Doubts loom over Colombia peace deal
Walter Bahr
When Walter Bahr walked off the field in Brazil after the famous United States victory over England at the 1950 World Cup, he didn’t expect to become a soccer celebrity.
Known for many years as the father of two NFL placekickers, Bahr regained prominence in his own right when the Americans returned to soccer’s showcase in 1990 after a 40-year-absence.
The last living player from that 1950 team, Bahr died Monday in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, at age 91, according to granddaughter Lindsey D. Bahr, a film writer for The Associated Press. His death was caused by complications that resulted from a broken hip.
A team of soccer unknowns, the U.S. won 1-0 over an England side that included Alf Ramsey and Tom Finney, who earned knighthoods.
BOGOTA, Colombia — Uncertainty loomed over Colombia’s fragile peace deal on Monday with the victory of one of its most hawkish critics in a bruising presidential runoff that laid bare deep divisions in the South American nation as it emerges from decades of bloody conflict.
Ivan Duque, a law-andorder disciple of a powerful former president, won Sunday’s vote with a commanding 12-point lead over rival Gustavo Petro, a former rebel and ex-Bogota mayor.
On the campaign trail, Duque repeatedly vowed to roll back benefits inscribed in the deal, such as demanding that rebel commanders behind scores of atrocities first confess to their war crimes and compensate victims before they are allowed to take up the congressional seats they have been promised in the accord.
But once he takes office in August from the peace deal’s architect, President Juan Manuel Santos, Duque is likely to tread softer if he wants to broaden his base of support and unite the country, analysts said.
“Ironically, he has a chance to make the accords stronger by providing something the peace process has lacked from the outset: a national consensus,” said Michael Shifter, a longtime observer of Colombia and president of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington.
This year’s elections were the safest in generations, a testament to how far the country has already come in putting Latin America’s longest-running conflict behind it. Not a single act of violence affected the campaign.
In the final stretch before the vote, as victory seemed within reach, the pro-business Duque was already moderating some of his proposals, including a call to overturn a negotiated amnesty for rebels involved in drug trafficking. He also stressed that rank- that refers all cases of illegal entry for criminal prosecution. U.S. protocol prohibits detaining children with their parents because the children are not charged with a crime and the parents are.
Nielsen said that releasing parents with their children amounts to a “get out of jail free card” policy for those in the country illegally.
Speaking at the same conference, Sessions echoed Nielsen’s defense of the policy, and called on Congress to act.
“We do not want to separate parents from their children,” Sessions said. “If we build the wall, if we pass legislation to end the lawlessness, we won’t face these terrible choices.”
Trump asserted Monday that children “are being used by some of the worst criminals on earth” as a way to enter the United States. He tweeted: “Has anyone been looking at the Crime taking place south of the border,” calling it “historic.”
Criticism is rising from both sides of the political aisle. In a guest column for The Washington Post Sunday, Mrs. Bush made some of the strongest comments yet from a Republican. and-file guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia would have his full support in making their transition to civilian life.
While Santos didn’t endorse any candidate and has feuded with Duque’s mentor, former President Alvaro Uribe, throughout his eight years in
“I live in a border state. I appreciate the need to enforce and protect our international boundaries, but this zero-tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral. And it breaks my heart,” she wrote. She compared it to the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, which she called “one of the most shameful episodes in U.S. history.”
Underscoring the emotional tension, first lady Melania Trump, who has tended to stay out of contentious policy debates, waded into the issue. Her spokeswoman said that Mrs. Trump believes “we need to be a country that follows all laws,” but also one “that governs with heart.”
“Mrs. Trump hates to see children separated from their families and hopes both sides of the aisle can finally come together to achieve successful immigration reform,” spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said.
The signs of splintering GOP support are spreading.
The Rev. Franklin Graham, a longtime Trump ally, called the policy “disgraceful.” Several religious groups, including some conservative ones, have pushed to stop the practice of separating immigrant office, two of Santos’ advisers on the peace process have quietly migrated to the Duque camp in recent months, which is likely to make for a smoother transition.
“This is the opportunity that we have been waiting for,” the 41-year-old Duque said in his victory speech, playing up his youth — he is the youngest Colombian president ever elected in a popular vote — and pledging “to turn the page on the politics of polarization, insults and venom.”
His biggest challenge will be reining in the pressure from conservative allies. As a senator Duque earned a reputation for being a thoughtful, cordial adversary who frequently stretched his hand across the aisle, but some of his prominent backers are outright hostile to the FARC. Hours after his victory, congresswoman Maria Fernanda Cabal blasted on social media: “The FARC lost. Colombia won!”
One unknown is how much influence Uribe will wield. Duque was elected to Colombia’s Senate in 2014 barely two months after returning to Colombia from Washington, where he had worked for more than a decade at a development bank, thanks to Uribe’s endorsement. Throughout his presidential campaign, he was dogged by accusations that he would be little more than a puppet for Uribe, who is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term. Though praised for weakening the FARC and drawing record foreign investment, Uribe has also been blamed for the military’s killing of thousands of civilians who were falsely accused of being rebels.