Colombian Update : Anti Corruption Referendum : Time To Change The Tyre + Venezuela

BIG WEEKEND AHEAD

This coming weekend the Colombian populace will once again be at the polls and once again no doubt many won’t bother to turn up and vote. This time around they are being asked to vote on arguably the biggest problem that currently afflicts Colombia and that is corruption - sadly it is one of the areas where globally the country sits near the top or the bottom of the league, whichever way you want to look at it. Whilst the issue is nationwide the referendum is largely aimed at those sitting in Congress and the Senate who over the past couple of years in approval polls have found themselves in to be one of the least popular institutions in the country - only the FARC and Nicholas Maduro usually poll lower and for good reason. That said all levels of Government included municipalities and states would come under much closer scrutiny if the vote is successful. President Duque is backing the referendum (although the main opponents are from the same CD party) and has stated that he would like to reduce the number of Congress members by 100, that would be no more that a start in the opinion of many who see a Congress jam packed with people who are completely under-prepared or unfit to hold office - the question is whether those same people who are so angry at what they see can be bothered to walk down to the polling centres - and those numbers matter a great deal. According to the rules set by the Senate one third of those entitled to vote have to be there on Sunday or the whole process will be deemed invalid, that equates to 12,231.314 people and for the 7 points (we will get to them) to be passed into law each has to receive 6,130,000 votes in favor. To put that simply in a country where the approval level of Congress sits at around 12% and where corruption is viewed as one of, if not the, biggest problem only 16.5% of the populous have to vote for each point in order for things to change. In order to pass each point there needs to be a 50%+1 vote which is the same for the overall vote. There are only seven questions and I will give you the abridged version because if Question 6 is anything to go by people may be in the voting booths for some period of time : “Do you approve of forcing all elected by popular vote to make public to scrutiny of the citizenship their statements of assets, assets, income, tax payments and conflicts of interest, as a requirement to take office and exercise office; Incorporating the power to initiate ex officio criminal investigations and apply the domain extinction to the chosen person and their potential network such as their spouse, permanent companion, to their blood relatives, to a 4th level, second of affinity and first civil, already your partners and in-laws ?” So here is the skinny, low fat, de-caffeinated version ;

1. Reduce salaries by 37.5% - here the issue is not the $120,000 annual salary (+ huge benefits) but the fact that they earn up to 40x the minimum salary which causes huge consternation.

2. Those convicted of corruption would have to serve their full prison term (no early release) and that any companies involved in any offences related to said corruption are barred from being contracted by the state in the future.

3. All state tenders are to be open and transparent processes.

4. That the populace has a say in how the budgets of the cities and nation are spent and the priorities.(This is the one where I most have my doubts due to the vagaries of the question).

5. Members of Congress are subject to revision and discipline in terms of how many times they appear at the workplace and how many times they vote - there was the laughable situation last year where a vote was held on absenteeism and there weren’t enough members there to vote.

6. That elected officials have to make public their ownership in terms of bank accounts, property and other goods, not just for themselves but for family members - this could almost be called the Trump rule after his failure to declare taxes.

7. No more than three periods of 4 years in any public office, already the case in many positions.

LOGICAL ? Whilst the current state of the Congress and local elected bodies in Colombia would mean this being a landslide in most countries given the seemingly never ending investigations into politicians and officials at all levels the waters as ever are being muddied by both those who oppose the concept as well a the distribution of fake news via the social networks. In terms of the members of the Congress opposing the referendum they say that Congress themselves should be allowed to carry out the reforms - I am sure there is no need to explain the flaw in that strategy. Oddly enough (or not) we find politicians now opposing the vote who originally pre-election they were all in favour of the vote catching anti-corruption standpoint. When it comes to the fake news those opposed have spread the rumours that a vote in favour will also bring down the minimum salary or the wages of the military forces and that those who sponsored the vote will receive money for every person who vote - all total nonsense and some of those same sponsors actually sit in Congress and stand to lose a chunk of their salary. Anyway come August 26th we will find out just where then conscience of the Colombian people lies, it is sad that it has come to this but in the end the country has to try and change direction, billions of dollars annually are being stolen in a country that is struggling to pay its bills. On Sunday we will see three groups of voters.

1. Those who want changes, a better service from their representatives and oversight of what they do.

2. Those who somehow think the current status quo is acceptable.

3. Finally those who don’t bother getting out of bed on Sunday.

Between those it is hard to decide which of the second groups to be annoyed at, in short the current situation is totally unacceptable and has to change. As per the peace process it is not the perfect document however as per the peace process it is a start and a start is badly needed - corruption in Colombia is an open wound that will eventually see the country bleed out. In a less graphic sense it is the slow puncture in the tyre - you know it is there but you carry on anyway however you know that eventually you will come to a stop, it is time to change the tyre before it eventually damages the engine and chassis themselves. There is no place for party politics here as this is an issue that affects all. THE RIGHT WAY Finally for today over the weekend Ecuador closed its border to Venezuelans who had traversed Colombia in hope of a new life either temporary or permanently - the Ecuadorians are demanding to see passports as opposed to ID cards, regulations within the Andean region allow travel just on ID cards at present, or at least until now. Additionally Brazil are tinkering with the same idea amid reports of violence agaisnt those arriving form the north - all this at the same time a The Economist floated the idea that this could become a larger migration of humanity than Syria :

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2018/08/20/the-exodus-from-venezuela-threatens-to-descend-into-chaos?fsrc=scn/fb/te/bl/ed/ Venezuela during the troubles here never closed the border to fleeing Colombians and consequently there are millions now living (I use the term loosely given the situation) over the border in Busdriverlandia and whilst Colombia is now picking up the bill for the next door failed state and receiving the vast majority of those migrants hopefully they will never take the same shameful action that Ecuador is undertaking or which Brazil is considering.