Former Minister Andrés Felipe Arias is extradited to Colombia and the Uribismo-Opposition debate is on

Former Minister Andrés Felipe Arias is one of the most corrupt politicians in the administration of former President Uribe. Considered a confidant of the former Colombian ruler, he ended up in the United States trying to obtain political asylum, but until now, when the US government has denied him asylum, he proceeded with extradition and in Colombia the political environment has moved with this.

Uribismo in full has taken the request against Andrés Arias, who held the portfolio of Agriculture in the South American country, as a judicial persecution. From the opposition they argue that it is absurd that it is considered persecution when the current president Duque is a vox populi of the Uribista current and the process continues through legal channels.

Uribismo fears to see its image weakened

In a Colombia where the peace accords seem to be losing ground every day due to the murders of former guerrillas in civilian life, social leaders, plus the sequential murders of witnesses in the cases against former president Álvaro Uribe, the possible imprisonment of Arias would be one more brick in the heavy burden that weighs on Uribismo.

The images that a large sector of the country wanted to see of Arias being handcuffed when getting off the plane, were at the same time a latent fear in Uribismo. The defense of that current against the former minister was not just any matter, they practically took him as a banner to defend the entire movement from "unfounded attacks", hence the arrest of this former official would have harsh consequences of the current of Uribe.

The Court of Appeals in Atlanta was handling this case and, faced with pressure from the media and the weight of the case against Uribe's former minister, decided to leave the final decision in the hands of the State Department, thereby directly condemning Arias since this office had ruled on his extradition.

Andrés Arias arrived in Colombia escorted by US Marshals, who immediately left him in the hands of Colombian officials. However, photos of the moment of the arrival in Colombia of the former official were not allowed, which gave rise to many rumors, but today it is known that he is detained under the jurisdiction of the authorities to be tried for his corruption crimes.

Duke under pressure

While Uribe declares that he feels dismayed and pained by the prison that awaits Arias, mentioning that Santos lied during his mandate to obtain the conviction against Arias, Duque seems to bet on caution, knowing that it is known that he is part of Uribismo and always loyal, obedient to former president Uribe, Duque has chosen not to comment directly on the matter, for now.

This silence by Duque obviously annoys Colombian public opinion, who perceive an air of complicity in the current president, by not verbally condemning a corrupt man whose case has already covered ground, since the Colombian courts convicted him after escaping to 17 years in prison and a large fine of more than 30 billion.

Confronting Uribismo in a case that it has had as a great flag could corrode the bases of Duque, who is already being affected by the recent escape of Santrich, a former guerrilla leader. The peace agreements are faltering and everyone in Colombia is attentive to Duque's next statements.