Abstract

CONSTAIN, Manolo  and  ROUVINSKI, Vladimir. The Political Spectacle of the Humanitarian Agreement and Hugo Chavez's Mediation during the Second Administration of Álvaro Uribe. colomb.int. [online]. 2012, n.76, pp.229-257. ISSN 0121-5612.

During Alvaro Uribe's second term in power, diplomatic relations between Colombia and Venezuela were marked by severe difficulties that triggered several crises. With the arrival of Juan Manuel Santos to power, however, these difficulties seem to have been resolved unexpectedly fast. Hence, rather than being a crisis caused by some structural aspects of bilateral relations, the dispute was about misunderstandings and tensions that can be linked to specific dynamics of the relationship between Hugo Chávez and Alvaro Uribe. The authors use the concept of political spectacle proposed by Edelman (1988) in order to examine the relationship in question. From this perspective, the unsuccessful attempt to reach a humanitarian agreement with the mediation of Hugo Chávez that took place during the second half of 2007 can be considered as the first relevant event to analyze in the Venezuelan and Colombian leaders' conflictive interactions at the time. The article examines the way in which the political developments of this period were interpreted and transmitted by the El Tiempo newspaper immersed in a political spectacle that was based on a government-media relationship and aimed at generating support of the government in the public opinion through the symbolic use of the kidnapping issue.

Keywords : Foreign policy; political spectacle; symbols; humanitarian agreement; mass media.

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