The first presidential inauguration of Álvaro Uribe marked the first term of the presidency of Álvaro Uribe, an administration that would later be postponed for four more years. He was inaugurated one more time with Vice President Francisco Santos.

After the victory and his arduous presidential campaign, Uribe became the first president of Colombia in 50 years of history not to belong to any of the traditional political streams that had been running the nation,^[1] they are the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party.^[2]

Background

Álvaro Uribe, the former Liberal governor of Antioquia (1995-1997), entered the race as a strong opponent of the peace talks with the FARC, but originally suffered from low name recognition against other better-known candidates. Uribe declined to participate in a Liberal primary, citing the lack of guarantees, and instead launched an independent candidacy (by collecting signatures from voters to win ballot access) with the backing of the Colombia First (Primero Colombia) movement.^[3]

Uribe entered the field taking a hardline position against the peace talks with the FARC, arguing that peace talks should only be held following the cessation of hostilities and terrorist actions.^[4]

Ceremony

The ceremony began as usual at 3:00 pm local time, Álvaro Uribe in the company of his wife Lina and their sons Tomas and Jeronimo left the Palacio de San Carlos towards the Plaza de Bolivar where more than 200 guests and dignitaries from 11 awaited them.^[5] countries, in the same way minutes before Francisco Santos entered in the company of his wife, during his walk towards the Plaza de Bolívar he was escorted by the traditional pipers of the national army.^[6]

The presidential inauguration ceremony was sabotaged due to terrorism, by the FARC, Álvaro Uribe's main enemy, on the morning of August 7, 2002, just a few hours after the presidential inauguration, subversives launched 14 projectiles of 120 millimeters against the congress building, resulting in 17 and 64 injuries, which was described by public opinion as a sabotage.^[7]

A few days before, a car bomb had been detonated on the night of Saturday, August 5, in a financial and commercial area in the north of Bogotá. The DAS assured that the FARC intended to shoot down the helicopter in which Uribe was going to travel to attend the ceremony.^[8] of possession, which forced a large security coverage to be deployed, taking on August 6, one day before the possession, the decision that the event was closed to the public and that it would only be directed to international guests as well as to dignitaries who attended the inauguration event, this was the first time that a presidential inauguration event in Colombia was held privately, when the tradition had been formed as an event for the people where they used to shout slogans and listen to harangues by of the president-elect, The last rulers were sworn in in the Plaza de Bolívar, outdoors.^[9]

Inaugural address

In his inaugural speech, Uribe highlighted the idea of the challenge that the unifying bond of law, democratic authority, freedom and social justice means.^[10][11]

Let us resume the unifying bond of law, democratic authority, freedom and social justice.

We do not come to complain, we come to work.

The lives of two beings, dissimilar in mood, training and destiny, feed the origin of the Republic. One, the willful and rebellious from Caracas, an aristocrat from Mantua, raised by the tenderness of the black Hipólita, later educated by the freethinker Simón Rodríguez under the Rousseauian principles of individual freedom and self-discipline and who, trained as a cadet, will come very young to put his arm and his sword under the orders of the insubmissive people of Cartagena de Indias. The other, from Villa del Rosario de San José de Cúcuta in the Province of Pamplona, a diligent and precocious student, sent to the Colegio Seminario de San Bartolomé to be molded by the rigidity of the Jesuits, trained by them in the arduous exercises of jurisprudence. Later, still a teenager, he will join the people of Santa Fe in their fight for independence.

Bolívar and Santander prefigure our political identity as a Nation. The first embodies the idea of order and authority. Order as an inescapable assumption of freedom, the authority that makes equal opportunities possible. The second represents the rule of law that guarantees security and freedoms. The order for freedom through the democratic authority of the law: Here is the ethical-political binomial that sustains the historical continuity of our Nation and gives meaning to our institutionality!

Bolívar understood order as a principle of unity and social justice. He knew how to obtain the support of the popular sectors of Venezuela, who, by breaking away from domination, made independence possible. The indigenous people of Upper Peru envisioned the beacon of their social demands in the Bolivarian order; in the liberating sword, which wrote the Constitution without privileges for Bolivia, they recognized the symbol of authority at the service of popular guarantees.

For the Liberator's repose, let us recover order, that unifies this New Granada disintegrated today into de facto republics of violent organizations.

Santander conceived peace, and harmony, which is the state of the soul so that peace is permanent, under the exclusive reign of law. He preferred the law to war when more troops were requested for the liberation campaign of the South of the Continent. He honored the law with his obedience to authority even at the cost of his demotion from military commander in the Llanos.

May the Man of Laws inspire us a Nation of obedience to the rules to cancel the slavery of violence.

Given the oath that I have just taken, which compromises my energies and the entire life cycle that The Creator has in store for me, I call on Colombian men and women to resume the unifying bond of law, democratic authority, freedom and social justice, lost in unpleasant moments of history.

Trust and solidarity have declined in our Nation. Each distrusts the neighbor and especially the State. The attitude of solidarity decreases and there is disproportionate attachment to self-interest and indifference to the fate of the community. The foregoing, indicated as a decline in social capital, does not arise from the nature of being Colombian, which is civic and humanitarian; its raison d'être is explained by destructive violence, politicking and corruption, which concur with uncertainty, misery and inequality.

The Homeland faces a serious picture of difficulties. Nine million citizens live in misery, 57% are located on the poverty line, in addition to 16% unemployment there are 6.5 million underemployed, the total deficit exceeds 3% of the Gross Domestic Product, the ability to pay the public debt is saturated. If we had the murder rate for England there would be 200 every year. One is very serious, 200 too, but we suffer from 34,000. Between 3,000 and 3,600 reported kidnappings constitute 60% of this crime in the world. Each kidnapping is suffering, capital flight and unemployment.

We do not come to complain, we come to work. In 4 years it will be impossible to solve everything, but we will spare no effort. This is my duty towards the rights of young people and those who will come. It is my obligation of honor with the 80% of our compatriots who are still living in the awakening of their youth and require us to get it right for their illusion to sprout. We have to do it well so that the faith of a people that has never given up their heads but that demands firmness in the helmsman to interrupt the sad course of misery and criminal attack is restored.

The fiscal adjustment to straighten public finances is unavoidable but it will be advanced in search of greater growth in the economy and employment. Growth is the best fiscal adjustment and the only lasting source of income for the State. The wealthiest, the businessmen who tenaciously serve the Nation well, will carry new tax responsibilities on their shoulders. The efforts of the middle and popular sectors must be rewarded with greater social investment to stop the renewal of their prolonged purgatory.

The exceptionally delicate moment of the economy requires boosting the productive sectors that generate employment. Developed countries in difficult situations do not discuss stimuli, they quickly design and implement them.

Globalization as an integration of the economy is irreversible, but the dignity of poor peoples makes it imperative that their social results be equitable. Otherwise, its political sustainability would bring immense costs for democracy and coexistence.

The Andean economy requires more will and results. It is wrong to consider that with trade obstacles within the Region some of our countries can accelerate growth. Within the Community, the best protection is the greatest integration. Let's look together at Mercosur, the European Union, Canada, the FTAA. Let's move towards harmony in a competitive exchange rate, low inflation, prudent borrowing and fiscal balance. From there, let's think of a single currency, ours, that we can guide.

Let us have open and closed borders with our neighbors. Open for the transit of articles and good people, closed for crime. Our authority efforts will ensure that drugs and violence do not spread to the border territory. With the help of the Government of the respective sister country, we will achieve it, for the peace of mind of Colombia and of all, because this conflict either stops or has the potential to destabilize the Region.

During the transition I spoke with the directors of the multilateral banks so that they increase their exposure in Colombia. We need it and on time, if we channel it properly we will maintain compliance with our financial obligations and we will improve on the unpaid social debt.

The popular acceptance of our State will depend in great part on the social results. In the midst of the critical scarcity of resources, we will promote the 7 equity construction tools set out in the Manifesto: the educational revolution, the expansion of social security, the promotion of the solidarity economy, the social management of the countryside, of public services, support for small and medium-sized businesses to have a country of owners, and the quality of urban life.

Economic stability will depend on growth and this will maintain its long-term trajectory if it is based on social cohesion. Economic stability is not possible without social stability.

Our State is gigantic in terms of bureaucracy, ineffective in the face of corruption that mistreats political customs, and dangerously small in terms of social investment. The State must be a promoter of development, a guarantor of social equity and a provider of public order. It cannot be an obstruction of the private initiative, nor be absent in the face of social demands.

Our Community State will seek that resources and actions reach the people, with transparency, through increasing popular participation in the execution and surveillance of public tasks. The promotion of this participation will be the best instrument to defeat corruption.

The State cannot demand austerity from small municipalities while the upper echelons squander resources. To set an example, the reforms must begin with the Presidency of the Republic and the Congress, in pensions, salaries, elimination of perks and size of payrolls and representation.

The communications revolution facilitates a Congress that is reduced in quantity and costs, a balanced mix of representation and participation, more integrated with the citizenry and more effective in its tasks. Independence from the Executive does not require a large Parliament, but opinion observes and controls it.

This afternoon the bill to call the referendum against corruption and politicking will be filed. It will be a light of austerity to transfer resources to the revolution of opportunities that begins with education.

We cannot fight clientelism if we practice clientelism. The managers and directors of the branches of national entities in the regions, will be appointed by merit contests, so that the people participate in an inaugural event of equality against the administration.

The defeat of politicking and the rationality of labor costs are necessary to save the existence of state companies.

Our concept of democratic security demands that we apply ourselves to seek the effective protection of citizens regardless of their political creed or level of wealth. The entire Nation cries out for rest and security. No crime can have a direct or cunning justification. Let no kidnapping find a political doctrine that explains it. I understand the pain of the mothers, of the orphans and those displaced from the Homeland, in their name I will review my soul every morning so that the actions of authority that I undertake have the purest intention and the noblest development. I will affectionately support the Armed Forces of the Nation and we will encourage millions of citizens to attend them. This increases our obligation to human rights, respect for which is the only thing that leads to finding security and reconciliation through it.

When a democratic State is effective in its guarantees, even if the achievements are progressive, the violence against it is terrorism. We do not accept violence to fight the government or to defend it. Both are terrorism. The legitimate force of the State fulfills the exclusive mission of defending the community and cannot be used to silence critics.

Democracy is the only way to emulate ideas. Democracy is our offer so that guns are replaced by politics and democratic security the instrument for politics to be carried out without weapons and with the right not to be assassinated. The defense of the mayors, councilors, governors and all the representatives of the people who are threatened will be the safeguard of democracy. We will not allow the centuries-old popular struggle for the right to choose the nearest authority to be cut short by the pressure of arms.

I have asked the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, for the good offices of the institution to seek useful dialogue based on relief for society, which should be the cessation of hostilities. Within this framework, we will explore humanitarian solutions that release hostages, that are based on agreements that envision definitive peace as something possible. Those who want to enjoy freedom, let the people enjoy tranquility. I have asked the media and public opinion to understand the prudence that the issue demands.

The world must understand that this conflict needs unconventional, transparent and imaginative solutions. Violence is financed with an international criminal business: drugs; it is carried out with weapons manufactured outside of Colombia; and, no democracy can remain indifferent to the sufferings of our people. We will continue with Plan Colombia with the addition of aerial interdiction and practical substitution programs such as payment to peasants to eradicate illicit crops and take care of the recovery of the forest. We will maintain the path traveled with the United States, we will knock on the doors of Europe and Asia and we will strengthen the unity of purpose with our neighbors. If we don't defeat the drug, the drug destroys our freedom, our ecology and annuls the illusion of living in peace.

We want peace, not the appeasement that stems from insincere dialogue, compromised agreement, or official tyranny. Appeasement does not reconcile, it suspends violence at times and reappears with greater intensity.

I receive the Presidency from the hands of Doctor Andrés Pastrana who concludes a decent task, fueled by infinite good faith and successful in the integration of Colombia to the entire world, with the Atpa as a promising final achievement for exports.

He has been sworn in as Vice President Francisco Santos Calderón, marked by the patriotic encouragement of his own, especially his father.

I have promised to comply with the Constitution and the laws before the President of Congress, an honest citizen, efficient administrator and statesman. This oath has the special circumstance that in the land of both the given word is a granted deed.

I come from a mountain that taught me to love her in order to love all of Colombia intensely. My people from heaven, almost all of them farmers, summon me as lookouts for the Homeland. From there my mother accompanied me with her goodness and my father with her energy, to fulfill this duty with affection, with superior affection for my fellow citizens. The wife and two students make up my sweet rear.

Let's start an honest, effective, austere, non-miraculous government, with work as its emblem. The budget is scarce, there are many problems, but the joyful spontaneity of Colombians, intact despite the sufferings, and their character, steeled on the anvil of difficulties, constitute an invaluable resource. I am aware of the size of my responsibility, but I also know that I will not be able to carry it out successfully without the company, constructive criticism, effort and advice of you, my compatriots.

With tolerance to the ideas of others and zero permissiveness to crime, turning against the bank of authority that will not be bankrupt, let us improve the present and win the future so that the fraternal creative debate prevails.

May the love for this Homeland be the flame through which Our Lord and the Blessed Virgin enlighten me to succeed; also to overcome human vanity and rectify when making mistakes.

See also

• 2002 Colombian presidential election
• Álvaro Uribe
• Francisco Santos
• First inauguration of Juan Manuel Santos

References