ties to the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico were confused and might have gone to the wrong party. This would quell fears that Mexican drug cartels have launched an offensive against U.S. government employees, though the FBI says they are still investigating the backgrounds of the three victims.


• Costa Rican President-elect Laura Chinchilla told the Associated Press that she wants to cooperate in anti-drug investigations with Mexico and Colombia. "Costa Rica can help countries like Colombia and Mexico with the exchange of information that can allow them to be more efficient in this war they are fighting," Chinchilla said. "What's important is to close all roads to drug traffickers."


• Three Honduran reporters have been killed in March, prompting the Committee to Protect Journalists to call on Honduran authorities to "put an end to the wave of deadly violence and ensure that the killers are punished."


• The Inter-American Development Bank has decided to resume operations in Honduras that were suspended after the June 2009 coup d'etat ousted President Manuel Zelaya.


• In order to cover the estimated $30 billion cost of reconstruction after Chile's February 27th earthquake, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera announced that the government will create a "special fund with a combination of loans, savings and budgetary austerity," according to Reuters. The Los Angeles Times reports that some of the money will be taken out of the Copper Stabilization Fund, however it will not cover the full cost. Reuters compiled a list of various scenarios of how the government may raise more funds to finance earthquake reconstruction.


• Amnesty International has "called on the Cuban authorities to revoke laws that restrict freedom of expression, assembly and association and to release all dissidents unfairly detained by the authorities."


• The Global Post published a two-part report on the massacre in San Jose de Apartado, Colombia in 2005. The first part explores how the massacre unfolded, and the second part looks at the involvement of the Colombian army and the cover-up that followed.


• And finally, the Washington Office on Latin America released a new report: Development First: A More Humane and Promising Approach to Reducing Cultivation of Crops for Illicit Markets. The report "surveys the evidence on coca and opium crop reduction efforts over the years, and identifies ten lessons to help shape more successful, less harmful policies." It can be downloaded here.

Today’s Hemispheric Brief was compiled by Abigail Poe.