Explaining Brazil #121: The end of an era in Colombia

Uribe opponent writing sign against former President. Photo: Sebastian Barros/Shutterstock

This week’s episode, The Al Capone of Colombia, was supported by AMEC, the Brazilian Association of Investors in Capital Markets. AMEC brings together around 60 institutional investors from Brazil and abroad — which have a combined portfolio of over USD 130 billion.

It also had the support of AirYourVoice.com, a platform that offers an SEO Mastery course which will make your company’s website the top-ranked in your field, in no time at all.

Arguably the most powerful politician in Colombia, former President Álvaro Uribe has faced countless accusations of human rights violations and links to paramilitary groups. But just like Chicago gangster Al Capone was nailed for tax evasion, Uribe’s downfall might actually come from a case involving fraud and witness tampering — which led to the country’s Supreme Court placing him under house arrest earlier this month.

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On this episode:

Sebastián Ronderos is a Ph.D. student in Ideology and Discourse Analysis at the University of Essex. He holds a master’s degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Granada, further specializing in Conflict Resolution at the Pontifical Xavierian University, in Sociology at the School of Sociology and Politics of São Paulo, and in Comparative Politics at the University of Lisbon. He studied Politics at the University of the Andes.

Background reading:

According to Lucas Berti, the arrest order against former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe could spell the end of Uribismo, one of the strongest political forces in Colombia.
The Colombian army has been hit by criticism from all sides, but lurking threats from guerrilla groups make them a “necessary evil” to some sectors of the political spectrum.
The pandemic has made Colombians disgruntled with their government, and that has helped accelerate the downfall of Uribismo. Natália Scarabotto writes on the future of health systems in Latin America.
Listen to Episode #83, on a wave of protests that erupted in Latin America in 2019.
Colombia shows how vulnerable emergent economies are to external shocks when they fail to do their homework and push for reform, writes Natália Scalzaretto.

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