The Colombian government has stated that their single consul in Haiti, Julio Martinez, has received unknown threats against him for his various operations in the country. After the assassination of Haitian President Moise, much evidence pointed to Colombian nationals being at least somewhat responsible, including the charge that the act was committed by a security group that involved former Colombian soldiers, who are now being detained. Similarly, there is a Colombian that was in the United States who seems he could also be involved. Martinez, is fighting for the rights and fair treatment of his imprisoned countrymen, trying to get them supplies, lawyers, and Red Cross involvement. I analyze this as a very strategically clever play by Colombia, effectively shifting all of the blame spotlight off of themselves. The evidence amassing would have been a great stain on the state of Colombia, in terms of prestige and reputation, due to the plethora and singularity of Colombians involved. Now, the shift can be on the Haitians, that prisoners are being denied rights, tortured, and abused. The issue can be of human rights, and the international world could possibly not only get involved, but show more interest in the treatment of foreign prisoners than in the exact facts of the assassination. In regards to international relations, I may the leap in saying that this relates and heavily exemplifies the concept of “adversary politics” which is described by the British as a political fight between two adversaries for the favour of the on-lookers. These are two non-super powers who are tied into a diplomatic conflict with each other, both swinging back and forth at each other, neither wanting the blight of the rest of the world. This is done by Haiti, through asserting it was heavily not an internal attack, which would be a sign of chaos and instability, rather it was foreigners involved to an extreme degree to attack their institutions. Similarly, Colombia asserts that the teams were only partially Colombia nationals, unaffiliated with the government anymore and they are now being abused and tortured, and denied basic rights and process. Something terrible happened largely involving two states, and it seems as though they are clearly playing adversary politics to save “face” in a diplomatic sense against the other to the rest of the world.
