88 A BRIEF HISTORY OF COLOMBIA
voting in the presidential election led to a coalescing of pro-Uribe forces around
the candidacy of Juan Manual Santos, who had served in several previous
governments before becoming Uribe's defense minister in 2006. Previously, he
established and led the pro-Uribe Partido Social de Unidad Nacional (Social Party
of National Unity - Partido de la U). The opposition united behind the popular
two-time mayor of Bogotá, Antanas Mockus. Mockus, a college professor and
former rector of the National University, had success in making the capital more
civic and livable in the 1990s — cleaning up parks, reorganizing public
transportation, weeding out corruption and improving policing. Through
innovative — some would say eccentric — teaching methods, he reminded
bogotanos of what it meant to be a good neighbor and a good citizen. His
success inspired other mayors to emulate his policies, and civic movements
sprang up all over Colombia.
Santos decisively won the second round of the elections, and was inaugurated
on August 7, 2010. His first action was to meet with Hugo Chávez and repair
relations with Venezuela, which had broken down again in the last weeks of the
Uribe administration. In September, Colombian armed forces killed the military
commander of the FARC, the infamous Mono Jojoy, and have since killed or
captured other high-ranking leaders of the guerrilla organization. President
Santos is also pursuing a scheme to return displaced persons to their lands — a
complicated and difficult task that would be worth the hard work if it succeeds.
In 2011, most Colombians and foreign observers agree that, thanks to the efforts
of Uribe, the country is certainly safer for travelers than it was ten years ago —
and thanks to the efforts of mayors like Antanas Mockus, Colombian cities are
also more secure and organized than they were twenty years ago. It is too early
to judge President Santos and his government, especially to the extent that
human rights are respected and democratic dissent and labor organizing are
tolerated, but the future certainly looks hopeful for Colombia and its people.