Parapolitics

And parapolitics risks weakening Mr [Álvaro] Uribe's grip on Congress. A tax reform that would have raised government revenues has been watered down.

Domestically President [Álvaro] Uribe enjoys an 84% approval rating. Most Colombians support him for bringing the country from the brink of becoming a failed state and though the parapolitics scandal is important, "the sense of regaining control trumps everything," said [Michael] Shifter.

Right-wing paramilitaries still terrorize rural areas, and political corruption is rife; about one-third of Congress, including many allies of the president, is either accused of or in jail for engaging in "parapolitics" with the death squads.