Presidency of Álvaro Uribe
{{short description|Colombian presidential administration from 2002 to 2010}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox administration
| image = Álvaro Uribe (cropped).jpg
| name = Presidency of Álvaro Uribe
| term_start = August 7, 2002
| term_end = August 7, 2010
| president_link = President of Colombia
| cabinet = See list
| party = Colombia First
| election = {{hlist|2002|2006|}}
| seat = Casa de Nariño
| predecessor = Andres Pastrana
| successor = Juan Manuel Santos
| official_url = https://alvarouribevelez.com.co/
| seal = Presidential Seal of Colombia (2024 version).svg
| seal_caption = Seal of the President
}}
Álvaro Uribe's term as the 31st president of Colombia began with his first inauguration on August 7, 2002 and ended on August 7, 2010. Uribe, candidate of the Colombia First party of Antioquia, took office after a decisive victory about the Liberal candidate Horacio Serpa in the 2002 presidential election. Four years later, in the 2006 presidential election, he defeated the Democratic Pole candidate, Carlos Gaviria, to win re-election. Uribe is the first president not to represent either of the two traditional parties, Liberal and Conservative.
Election
{{Main|2002 Colombian presidential election|2006 Colombian presidential election}}
Álvaro Uribe, who had been a member of the Liberal party, ran in the 2002 presidential elections initially as a candidate for his group. However, the candidate alleged a lack of guarantees to compete against former minister and former presidential candidate Horacio Serpa, for which he presented himself as an independent candidate.
His main contenders were Serpa, representing the Liberal Party; former union leader Luis Eduardo Garzón for the Independent Democratic Pole, former minister Noemí Sanín for the Yes, Colombia Movement and senator Íngrid Betancourt for the Green Oxygen Party. Several liberal leaders and the Conservative Party (which in those elections withdrew from the candidacy of former minister Juan Camilo Restrepo) gave their support to Uribe.{{Cite web|url= http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-1353683|title=Giro de los Conservadores, Álvaro Uribe|access-date=17 November 2016|date=13 March 2002|website=eltiempo.com}}
The elections were held in the midst of a strong security device in the face of threats from the FARC-EP since they found the population that did not come to vote in said election.{{Cite web|title=Amplio triunfo de Uribe en Colombia|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/specials/elecciones_en_colombia/newsid_2009000/2009888.stm|access-date=11 December 2014|date=27 May 2002|website=news.bbc.co.uk}}
Inauguration
{{Main|First inauguration of Álvaro Uribe|Second inauguration of Álvaro Uribe}}
Uribe was elected president of Colombia for the period 2002-2006 with 53% of the total votes (5,862,655 votes), defeating his main contender, Serpa, who obtained 31.8% of the votes (3,514,779 votes).; becoming the first president to win the elections in the first round since the measure was established in the 1991 Constitution. According to the National Registry of Civil Status, participation in the elections was 46,471% (11,249,734 people) of the electoral census .{{Cite web|url= http://www.registraduria.gov.co/2002PRP1/e/vpresidente0.htm?1|title=Informe de votación|access-date=3 January 2017|date=7 June 2002|website=Registraduria Nacional del Estado Civil|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001050522/http://www.registraduria.gov.co/2002PRP1/e/vpresidente0.htm?1|archivedate=1 October 2007}}
Later it was learned that Uribe's campaign received 100 million pesos from the Uniapuestas company, in which Enilce López (alias "La Gata") was the majority shareholder.{{Cite news|url = http://www.las2orillas.co/de-como-enilce-lopez-paso-de-ser-una-empleada-del-servicio-convertirse-en-la-poderosa-gata-del-chance/|title=‘La Gata’ Enilce López, la caída de un imperio|access-date=3 January 2017|date=22 January 2014|website=las2orillas.co}} Later, López was captured and charged with various criminal charges. for money laundering and diversion of funds, related to other judicial processes, despite this López has denied knowing about the check for Uribe's campaign.{{Cite web|url=http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-1922066|title=La Gata negó saber de cheque para la campaña de Uribe|access-date=16 January 2015|date=18 February 2006|website=eltiempo.com}} However, Uribe stated that no illegal conduct was incurred since in the 2002 Enilce López's companies were legally constituted.{{Cite web|url=http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-1913076|title=‘La Gata’ sí aportó a campaña de Uribe|access-date=3 January 2017|date=11 February 2006|website=eltiempo.com}}
On August 7, 2002, Uribe's inauguration as president took place in the Palacio de Nariño, the FARC-EP attacked near said building, leaving a balance of 17 people dead and another 20 injured by the explosion of a cylinder-pump; four spell mortars, two of them hit the Presidential Guard battalion, leaving a policeman and a soldier injured, another in the Nariño Palace, and the other in the El Cartucho sector, four blocks from the presidential palace.{{cite news|access-date=3 January 2017|date=8 August 2002|periodical=Diario del Pueblo|title=17 muertos en ataque cercano a palacio presidencial de Colombia|url=http://spanish.peopledaily.com.cn/spanish/200208/08/sp20020808_56671.html}}
{{Infobox Colombia Cabinet
|align=right
|image=
|Name=Uribe
|President =Álvaro Uribe
|President start =2002
|President end = 2010
|Vice President =Francisco Santos
|Vice President start = 2002
|Vice President end = 2010
|Interior =Fernando Londoño
|Interior start = 2002
|Interior end = 2004
|Interior 2 =Sabas Pretelt
|Interior start 2 = 2003
|Interior end 2 = 2006
|Interior 3 =Carlos Holguín
|Interior start 3 = 2006
|Interior end 3 = 2008
|Interior 4 = Fabio Valencia
|Interior start 4 = 2008
|Interior end 4 = 2010
|Foreign Affairs =Carolina Barco
|Foreign Affairs start = 2002
|Foreign Affairs end = 2006
|Foreign Affairs 2 = María Consuelo Araújo
|Foreign Affairs start 2 = 2006
|Foreign Affairs end 2 = 2007
|Foreign Affairs 3 = Fernando Araújo
|Foreign Affairs start 3 = 2007
|Foreign Affairs end 3 = 2008
|Foreign Affairs 4 = Jaime Bermúdez
|Foreign Affairs start 4 = 2008
|Foreign Affairs end 4 = 2010
|Finance = Roberto Junguito
|Finance start = 2002
|Finance end = 2003
|Finance 2 = Alberto Carrasquilla
|Finance start 2 = 2003
|Finance end 2 = 2007
|Finance 3 = Óscar Iván Zuluaga
|Finance start 3 = 2007
|Finance end 3 = 2010
|Defense = Marta Lucía Ramírez
|Defense start = 2002
|Defense end = 2003
|Defense 2 = Jorge Alberto Uribe
|Defense start 2 = 2003
|Defense end 2 = 2005
|Defense 3 = Camilo Ospina Bernal
|Defense start 3 = 2005
|Defense end 3 = 2006
|Defense 4 = Juan Manuel Santos
|Defense start 4 = 2006
|Defense end 4 = 2009
|Defense 5 = Freddy Padilla de León
|Defense start 5 = 2009
|Defense end 5 = 2009
|Defense 6 = Gabriel Silva Luján
|Defense start 6 = 2009
|Defense end 6 = 2010
|Agriculture = Carlos Gustavo Cano
|Agriculture start = 2002
|Agriculture end = 2005
|Agriculture 2 = Andrés Felipe Arias
|Agriculture start 2 = 2005
|Agriculture end 2 = 2009
|Agriculture 3 = Andrés Fernández Acosta
|Agriculture start 3 = 2009
|Agriculture end 3 = 2010
|Labour = Juan Luis Londoño
|Labour start = 2002
|Labour end = 2003
|Labour 2 = Diego Palacio
|Labour start 2 = 2003
|Labour end 2 = 2010
|Energy = Luis Ernesto Mejía
|Energy start = 2002
|Energy end = 2006
|Energy 2 = Hernán Martínez
|Energy start 2 = 2006
|Energy end 2 = 2010
|Commerce = Jorge Humberto Botero
|Commerce start = 2002
|Commerce end = 2007
|Commerce 2 = Luis Guillermo Plata
|Commerce start 2 = 2007
|Commerce end 2 = 2010
|Education = Cecilia María Vélez
|Education start = 2002
|Education end = 2010
|Environment = Cecilia Rodríguez
|Environment start = 2022
|Environment end = 2006
|Environment 2 = Juan Lozano Ramírez
|Environment start 2 = 2006
|Environment end 2 = 2009
|Telecommunications = Martha Pinto de Hart
|Telecommunications start = 2002
|Telecommunications end = 2006
|Telecommunications 2 = María del Rosario Guerra
|Telecommunications start 2 = 2006
|Telecommunications end 2 =2010
|Telecommunications 3 = Daniel Medina
|Telecommunications start 3 = 2010
|Telecommunications end 3 = 2010
|Transport = Andrés Uriel Gallego
|Transport start = 2002
|Transport end = 2010
|Culture = Paula Moreno
|Culture start = 2007
|Culture end = 2010
}}
Domestic policy
=Security=
As president, Uribe promoted his democratic security policy (PSD) centered on two axes.{{cite web|access-date=3 January 2017|date=18 September 2005|title=Seguridad democrática|url=http://www.semana.com/on-line/articulo/seguridad-democratica/67637-3|website=Semana}} On the one hand, in recovering control of the territory from the State with the creation of high mountain battalions, of peasant soldier platoons, which they accompanied the National Police in several municipalities, cooperation networks and the offer of rewards to informants. On the other, in attacking the rear guards of the guerrillas.
The PSD included an increase in the budget assigned to national defense; the increase in the force foot, the creation and endowment of new operational units, the purchase of airplanes and helicopters, and the arrival in urban centers with National Police stations; the professionalization and strengthening of the public force, the creation of joint commands, the Headquarters of joint special operations and elite groups of police and army; the increase and strengthening of intelligence, among others.{{cite web|access-date=11 December 2014|author=Razón Pública|title=Lo bueno, lo malo y lo feo de la Seguridad Democrática|url=http://www.razonpublica.com/index.php/politica-y-gobierno-temas-27/1190-lo-bueno-lo-malo-y-lo-feo-de-la-seguridad-democratica.html}} In addition, Uribe consolidated an alliance with the United States so that the Colombian conflict was included in the war against terrorism, led by US President George W. Bush. Likewise, in October 2002, Uribe suggested creating a contingent of Colombian blue helmets to provide security to displaced persons in Colombia and help them return to their original homes.{{cite news|access-date=3 January 2017|date=4 October 2002|periodical=El Universo|title=Uribe quiere cascos azules colombianos|url=http://www.eluniverso.com/2002/10/04/0001/14/32420E9023B14FF98384FB030015A38E.html}}
However, in 2003 the Uribe government was criticized for the frustrated rescue attempt of a group of hostages in the hands of the FARC-EP, who, upon noticing the operation, executed the hostages; the governor of Antioquia, Guillermo Gaviria; former Defense Minister Gilberto Echeverri and eight soldiers.{{cite news|access-date=3 January 2017|date=7 May 2003|periodical=La Nación|title=Críticas a Uribe por el fallido rescate|url=http://www.lanacion.com.ar/494258-criticas-a-uribe-por-el-fallido-rescate}} Military operations in urban centers were also criticized, such as Operation Orión in 2002 in Comuna 13 in Medellín, which left several people missing.{{cite news|access-date=23 October 2015|date=17 October 2002|periodical=El Tiempo|title=Batalla campal en Medellín|url=http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-1365924}}{{cite web|access-date=23 October 2015|date=15 October 2015|title=La foto que destapó los desmanes de la operación Orión|url=http://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/la-foto-que-dejo-al-descubierto-los-desmanes-de-la-operacion-orion/438656-3|website=Semana}}
Continuing with the PSD, in mid-2003, Uribe moved to the department of Arauca, after serious public order problems arose due to the violence and poverty in the area. The border region with Venezuela was affected by the FARC-EP and the paramilitaries of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). Uribe governed as president together with his ministers from the city of Arauca.{{cite news|access-date=3 January 2017|date=1 September 2003|periodical=BBC|title=Colombia: Uribe gobierna en Cúcuta|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/latin_america/newsid_3199000/3199633.stm}} On September 1 of the same year, Uribe also had to travel to the city of Cúcuta for reasons of public order. In addition to the FARC-EP and the AUC, the ELN also had a presence in the border area with Venezuela. In March 2003, a vehicle loaded with explosives had exploded in Cúcuta, leaving 13 dead and more than 60 injured.
A balance on Uribe's first year as president presented by the Colombian Military Forces, the fight against the guerrillas showed positive results with 1,943 deaths and 8,109 detainees, all this in 1,630 combats fought with the army since August 2002.{{cite news|access-date=3 January 2017|date=6 August 2003|periodical=BBC|title=Operativos militares: 365 días|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/latin_america/newsid_3128000/3128481.stm}} However, various organizations released a book called "The Authoritarian Haunt". The report claimed that Uribe had broken his promises made in the presidential campaign and his policies were violating International Humanitarian Law (IHL).{{cite news|access-date=3 January 2017|date=9 September 2003|first=Latorre|last=Héctor|periodical=BBC|title=Colombia/Uribe: críticas de DDHH|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/latin_america/newsid_3092000/3092222.stm}} Uribe responded to his detractors by classifying them into three types "... theoretical critics that we respect but do not share his thesis of weakness. Some serious human rights organizations, which we respect and welcome, with which we will maintain a permanent dialogue to improve what needs to be improved... some human rights traffickers who should remove their mask once and for all, appear with their political ideas and stop that cowardice of hiding their political ideas behind human rights. Uribe described the latter as collaborators of the terrorists who used human rights for their purposes.
In this context several attacks against Uribe were presented. The first of these, attributed to the FARC-EP, occurred in February 2003 when a charge of dynamite exploded in Neiva at the time when police officers and the Prosecutor's Office carried out a security operation prior to Uribe's arrival at that city, leaving 18 dead and 45 injured as a result.{{cite news|access-date=3 January 2017|date=13 February 2009|periodical=El Tiempo|title=Se cumplen seis años del atentado de Villa Magdalena en Neiva|url=http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-4815303}} This did not prevent kidnappings from 2,986 to 800 per year during his first presidency; homicides fell by 40.6 percent and the number of terrorist attacks, 62.5 percent; Assaults on towns went from 32 in 2002 to 5 in 2005.
=Paramilitarism=
As part of democratic security, during Uribe's term he sought to negotiate with illegal groups such as the FARC-EP, the ELN and the AUC. The dialogues with the FARC-EP and the ELN did not have major consequences in the political field, but an increase in the desertion of those groups outside the law was seen, partly due to the demobilization policy. Negotiations with the leaders of said organizations were carried out with the AUC, which led to the process of demobilization of paramilitaries in Colombia, which was questioned by several critics who feared that the conditions were not sufficient to prevent a degree of impunity from existing around matters such as crimes against humanity or drug trafficking,{{cite web|access-date=23 October 2015|title=¿Qué tanto ha funcionado Justicia y Paz?|url=http://www.semana.com/nacion/conflicto-armado/articulo/que-tanto-ha-funcionado-justicia-paz/112945-3|website=www.semana.com}} as well as reparation for victims.{{cite web|access-date=3 January 2017|date=8 November 2015|title=Las amargas lecciones que dejó la desmovilización de las Auc|url=http://www.verdadabierta.com/justicia-y-paz/10-anos-de-justicia-y-paz/6061-las-amargas-lecciones-que-dejo-la-desmovilizacion-de-las-auc|website=Verdad Abierta}}
In June 2005, Clara López, leader of the Polo Democrático Alternativo (PDA) denounced the alleged links of congressmen with the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), after the statement by Salvatore Mancuso in which he stated that 35 percent of the Congress of the Republic of Colombia were friends of his organization.{{cite news|access-date=3 January 2017|date=20 February 2007|periodical=El País|title=El escándalo de la 'parapolítica' en Colombia|url=http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2007/02/20/actualidad/1171926006_850215.html}} From that moment on, a series of investigations were unleashed in Colombia that compromised various political allies and some officials of the Uribe government with illegal Colombian paramilitary groups in what was called the "Parapolitics". According to the investigations, several political leaders would have benefited from these alliances through intimidation and armed action by paramilitary groups against the civilian population; some would have presumably reached positions in mayors' offices, councils, municipal assemblies and governorships, as well as in the Congress of the Republic and other higher state bodies. At the same time, some of the politicians and officials from their posts would have diverted money for the financing and formation of illegal armed groups and would have leaked information to facilitate and benefit the actions of these groups, which include massacres, selective assassinations, forced displacements and other criminal actions.{{cite news|access-date=3 January 2017|date=11 November 2006|periodical=Semana|title=Las pruebas hablan por sí solas|url=http://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/las-pruebas-hablan-si-solas/81948-3}}
At the same time, during Uribe's term there were notable acts of massacres and forced disappearances by paramilitary groups, for which his government was accused several times of having been "soft" with the paramilitaries because this favored the fight against the guerrilla groups.{{cite news|access-date=23 October 2015|archive-date=26 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151126122814/http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-1573513|date=21 May 2004|first=Alfredo|last=Rangel|periodical=El Tiempo|title=O los paramilitares o la seguridad democrática|url=http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-1573513}} Uribe considered for his part that the demobilization of the AUC led the entire leadership of said organization to jail.{{cite news|access-date=3 January 2017|archive-date=5 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170105000132/http://www.ar.terra.com/terramagazine/interna/0,,OI1818609-EI8868,00.html|date=8 August 2007|first=Iván|last=Cruz|periodical=Magazine|publisher=Terra Networks|title=Álvaro Uribe: "Mi gobierno ha desmontado el paramilitarismo"|url=http://www.ar.terra.com/terramagazine/interna/0,,OI1818609-EI8868,00.html}}
According to researchers from the Javeriana University, analyzing the right to compliance with judicial truth consigned in the Santa Fe de Ralito Agreement, they found that the quality of this factor was low at 44%, medium at 55% and high at 1%. Up to now, it has been an instrument with few guarantees of truth, justice, reparation and non-repetition by the AUC.{{cite news|access-date=22 February 2021|agency=Pesquisa Javeriana|first1=Juan Sebastian|last1=Salazar|title=Las verdades de Justicia y Paz|url=https://www.javeriana.edu.co/pesquisa/las-verdades-de-justicia-y-paz/}}
=Economy=
According to figures consigned in the 2005 balance of the National Development Plan, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 5.75 percent and the unemployment rate went from 15.7 to 11.8
In August 2002, the Uribe government imposed as a measure to finance the armed conflict in Colombia the wealth tax to "address the necessary expenses to attend to democratic security",{{cite web|access-date=27 November 2017|author=Presidencia de la República de Colombia|title=Decreto Presidencial 1828 del 11 de agosto de 2002|url=https://www.icesi.edu.co/cienfi/images/stories/pdf/decreto_1838_2002.pdf}} determining that the taxpayers of the tax would be all income taxpayers with net worth of more than 169.5 million Colombian pesos at the time. The rate of said tax was 1.2%, being collected only once (in four installments). The collection reached 2.52 trillion pesos, including voluntary contributions, totaling 315,338 people, between companies and individuals.{{cite news|access-date=4 January 2017|date=7 July 2006|periodical=Portafolio|title=Con nuevo impuesto de guerra se espera recaudar 3 billones de pesos en dos años|url=http://www.portafolio.co/economia/finanzas/nuevo-impuesto-guerra-espera-recaudar-billones-pesos-dos-anos-231098}}
On the other hand, to promote the tourism industry, the Uribe government organized tourist routes protected by public forces. The initiative was led by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism in alliance with the National Army, the National Police and the Ministry of Transportation. These routes were called "Las Caravanas Vive Colombia" as part of the democratic security program proposed by Uribe.{{cite web|access-date=3 January 2017|archive-date=4 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104235533/http://www.mincit.gov.co/mincomercioexterior/publicaciones.php?id=10834&dPrint=1|date=11 April 2004|title=Caravanas turísticas, Vive Colombia|url=http://www.mincit.gov.co/mincomercioexterior/publicaciones.php?id=10834&dPrint=1|website=Ministerio de Comercio, Industria y Turismo de Colombia}}
=Agriculture=
During Uribe's second term, more than 316,000 peasant producer families were beneficiaries of the Agro Ingreso Seguro (AIS) program.{{cite news|access-date=9 February 2015|agency=Instituro Colombiano Agropecuario|date=25 September 2009|location=Colombia|title=316.000 familias beneficiadas con Agro Ingreso Seguro|url=http://www.ica.gov.co/Noticias/Agricola-y-Pecuaria/2009/316-000-familias-beneficiadas-con-Agro-Ingreso-Seg.aspx}} However, in October 2008 a scandal broke out when the magazine Cambio denounced that the AIS had given subsidies to borrowers, among them they Mario Uribe, the president's cousin.{{cite web|access-date=17 November 2016|date=6 November 2009|first=Juan Diego|last=Restrepo|title=Hasta Mario Uribe se benefició con Agro Ingreso Seguro|url=http://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/hasta-mario-uribe-beneficio-agro-ingreso-seguro/109505-3|website=Semana}} Other beneficiaries gave money to uribista initiatives; 45 contributors to the 2002 presidential campaign and 10 to the campaign of the failed referendum for Uribe's third re-election.{{cite web|access-date=9 February 2016|quote=Lista de beneficiarios AIS que aportaron a campaña de Uribe 2002 y al referendo|title=Estos son los 51 beneficiarios de Agro Ingreso Seguro que aportaron a campañas de Uribe|url=http://lasillavacia.com/historia/5033|website=La Silla Vacía}} This led the Colombian government to try to obtain the return of money from AIS in 2009.{{cite news|access-date=22 July 2015|agency=El Espectador|archive-date=17 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091217111459/http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/politica/articulo165534-gobierno-ordena-devolucion-de-dineros-de-agro-ingreso-seguro|date=8 November 2009|title=Gobierno ordena devolución de dineros de Agro Ingreso Seguro|url=http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/politica/articulo165534-gobierno-ordena-devolucion-de-dineros-de-agro-ingreso-seguro}}
As a consequence of the embezzlement, the then Minister of Agriculture Andrés Felipe Arias, Uribe's possible political successor as a candidate for the presidency, was investigated by the attorney general's office, which disqualified him from holding public office for 16 years.{{cite web|access-date=9 February 2016|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924145459/http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/temadeldia/destituido-andres-felipe-arias-articulo-285724|url-status=dead|title=Destituido Andrés Felipe Arias|url=http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/temadeldia/destituido-andres-felipe-arias-articulo-285724|website=El Espectador}}{{cite web|access-date=9 February 2016|title=Andrés Felipe Arias: del esplendor a la condena|url=http://www.semana.com/gente/articulo/andres-felipe-arias-del-esplendor-la-condena/394247-3|website=Semana}} He was subsequently arrested and accused of the crimes of embezzlement for appropriation in favor of third parties and entering into contracts without complying with legal requirements.{{cite web|access-date=9 February 2016|title=¿Por qué Andrés Felipe Arias terminó en la cárcel?|url=http://www.elheraldo.co/nacional/por-qu-andr-s-felipe-arias-termin-en-la-c-rcel-31599|website=El Heraldo (Colombia)}} The Superior Court of Bogotá initially ordered his arrest in 2011, however in 2013 he was granted provisional release while he was advancing his trial.{{cite web|access-date=9 February 2016|title=Andrés Felipe Arias recobra su libertad|url=http://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/andres-felipe-arias-recobra-su-libertad/346368-3|website=Semana}} He was later sentenced by the Supreme Court of Justice to 17 years in prison and to pay a fine of 30,800 million pesos.70 Initially he fled as a fugitive from justice in the United States{{cite web|access-date=9 February 2016|title=Corte condena a Arias a 17 años de cárcel; está prófugo en EE. UU.|url=http://www.eltiempo.com/politica/justicia/condena-a-andres-felipe-arias-por-agro-ingreso-seguro/14260975|website=El Tiempo}} where he was arrested by federal authorities in compliance with a red notice from Interpol. Uribe's former minister tried to request political asylum arguing that he was the victim of political persecution and that he could be a victim of torture, but his allegations were rejected by a federal judge and he was later extradited to Colombia. Upon his return to Colombia, his image was publicly hidden and despite being convicted of corruption, he was housed in a private home on a military base, receiving privileged treatment. The Government of Iván Duque in line with Uribe has allowed the former minister to leave his prison and enjoy special privileges while requesting his formal acquittal in court.{{cite web|access-date=2021-05-26|date=2019-07-12|language=es|last=Semana|title=Andrés Felipe Arias extraditado. ¿Y ahora qué viene?|url=https://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/andres-felipe-arias-es-extraditado-desde-estados-unidos/622690/|website=Semana.com Últimas Noticias de Colombia y el Mundo}}{{cite web|title=Mientras a los presos de la modelo los matan, Arias está aislado y protegido del Coronavirus|url=https://www.las2orillas.co/mientras-a-los-presos-de-la-modelo-los-matan-arias-esta-aislado-y-protegido-del-coronavirus/}}
=Judiciary=
Relations between the executive and judicial branches during the Uribe government, and particularly with the Supreme Court of Justice, were tense, especially in his second term. The two powers have accused each other of conspiracy, especially as a result of the Parapolitics scandal, the Yidispolítica scandal and the non-election of the attorney general by the High Courts from the shortlist sent by the President of the Republic, according to the Political Constitution.{{cite web|access-date=12 December 2014|author=El País|title=Se agudiza conflicto entre Gobierno y Cortes por terna para Fiscal|url=http://historico.elpais.com.co/paisonline/notas/Noviembre252009/conflictogobiernocorte.html}}{{cite web|access-date=12 December 2014|author=Caracol Radio|title=Uribe admite roces con el poder judicial|url=http://www.caracol.com.co/noticias/actualidad/uribe-admite-roces-con-el-poder-judicial/20071017/nota/494747.aspx}}
Foreign affairs
In January 2003, Uribe gave statements to Caracol Radio where he asked the United States to make a military deployment in Colombia, "equivalent to the one being prepared in the Persian Gulf," he mentioned in relation to the Iraq War.{{cite news|access-date=4 January 2017|date=16 January 2003|periodical=El País|title=Uribe pide un despliegue militar de EE UU en Colombia como en Irak|url=http://elpais.com/diario/2003/01/16/internacional/1042671619_850215.html}} In March, Uribe decided support as a representative of Colombia the invasion of Iraq.
Regarding the United Nations Organization (UN), in December 2002 Colombia was selected to preside over the Security Council.{{cite news|access-date=4 January 2017|archive-date=23 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161023233810/http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-1330226|date=1 December 2002|first=Rodrigo|last=Pardo|periodical=El Tiempo|title=A qué viene Colin Powell|url=http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-1330226}}
Political relations with Venezuela were initially cordial, although they deteriorated at times due to the traditional border conflict in the Gulf of Venezuela. Uribe's support for Bush and policies such as Democratic Security were seen by supporters of Hugo Chávez's government and himself as a threat to the Bolivarian Revolution.{{cite web|access-date=12 December 2014|author=Libertad Digital|title=Chávez-Uribe: cruce de insultos|url=http://www.libertaddigital.com/mundo/2012-08-16/chavez-uribe-cruce-de-insultos-1276466175/}}
One of the most tense situations arose as a result of the Rodrigo Granda case. But in 2007 relations between the two presidents deteriorated definitively after Uribe authorized Hugo Chávez's mediation in the Humanitarian Agreement and three months later interrupted said mediation. This incident caused a verbal confrontation between the leaders through statements and public statements that ended up undermining relations that had been cordial until now.{{cite web|access-date=18 December 2007|archive-date=3 December 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203143655/http://www.elpais.com.co/paisonline/notas/Noviembre262007/round.html|title="Round" verbal entre Uribe y Chávez|url=http://www.elpais.com.co/paisonline/notas/Noviembre262007/round.html}}
In 2008, relations with the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, deteriorated due to Operation Fénix, an incursion of the Colombian Military Forces into Ecuadorian territory, in which the FARC-EP commander alias "Raúl" was killed. Reyes" and ties of said organization with members of various international governments were found in the computers of Raúl Reyes.{{cite web|access-date=17 November 2016|date=22 May 2011|title=Uribe utilizó archivos de 'Raúl Reyes' para vincular a Chávez y Correa con las FARC|url=http://www.elmundo.es/america/2011/05/22/colombia/1306097797.html|website=El Mundo}}
On other issues, his government has kept out of the position of the United States, among them by maintaining bilateral relations with Cuba and not supporting motions against that nation at the UN.{{cite web|access-date=17 November 2016|date=27 October 2009|title=¿La votación de la ONU condenará el bloqueo contra Cuba o a Obama?|url=http://www.cubadebate.cu/noticias/2009/10/27/votacion-onu-condenara-bloqueo-obama/#.WC3kjfrLc1I|website=Cubadebate}}{{cite web|access-date=17 November 2016|date=5 November 2009|first=Ravsberg|last=Fernando|title=La soledad del Nobel|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/mundo/cartas_desde_cuba/2009/11/la_soledad_del_nobel.html|website=BBC}}