Uribe’s Appearance Angers Affiliates

Students, department chairs, and other Harvard affiliates expressed outrage yesterday over a former Colombian president’s appearance here this week—even as Harvard insisted that Álvaro Uribe Vélez’s visit was in keeping with the University’s mission.

In a tersely worded letter sent to the University president and the Harvard Kennedy School dean yesterday, 42 Harvard affiliates protested Uribe’s appearance on Wednesday at a meeting hosted by the Kennedy School’s Center for International Development.

Uribe served as president of Colombia from 2002 to 2010. During his tenure, Uribe’s military repeatedly battled an insurgent peasant army called the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

“Mr. Uribe’s government has been shrouded in corruption scandals and diverse incidents of human rights violations that have affected the institutional and democratic order of the nation and its citizens in profound ways,” said the letter, which was co-drafted by María Ospina, a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. “We strongly reject Mr. Uribe’s presence at Harvard University as a privileged guest of a center that values democracy, good governance, and justice.”

Ospina argued that inviting Uribe to the Kennedy School is an endorsement of his tenure as president. Colombian officials are investigating Uribe for actions related to possible human rights violations, corruption, obstruction of justice, and espionage.

“We wanted to voice our protest and show our frustration at this invitation,” Ospina said.

But the Kennedy School, which also hosted Uribe in Sept. 2009 and garnered similar disapproval at the time, argued that Uribe’s visit—which included a Q-and-A session with about 40 students—was appropriate.

“One of the fundamental tenets of the Kennedy School and all American universities is a free exchange of ideas,” Kennedy School spokeswoman Melodie Jackson said in a statement. “In keeping with that educational mission, the Kennedy School has a long tradition of providing an opportunity for leaders from around the world to speak to and interact with the community on important public policy issues.”

The letter, addressed to University President Drew G. Faust, Kennedy School Dean David T. Ellwood ’75, and Kennedy School Professor Ricardo Hausmann, outlined ethical issues that have “tainted” Uribe’s legacy. It also mentioned 2010-2011 Nieman Fellow and Colombian journalist Hollman Morris Rincon, who was initially denied a visa this summer to study in the United States. Uribe’s successor, current Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, was also a Nieman fellow in 1988.

—Staff writer Xi Yu can be reached at xyu@college.harvard.edu.