Colombia: President Calls on Citizens to be Crime Informants · Global Voices
Cati Restrepo

At the end of January, Colombian President Álvaro Uribe made some statements about the importance of reporting violent crime. Specifically, he called upon university students in the city of Medellín and taxi drivers in the city of Cali, as possible informants. This caused a national debate, which was also reflected on the internet. This specific idea comes at a time when violent crime around Colombia has been increasing. For example, the number of homicides in Medellín in 2009 more than doubled from the number of homicides in 2008. The difficulties to maintain public order is happening in various cities across Colombia.
Xady of the blog Expresáte [es] writes about a recent episode where he was unable to play a game of football outside with his friends in a neighborhood of Medellín  because of this uncertain security situation:
Hace 8 días llamaron los muchachos:
Quince minutos más tarde me llama alguien y me dice, no salga de la casa porque esto se va a prender… y claro una fuente de confianza nunca falla. A los cinco minutos de haber recibido la llamada doy varios pasos para salir a la puerta y al frente de mi casa….
Eight days ago, my friends called:
Fifteen minutes later, someone calls me to say, don't leave the house because it is going to get bad outside…and of course, a trusted source is never wrong. Five minutes after receiving the call, I take a few steps to leave my house and in front of my house…
Uribe's proposal appeals to “respect for the norms of co-existence”  and that this information is necessary so that the Security Forces can help reduce the number of violent crimes, of which students have been the victims. However, Uribe's idea does not come without additional incentive. He proposed that those who acted as informants could receive 100,000 Colombian pesos (approximately US$50) per month.
Vladdo, of the blog Havladdorías [es], writes:
Muchos analistas y medios se han referido ya al espinoso asunto de los informantes que quiere reclutar el gobierno, y la verdad es que volver a hablar de las inconveniencias que conlleva transformar a la ciudadanía en un ejército de soplones es llover sobre mojado.
Many analysts and media outlets have already made reference to the thorny issue of the informants that the government wants to recruit, the truth is that we return to talking about the inconvenience that it means by turning citizens into an army of informants, it makes no sense.
Some are worried about whether or not the students place themselves at risk for providing information or the quality of information that might be provided. Paloma Valencia of El Diario del Huila who said:
Hay un temor ante lo que se ha denominado la satanización de profesores y compañeros, ahí hay que distinguir la acción de proveer la información y la manera como las autoridades públicas van a utilizarla.  Será necesario tener procedimientos de verificación.
The statements from the President have been the object of numerous reactions that could be seen on Twitter, as from Mauricio Mosquera (@mauromosquera), who writes that there could be a better use of the money:
100 mil pesos mensuales para los estudiantes que no falten a clase!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In the same manner, Uribe also called upon the 31,000 taxi drivers in the city of Cali, another group that has been hit especially hard by violent crime. The website for W. Radio opened up a forum where citizens could respond to the question [es]: What do you think of the proposal by President Uribe to link the taxi drivers of Cali as government informants?”
152 Alexa | 02/03/10 06:37:03 writes:
Pues me parece bien . es un deber de todos los cidadanos informar a las autoridades los hechos delictivos lo que sucede es que a medida que los dias pasan en este pais la delicuencia va tomando mas fuerza. y aveces nos vemos obligados a callar muchas cosas que se ven y se saben . por las represarias hacia los nuestros.
139 Castro | 02/02/10 17:57:39 writes:
Esta es la seguridad democratica? mas bien deberian pensar en seguridad educacional el pais necesita gente que piense en grande con educacion se termina el flagelo de la violencia aaahh y empleo empleo porque hay mucho desempleado sin saber que hacer.
In addition, Vladdo expresses himself in this manner, by saying that it is a bad idea [es]:
Las propuestas del Presidente han llegado a tal extremo, que hasta los propios furibistas están aterrados, o por lo menos sorprendidos, con la sola idea de convertir en informantes a los universitarios de Medellín y a los taxistas de Cali. Después seguirán los loteros de Pasto, los artesanos de Leticia o los vendedores ambulantes de Bogotá. El argumento de que quien no es informante es cómplice de los crímenes que crecen sin cesar en las ciudades (cosa previsible, tras ese retorcido proceso de paz y la supuesta desmovilización de las AUC) se cae por su propio peso.
The President's proposals have reached the extreme, in that even the furibistas (his supporters) are terrified, or at least surprised, with the single of idea of turning university students in Medellín  and taxi drivers in Cali into informants. Later, he will ask the LOTEROS in Pasto, the artisants in Leticia, or the street vendors in Bogotá. The argument that whoever is not an informant is an accomplice to growing problem of crime in the cities (which is to expected after this twisted peace process and the supposed demobilization of the AUC) falls under its own weight.