A group of Democratic members of Congress sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, criticizing his stance questioning judicial independence in Colombia, in connection with the trial of former President Alvaro Uribe.
In the document, the Democrats demand that the top representative of U.S. diplomacy respect Colombia’s internal judicial processes and argue that no one should be above the law.
It should be recalled that the Trump administration has been highly critical of the trial in Colombia against former President Uribe, which is currently under appeal in a higher court, after he was convicted by a Bogota judge of procedural fraud and witness tampering.
US Democrats slam Secretary Rubio over Uribe trial in Colombia
A group of Democratic lawmakers from the United States sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, urging him to “end the attacks on the independence of the judicial system” in Colombia.
In the document, the legislators argue that “no one is above the law” and call for respect for the historic process that, after years of delays, resulted in a recent first-instance conviction of former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on two charges.
The letter was backed by Jim McGovern, chair of the House Human Rights Commission, Delia Ramirez, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Nydia Velazquez, Hank Johnson, and Jonathan Jackson, among others. In their arguments to Marco Rubio, the legislators state that “his July 28 statement runs counter to the principles of the rule of law, sovereignty, and judicial independence. The people of Colombia deserve better from the U.S. government.”
After Uribe’s conviction was announced, the U.S. Secretary of State questioned the independence of the Colombian judicial system, claiming that Uribe’s case was “a political trial.” But Rubio’s statement went further, as the top U.S. diplomat declared that the former Colombian president was a victim of “the instrumentalization of the judiciary by radical judges.”
US reports affirm Colombia’s judicial independence
In their letter, the Congress representatives also reminded Rubio of recent reports from the Department of State itself asserting that the Colombian judicial system is free and independent. In this regard, the document cites a 2023 report that stated “the law provided for an independent judiciary, and the government generally respected judicial independence and impartiality.”
Likewise, the signatories of the letter urged Rubio to “make clear that U.S. policy exempts no one, not even former presidents, from compliance with the rule of law.” In the lines they signed, they also stressed that Uribe’s conviction, which is currently under appeal in a higher court, “is not the result of the political agenda of a person or a party, but a reflection of the objective impartiality of Colombia’s judicial institutions.”
“The only crime of the former president has been to fight tirelessly for his country. The instrumentalization of the judiciary in Colombia by radical judges now sets a troubling precedent,” the Secretary of State wrote on his X account on July 28, after the ruling against former President Uribe became known.
The fact is that since his years in the Senate, representing Florida, Rubio has been close to the Latin American right in general, and the Colombian right in particular. In this sense, the current Secretary of State has built close ties with sectors of Uribismo, leading the group of politicians of Latin American origin who make up the most reactionary wing of U.S. policy in the region.
Alongside this political sector in Colombia, Rubio has been a defender of the “hardline” policy against drug trafficking, of the Free Trade Agreement with Colombia, and of a geopolitical vision that reinforces the traditional view of Colombia as a strategic ally in the region against governments hostile to U.S. interests.