The Harvard Crimson
Locals, Students Protest Uribe's Speech
Sept 28--Colombian President Alvaro Uribe’s visit to campus drew passionate responses this past Friday, as a group of Colombian students presented the president with a letter criticizing his decision to seek a third term in office while a number of local residents protested outside Uribe’s speech at the Institute of Politics.
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According to Juanita M. Goebertus, a student at Harvard Law School, the Harvard Colombian Society collectively decided to write a letter to Uribe declaring their opposition to seeking a third term, a prospect currently prohibited by Colombian term limits.
The final letter, which the students presented to Uribe in person, garnered 30 signatures and stated that a third term for Uribe would “weaken the rule of law, as well as threaten the separation of powers of the Colombian state.”
Laura Jaramillo ’10, who was present at the meeting with Uribe and signed the letter, said she was impressed by the way in which he responded to each of their individual arguments against a leader remaining in power by amending the Constitution’s term limits.
“I think when we came in we were perfectly aware that we weren’t going to change his mind,” Jaramillo said. “But for many of us, it was a moral issue. We had the chance to sit down with the president of Colombia and to make a stand about something that is extremely important to us and to Colombian democracy.”
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