Students at Washington D.C.’s Georgetown University plan to protest against the appointment of former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe as an invited professor by sabotaging his classes, according to Caracol Radio.
Caracol Radio claims to have access to emails passed between students, which organize a protest on Thursday before a class on economics in Latin America, at which Uribe is scheduled as a guest speaker.
Carolina Rodriguez, a Colombian student at the prestigious U.S. university, told Caracol Radio that two protests are planned for Thursday, one before the class and another in the afternoon.
According to Caracol Radio, the emails mention “six or more who are prepared to be arrested” in order to sabotage Uribe’s participation in the class.
A private reception for Uribe is scheduled at 4PM local time Thursday at the Mortara Center of International Studies. The former Colombian leader is expected to meet with Georgetown academics at the event.
Uribe will reportedly stay in the U.S. capital for a week. His next academic appearance is planned for November.
Uribe’s appointment as “distinguished scholar in the practice of global leadership” at the university’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service has sparked controversy in the U.S., with critics saying that the former leader does not represent the ideals promoted by the school.
Protests were held at the university Wednesday, with the “Coalition Adios Uribe,” condemning Uribe’s human rights record in his eight years as Colombian president.
Uribe has been busy since he handed over the reigns of power to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on August 7. On August 10 he took his seat as vice chairman of the United Nations inquiry into an Israeli attack on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who appointed Uribe to the panel, defended the selection of the former president against international criticism.
