April 28, 2014
Last week the Wall Street Journal interviewed Colombia’s president Juan Manual Santos and described his thoughts on the controversial ouster of Bogotá mayor Gustavo Petro:
Mr. Santos said he didn’t want to oust Mr. Petro, but he had to follow the law, even though it hurt him politically. He said he was ready to reinstate Mr. Petro if some judge ordered him to do so.
Well, lucky for Santos, he got his wish. The New York Times reported on April 23:
But a judge in Bogotá on Tuesday found that Mr. Santos had acted improperly when he ignored a request by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to suspend the ouster because it could violate the mayor’s rights.
“Some might like it and others not, but my obligation as president of the country is to obey the law and the rulings of judges,” Mr. Santos said, adding that he had no choice but to reinstate Mr. Petro.
All’s well that ends well? Perhaps not. On April 25, the Associated Press reported:
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos says he’ll appeal a court ruling that forced him to reinstate the capital’s mayor a month after the official was removed for administrative irregularities.
And why would he do such a thing, if he was indeed “ready to reinstate Mr. Petro if some judge ordered him to do so”, as “some judge” had in fact done? The AP explains:
Santos said Friday said that he will appeal the decision because it has put the government’s credibility at risk.
