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| Uribe, left, is trying to wring out a free trade deal from the Obama administration [GALLO/GETTY] |
Time is running out for Alvaro Uribe, the Colombian president.
With the recent decision by the Colombian senate to delay a vote on a referendum to allow him an unprecedented third term in office, Uribe could be facing the last 11 months of his presidential career.
Now he has met Barack Obama, the US president, as part of an effort to seal a controversial free trade deal with Washington.
After talks with Uribe at the White House, Obama said that progress on a free trade accord was being made, while emphasising that there is still a long way to go before an agreement can be reached.
Trophy for legacy
But a free trade pact would be an international trophy that would burnish Uribe's legacy, recently tarnished by a series of political scandals which include claims that the Colombian intelligence agency illegally spied on journalists, judges and politicians.
The Colombian leader had reason to believe that his visit to Washington to cement a free trade accord would be met with support – at the White House at least.
Colombia ended up being a source of humiliation for George Bush, the former US president.
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Uribe's success in freeing Betancourt from Farc has been overshadowed by scandals [AFP]
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After Obama held his first post-election meeting with Bush, the Obama camp leaked information that Bush had made a bailout of the US car industry conditional on Obama's support for the US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.
The leak appeared to show that Bush had put policy goals above the well-being of US workers.
During the US presidential race, there had been fierce competition among the Democratic candidates over who would best defend the rights of US workers.
All trade deals were suspect, they said, while highlighting Colombia's poor human rights record.
Candidate Obama's language earned a rebuke from Uribe, who accused him of using Colombia as a straw man in his campaign for the US presidency.
But now Obama is in the White House, the tone of his administration towards both free trade and Colombia is much softer.
As President Obama is fond of saying, his administration prefers to look forward rather than back.
'Unusual relationship'
Uribe is the third Latin American leader to visit the Obama White House, and the first outside of the "crimson tide" that has swept the region and brought left-wing governments to power.
Despite the warm words from the White House, however, Obama and Uribe make an odd couple.
It is hard not to see Uribe's style as anachronistic, with a governing philosophy that is far closer to the previous US administration than the current one.
As Colombians have discovered, the principle of "democratic security", the collective noun for Uribe's policies, could easily be translated as "you are either with us or against us".
The state security services have been used to spy on everyone from judges to journalists to opposition politicians. Human rights groups have been labelled "terrorists".
It is the sort of uncompromising approach that Obama addressed in his inauguration speech, when he spoke of the false choice between "safety" and "ideals".
Security scandal
Uribe has led a punishing campaign against left-wing rebels, winning widespread domestic popularity.
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| Colombia's military has been accused of killing civilians to inflate rebel body counts [AFP] |
But his military successes have been accompanied by a series of scandals that have damaged Colombia's international standing.
The dramatic rescue of French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) has been eclipsed by the gruesome revelation of the "false positive" - a phrase used to describe the programme of murdering civilians and then dressing them up as rebel fighters, all with the goal of increasing body counts.
Much like his former ally Bush, Uribe has seriously damaged his credibility overseas. While he is still officially welcome in North American capitals, he also attracts loud opposition.
This has been very bad for business.
While Obama, in his newfound enthusiasm for trade, appears willing to overlook the many scandals that surround Uribe, the trade unions and their congressional allies will not be so forgiving.
They could ensure that any trade deal withers on the vine, in the knowledge that Obama needs their support for the success of his ambitious legislative agenda.
And Uribe may not be able to escape personal responsibility for the failure to achieve either a Canadian or a US trade deal.
Even a friendly reception at the White House may turn out to be nothing more than a "false positive".
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