Colombia

I've always been interested in Latin American politics. One of my favorite political writers, Michael Barone, looks at a column by columnist Robert Novak on Colombia's President Uribe. Novak reports on the way Uribe was treated by Congressional Democrats:

This is remarkable U.S. treatment for a rare friend on the South American continent, where Venezuela's leftist dictator Hugo Chavez can only exult in Uribe's embarrassment as he builds an anti-American bloc of nations. A former congressional staffer, who in 1999 helped author Plan Colombia against narco-guerrillas, told me: "President Uribe may be the odd man out, and that's no way to treat our best ally in South America."

Barone agrees with Novak's assessment:

Uribe is a highly successful president, elected and re-elected by large margins, who has taken on the left-wing FARC narcoguerrillas and vastly reduced their power. He is a dedicated democrat--and has been attacked by the authoritarian, anti-American Hugo Chávez of Venezuela.

Pretty strong reasons to like Mr. Uribe. If Congress drops their support for the Uribe Administration it will be to our detriment.