...’s One Hundred Years of Solitude could be read as another example of the Nobel Prize-winner’s genius ability to use fantasy as a metaphor for everyday life. It could be an imagined story that references the violent history of Colombia and the country’s seeming inability to learn from its experiences. Yet as those who visit Colombia will realize, Marquez describes Colombian reality much more often than one would think, and this case is no exceptio...
The somewhat grandiosely titled the “Summit of the Americas” (SoA) concluded this week in sunny Cartagena, Colombia. The regional meeting included 44 of the Western Hemisphere’s heads of state – with the awkward and controversial exception of Cuba. As we have learned to expect from these large-scale, feel-good summits, little was accomplished. The meeting ended without a formal joint declaration – which is not to say that it was bereft of its sh...
from Wikimedia Commons The Alto de Berlin hill in Toribio, Colombia, witnessed quite a peculiar event on July 17. The troubled region has been a battlefield between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian army for the past five decades. The endless conflict has resulted in many casualties, but on Wednesday, one group decided it had had enough of being in the crossfire. This isolated incident might indicate both that...
...any considerations of US foreign policy in the Americas are clumsily bifurcated. On one side of the divide are the guaranteed allies: partners in free trade and the hosts of US military bases. These countries, among which are Colombia, Chile and El Salvador, receive glowing praise from Washington for their commitment to democracy, moderation, liberal values and economic openness. On the other side of this false division are the confrontational an...
...ent Vicente Fox in 2000, the cartels encountered a weaker central government and subsequently began to overstep the limits of their activities. In addition, with the decreased power of the Cali and Medellin cocaine cartels in Colombia in the ’80s and ’90s, Mexico’s cartels used the advantage of their strategic position on the U.S. border to rise to preeminence in the international drug market. Seeking to crack down on violence and corruption, and...
...t in South America alone, representing tens of thousands of people. Due to their very nature, protection for these groups – or “uncontacted peoples” – is often limited. Due to the paramilitary presence in parts of Colombia, Venezuela, and Peru, the ability of these countries to provide proper surveillance and protection of these groups in severely curtailed. Last year, a tribe was completely annihilated by Peruvian drug traffickers se...
...ple. That most South American leaders back the policy nevertheless shows that Uruguay might be setting itself to become an experiment for the rest of the region to draw conclusion from. Indeed, President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia has already expressed his support for legalization, which “could be a solution only if everyone does it at the same time”. Legalization may or may not be the answer, but one has to admire President’s Mujica’s coura...
...erest to the Philippines,” as denounced in “The Torturer’s Lobby,” a study conducted by the Center for Public Integrity. The firm contracted a US lobbyist to interact with Congress on behalf of the Philippines. Similarly, the Colombian government in 1991 hired the same firm to help better its image in the USA and be its “eyes and ears” on America’s perceptions of Colombia. Political consultants can change public opinion and affect foreign policy....
...on polls give Mr. Chavez a clear lead, there have been suggestions that these are not to be trusted. His opponent, the youthful and energetic Henrique Capriles is a strong contender and has made important pledges like helping Colombian peace talks with the FARC. Capriles went as far as to call Venezuela “an accomplice of the guerrillas” and met with President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia. Capriles also wants to distance himself from Iran and ot...
...y 7 murders using firearms (75% of all murders) per 100,000 people in the United States, compared to an average of .35 per 100,000 in Europe, and .75 in Canada. By comparison, the rate in Russia is about 20 per 100,000 and in Colombia 60 per 100,000. Additionally, 53% of all suicides in the United State are with guns. Add it up, and groups like the Brady Campaign and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence believe they have a compelling statistical ca...
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