4.23.2009
Quote by John Pilger on Colombia
"Across the border in Colombia, the US has made Venezuela's neighbour the Israel of Latin America. Under "Plan Colombia", more than $6bn in arms, planes, special forces, mercenaries and logistics have been showered on some of the most murderous people on earth: the inheritors of Pinochet's Chile and the other juntas that terrorised Latin America for a generation, their various gestapos trained at the School of the Americas in Georgia. "We not only taught them how to torture," a former American trainer told me, "we taught them how to kill, murder, eliminate." That remains true of Colombia, where government-inspired mass terror has been documented by Amnesty, Human Rights Watch and many others. In a study of 31,656 extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances between 1996 and 2006, the Colombian Commission of Jurists found that 46 per cent had been murdered by right-wing death squads and 14 per cent by Farc guerrillas. The para militaries were responsible for most of the three million victims of internal displacement. This misery is a product of Plan Colombia's pseudo "war on drugs", whose real purpose has been to eliminate the Farc. To that goal has now been added a war of attrition on the new popular democracies, especially Venezuela."
2.14.2009
Colombia: the Sudan of Latin America
I'm guessing that who ever reads the title will think its absurd to compare Colombia's crisis with that of Sudan. Most people would see Sudan's crisis as more alarming and simply more interesting to follow, the media falls in that category as most media outlets only publish drug related articles on Colombia. But i can't just blame the media for bringing to the public one conflict and not the other.
To start off this short article, i will start by giving you small facts that can be found anywhere on the internet from reliable sources like the UNHR and Amnesty International, or any news or political links. Sudan's total number of refugees and displaced people since 1989 numbers 4 million. That is an alarming cipher, 4 million people displaced in what the media calls ethnic cleansing, but it lacks to say that the main reason is that the Sudanese government is pushing the southerners out of their lands because the southern Sudanese are standing on rich soil which harbors the black gold.
From all the countries in the world not many people would think that Colombia would have any sort of problems, as today we are shown a country free of turmoil with a successful leadership that has managed to cover up all problems. However, Colombia has been in conflict for over 40 years. Since 1989 Colombia has had 4 million people displaced or made refugee, and that number is rising. since 1989 25,000 people has died every year from this conflict, that is aside from natural deaths and other sort of deaths. Since 1987 until today 9,000 union leaders have been killed by private militias or the government, 600 of these union leaders have been killed since 2002. Moreover, since 2002 18,000 people has disappeared under suspicious circumstances, but the government does not comment on it, 3,000 people dissappeared just in 2007. The only problem with this conflict is that nobody has heard of these statistics, people has heard of the war on drugs, but not many people has heard of this massive displacement that has happened not in just one region but all over Colombia for the last 10 years.
you may ask your self how come i haven't heard from this before, this guy is probably fabricating this, but all you have to do is check, UNHR, Amnesty international, the Red cross and any human rights related website.
What most people doesn't know is that behind every conflict there is another country, usually an outsider that has nothing to do with the region, but that has steaks in the area. In Sudan's case the conflict has been raised over and over in the mainstream media and the media doesn't fail to repeatedly state that China is behind the conflict and therefore the conflict must be denounced. Whereas in Colombia, well, i don't really have to tell you why the conflict is not made public because we already know who's back yard that is. But my point is that, where is the condemnation to this bloody conflict that is taking its toll on millions of innocent people that simply wants to get on with their lives?
How long will it take for the Colombian middle classes and upper classes to rise and say no more to the constant massacres and displacement of their poorer brethren? How long will the international media ignore this conflict? How long will the international community ignore this conflict? If this conflict continues there wont be a Colombia that can be likened to Sudan, in the future it will be likened to Haiti or worse to Somalia. Most will say i am exaggerating but most people that can is leaving the country, as either refugees or economic migrants. How long will Colombians and the world put a blind eye to this conflict?
To start off this short article, i will start by giving you small facts that can be found anywhere on the internet from reliable sources like the UNHR and Amnesty International, or any news or political links. Sudan's total number of refugees and displaced people since 1989 numbers 4 million. That is an alarming cipher, 4 million people displaced in what the media calls ethnic cleansing, but it lacks to say that the main reason is that the Sudanese government is pushing the southerners out of their lands because the southern Sudanese are standing on rich soil which harbors the black gold.
From all the countries in the world not many people would think that Colombia would have any sort of problems, as today we are shown a country free of turmoil with a successful leadership that has managed to cover up all problems. However, Colombia has been in conflict for over 40 years. Since 1989 Colombia has had 4 million people displaced or made refugee, and that number is rising. since 1989 25,000 people has died every year from this conflict, that is aside from natural deaths and other sort of deaths. Since 1987 until today 9,000 union leaders have been killed by private militias or the government, 600 of these union leaders have been killed since 2002. Moreover, since 2002 18,000 people has disappeared under suspicious circumstances, but the government does not comment on it, 3,000 people dissappeared just in 2007. The only problem with this conflict is that nobody has heard of these statistics, people has heard of the war on drugs, but not many people has heard of this massive displacement that has happened not in just one region but all over Colombia for the last 10 years.
you may ask your self how come i haven't heard from this before, this guy is probably fabricating this, but all you have to do is check, UNHR, Amnesty international, the Red cross and any human rights related website.
What most people doesn't know is that behind every conflict there is another country, usually an outsider that has nothing to do with the region, but that has steaks in the area. In Sudan's case the conflict has been raised over and over in the mainstream media and the media doesn't fail to repeatedly state that China is behind the conflict and therefore the conflict must be denounced. Whereas in Colombia, well, i don't really have to tell you why the conflict is not made public because we already know who's back yard that is. But my point is that, where is the condemnation to this bloody conflict that is taking its toll on millions of innocent people that simply wants to get on with their lives?
How long will it take for the Colombian middle classes and upper classes to rise and say no more to the constant massacres and displacement of their poorer brethren? How long will the international media ignore this conflict? How long will the international community ignore this conflict? If this conflict continues there wont be a Colombia that can be likened to Sudan, in the future it will be likened to Haiti or worse to Somalia. Most will say i am exaggerating but most people that can is leaving the country, as either refugees or economic migrants. How long will Colombians and the world put a blind eye to this conflict?
11.06.2008
4.04.2008
Indigenous, Paesants and Hitmen
The reason for the title is because the three are one and the same,the three have been manipulated by the ruling classes into doing what is best for the elites and foreign interests since the beginning of colonialism in Colombia.
Before the arrival of Columbus to the "new world" the indigenous lived in the Americas in a peaceful manner, some societies were highly advanced, and some lived in simple ways. Their ways of living if you compare them to today's standard of living were more advanced as they did not contribute to the detriment of the earth. However with the arrival of the Europeans to the Americas, the indigenous were almost annihilated, hundreds of millions of indigenous died after the arrival of the European from massacres, viruses and slavery. Those indigenous that survived the massacres and viruses, were not so lucky, they were forced to convert to the foreign religion, and enslaved. The newly arrived Europeans became the elite of the Americas, and the indigenous were forced to work the land for the hungry and ever growing Europeans. Every grain and every spark of gold that left to Europe had a stain of blood. As time passed the indigenous became the peasants of the new world, however, many of these indigenous had very weak bodies and could not resist the harsh conditions that were forced upon them, so the Europeans looked towards Africa for a more strong and lasting labour force. Millions of west Africans were kidnapped and forced into ships that would send them to the Americas to work the land.
The Indigenous and the Africans lived side by side in the Americas working the land, building the cities and guarding the properties for the Europeans, but all that work was in vane because there was no way out from that life, there was no light, it was a living hell. It was a living hell in a land that had enough for everybody yet the land was only to give enough for the rich to waste.
Now i wonder if all this has changed today? Today the indigenous in Colombia are fewer in numbers, there are millions of Africans, yet they are both ignored as if they were invisible.
The life of peasantry has finished for all in Colombia, not because the state has provided a solution to the life of peasants, but because they are being driven out of the lands that they worked on for hundreds of years. They are being killed, raped, threatened, tortured, forgotten, all by a conflict of ideas and land ownership. These people is no longer called "El campesino" but "the displaced" that is their new name, these peasants have been kicked out of their lands by what the state calls an armed conflict. But if it was a conflict who are the parties involved in the conflict? no one knows exactly. There are three groups involved, the armed right wing groups, the state and its defence forces and the left wing groups, but all seem to blame each other for the conflict and its catastrophic results. But i wonder, if people is truly displaced, that would mean that all the lands the 2 million peasants have left behind should be untouched and desolate. But is that so? if those areas that have been evacuated are so dangerous, why are foreign multinationals buying those lands, why are rich families and politicians extending their estates? That is something to think about. I'm not here to talk about what happened to that land, because it is pretty obvious. I'm here to talk about the people that was kicked out of that land, and right now in this moment in time there is still people being kicked out of their lands, and i have to say it bluntly because they are not being kicked out with a red carpet on their feet.
Where do all these people go? where are they? where have they gone? they are living in the borders of Colombia's neighboring countries; sleeping in tents, begging, robbing, being humiliated day by day. And if they are lucky they might get to go to a western nation as UN refugees, but even then they are probably living poorly. Those that can't leave or prove that they have suffered from the war on the people, have to move to the main cities of Colombia. Since most of them didn't even have time to take much from their homes, they have reached the cities with nothing, they have had to settle in all the cities outskirts, in slums that are not recognized by the cities as part of the city they are simply called invasions. This means that people is living in substandard conditions, with no water, electricity or a sewage system. the state has done very little for these people, NGOs have done their part, but it takes more than NGOs to solve this issue. What are these people doing to survive? are there plenty of jobs in the cities? are they welcomed in our cities? NO. So what do they have to do to take the bread and butter to their homes? they have to do things that they would not do if they were living in better conditions. They turn to crime, and crime can be anything, from mugging people, robbing banks, cars, drug trade, join an armed group or be a hit man. How can we judge these people for committing crimes when they are the victims of a far greater crime? Hit mans for example, why are there so many hit mans in Colombia? well its because they probably get more money doing that job than doing a normal job. The problem of that profession is what they do, they are sent to kill people, people they don't know. Its people that they are told are bad or are a menace to society and a threat to the state, and when they do the job they don't realize who the person was until it comes out in the media. They are payed to exterminate people that have prominent roles in society, that one way or another is contributing to society and is on the opposition to the state. But one cannot blame the hit man for doing it because he or she did not know who that person was, it is a crime what they are doing, that is a fact, but they are blind to the reality, they can only think of taking the bread and butter to their homes. Many displaced people are in this situations, they are getting into crime thinking that that is the only way out of poverty and this is creating greater problems. Our leaders are being killed day by day by hit men, and the state only goes out to get the hit men, but is it really the hit men that are killing our leaders? the peasants, the common people is manipulated into believing that it is one group or another, but those groups are also manipulated, and the only entity that can truly stop this is the state. If there was no poverty we would not have hit men, kidnappers, thieves.....Colombians need to learn to recognize and discern from the right and wrong, men and women that want to change the country for the better are being killed or silenced all because their plans for Colombia contradict the oligarchies interest.
The solution to any conflict is not to kill the other but to allow the others to have their say, so far only the oligarchy and foreigners have their say, but what about the colombian people, have they truly had their say?
Before the arrival of Columbus to the "new world" the indigenous lived in the Americas in a peaceful manner, some societies were highly advanced, and some lived in simple ways. Their ways of living if you compare them to today's standard of living were more advanced as they did not contribute to the detriment of the earth. However with the arrival of the Europeans to the Americas, the indigenous were almost annihilated, hundreds of millions of indigenous died after the arrival of the European from massacres, viruses and slavery. Those indigenous that survived the massacres and viruses, were not so lucky, they were forced to convert to the foreign religion, and enslaved. The newly arrived Europeans became the elite of the Americas, and the indigenous were forced to work the land for the hungry and ever growing Europeans. Every grain and every spark of gold that left to Europe had a stain of blood. As time passed the indigenous became the peasants of the new world, however, many of these indigenous had very weak bodies and could not resist the harsh conditions that were forced upon them, so the Europeans looked towards Africa for a more strong and lasting labour force. Millions of west Africans were kidnapped and forced into ships that would send them to the Americas to work the land.
The Indigenous and the Africans lived side by side in the Americas working the land, building the cities and guarding the properties for the Europeans, but all that work was in vane because there was no way out from that life, there was no light, it was a living hell. It was a living hell in a land that had enough for everybody yet the land was only to give enough for the rich to waste.
Now i wonder if all this has changed today? Today the indigenous in Colombia are fewer in numbers, there are millions of Africans, yet they are both ignored as if they were invisible.
The life of peasantry has finished for all in Colombia, not because the state has provided a solution to the life of peasants, but because they are being driven out of the lands that they worked on for hundreds of years. They are being killed, raped, threatened, tortured, forgotten, all by a conflict of ideas and land ownership. These people is no longer called "El campesino" but "the displaced" that is their new name, these peasants have been kicked out of their lands by what the state calls an armed conflict. But if it was a conflict who are the parties involved in the conflict? no one knows exactly. There are three groups involved, the armed right wing groups, the state and its defence forces and the left wing groups, but all seem to blame each other for the conflict and its catastrophic results. But i wonder, if people is truly displaced, that would mean that all the lands the 2 million peasants have left behind should be untouched and desolate. But is that so? if those areas that have been evacuated are so dangerous, why are foreign multinationals buying those lands, why are rich families and politicians extending their estates? That is something to think about. I'm not here to talk about what happened to that land, because it is pretty obvious. I'm here to talk about the people that was kicked out of that land, and right now in this moment in time there is still people being kicked out of their lands, and i have to say it bluntly because they are not being kicked out with a red carpet on their feet.
Where do all these people go? where are they? where have they gone? they are living in the borders of Colombia's neighboring countries; sleeping in tents, begging, robbing, being humiliated day by day. And if they are lucky they might get to go to a western nation as UN refugees, but even then they are probably living poorly. Those that can't leave or prove that they have suffered from the war on the people, have to move to the main cities of Colombia. Since most of them didn't even have time to take much from their homes, they have reached the cities with nothing, they have had to settle in all the cities outskirts, in slums that are not recognized by the cities as part of the city they are simply called invasions. This means that people is living in substandard conditions, with no water, electricity or a sewage system. the state has done very little for these people, NGOs have done their part, but it takes more than NGOs to solve this issue. What are these people doing to survive? are there plenty of jobs in the cities? are they welcomed in our cities? NO. So what do they have to do to take the bread and butter to their homes? they have to do things that they would not do if they were living in better conditions. They turn to crime, and crime can be anything, from mugging people, robbing banks, cars, drug trade, join an armed group or be a hit man. How can we judge these people for committing crimes when they are the victims of a far greater crime? Hit mans for example, why are there so many hit mans in Colombia? well its because they probably get more money doing that job than doing a normal job. The problem of that profession is what they do, they are sent to kill people, people they don't know. Its people that they are told are bad or are a menace to society and a threat to the state, and when they do the job they don't realize who the person was until it comes out in the media. They are payed to exterminate people that have prominent roles in society, that one way or another is contributing to society and is on the opposition to the state. But one cannot blame the hit man for doing it because he or she did not know who that person was, it is a crime what they are doing, that is a fact, but they are blind to the reality, they can only think of taking the bread and butter to their homes. Many displaced people are in this situations, they are getting into crime thinking that that is the only way out of poverty and this is creating greater problems. Our leaders are being killed day by day by hit men, and the state only goes out to get the hit men, but is it really the hit men that are killing our leaders? the peasants, the common people is manipulated into believing that it is one group or another, but those groups are also manipulated, and the only entity that can truly stop this is the state. If there was no poverty we would not have hit men, kidnappers, thieves.....Colombians need to learn to recognize and discern from the right and wrong, men and women that want to change the country for the better are being killed or silenced all because their plans for Colombia contradict the oligarchies interest.
The solution to any conflict is not to kill the other but to allow the others to have their say, so far only the oligarchy and foreigners have their say, but what about the colombian people, have they truly had their say?
4.02.2008
"I'll also oppose the Colombia Free Trade Agreement if President Bush insists on sending it to Congress because the violence against unions in Colombia would make a mockery of the very labor protections that we have insisted be included in these kinds of agreements. So you can trust me when I say that whatever trade deals we negotiate when I'm President will be good for American workers, and that they'll have strong labor and environmental protections that we'll enforce."
Barack Obama
Barack Obama
12.27.2007
Is colombia a dictatorship?
Is Colombia a dictatorship? thats an interesting question that i keep asking my self. South America has had a horrid history of dictatorships and civil wars. Chile, argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and central america, all had a dictatorship at some point in time in the XX century. But Colombia has never had a dictatorship or a dictator, that is good from a realist perspective, its been what neo liberals in colombia call a succesful democracy in a region full of turmoil. Dictatorships as is commonly known happended when the state is in emergency, therefore all the powers of the state are given to one man or group to stabilize disorder. Based on that South America has been in a state of emergency for the last 100 years, but from what? i guess the only problem in south america would be if the people ever rise up to claim real democratic elections and to demand real institutions that would work for the nation, i guess that would be the real reason for an emergency.
Going back to Colombia, Colombia is an interesting situation because it has had plenty of civil wars to boast about, it also has had a "real" democratic system in place since independence in 1810. There has never existed a dictatorship compared to other countries in the region, however the symptoms of a dictatorship are everywhere.
Since the 50s when the ruling parties decided to settle for half of the country for each side there has been little peace because it has meant that only a group high up has access to the wealth of the land. Colombia has had 39 democraticly elected presidents since 1886 There has only been one transitional period which was from 1953 to 1957, the military under Gustavo Rojas Pinilla sat for 4 years until the conservatives and liberal settled their differences in europe so to prevent an ongoing civil war. This settlement was called the national front agreement, both ruling parties agreed to swap leadership every four years and split the spoils of the land equally.
From this settlement the bureaucracy was the only one that benefited, suffering became the daily bread and wine of the peasants. As a result of this ongoing oppression more insurgent groups emerged in the countryside to fight against the oppression and displacement of paesants from their land.
More sinister yet was the emergence of criminal organisations and death squads, all this added weight to the constant suffering of Colombians.
Since the late 1980s about 25,000 people die a year from the result of the conflict, about 1 million people has left the country in search of a more peaceful and economicaly sound country, and over 1 million paesants have been displaced from their lands. The displacement of people is the worse of the results from this conflict, most of the paesants are forced out of their lands, have no where to go therefore migrate to the main cities where they have to build their homes from scratch in shanty towns that haven't got even the basic services for housing.
All this a colombian would say is something they already know, but the problem is that there is nothing much the government has done about it, its a shame that this is happening in a land that is fertile enough to grow any sort of food crops yet the land is raped with the growth of illicit plants.
I still ask, is colombia a dictator ship, for the last 100 years all the leaders that have worried about the state of the nation have been killed, kidnapped or pushed into exile. What democracy would kill its journalists, comedians, kidnap its senators, kill presidential candidates, kill its teachers and union leaders and allow thugs run the country? if we live in a democracy why do political dissidents die by the thousands, why do union leaders get killed so constantly, in democratic countries in europe and north america unionists are looked upon as the protectors of workers rights but in colombia they are seen as devils that fight against the national interest. Is fighting for the peoples rights against the national interest? I dont understand. What democracy allows corruption on election day, what democracy sends on election day the army to scare the people from voting?
What kind of peace do we have now, we have peace under the barrel of the gun, is that really peace, we are calling foreigners to come visit our country because we are more militarized now than ever before, which means we are more "safe" how can we ever solve anything with violence. Violence does not bring peace. Perhaps conditions are better now than 100 years ago, but the fact that we are living in the XXI century a time of globalization says that freedom of speech should be a given right, and that the right to access to better living conditions is a must. There are plenty of more sources that indicate that colombia has the qualities of a dictatorship, the problem is that colombia doesnt not have a dictator, there is no junta or supreme leader, what we have is democratically elected leaders and parties. So who should we blame then, it seems colombias dictatorship is invisible, we cannot identify who or what it is. It is scary to know that we do not know which side or who is truly responsible for our problems, no one can be taken to trial in the future because no one knows anything, the only thing we know is that any one that speaks in favour of progressive ideas, or any one that mocks or criticizes the system is systematically killed, dissappears, and so on.
People is sick of wars, i dont think any person that goes out to vote thinks of choosing a war mogering leader, people wants peace, people just wants to live in tranquility with their family and neighbours. Colombia is just a mere example and reflection of what is happening in the developing world, i hope it is not too late for real change because so far as things are going the snowball keeps growing and growing, and thats aside from the fact that global warming will worsen our situation. Global warming will affect south america, with the speed we are cutting trees in the Amazon we will most likely have a new Sahara desert pretty soon, and what will absorb the CO2 emitions? our kids i guess. Our environment is a reflection of how our politicians are dealing with humanity, if we dont change our politics we won't change our enviroment. Colombians have to stop worrying about the soccer game, the soap opera, the bargains at the nearest shop and all those traps the system puts along the way to distract us from the reality we are living in.
Going back to Colombia, Colombia is an interesting situation because it has had plenty of civil wars to boast about, it also has had a "real" democratic system in place since independence in 1810. There has never existed a dictatorship compared to other countries in the region, however the symptoms of a dictatorship are everywhere.
Since the 50s when the ruling parties decided to settle for half of the country for each side there has been little peace because it has meant that only a group high up has access to the wealth of the land. Colombia has had 39 democraticly elected presidents since 1886 There has only been one transitional period which was from 1953 to 1957, the military under Gustavo Rojas Pinilla sat for 4 years until the conservatives and liberal settled their differences in europe so to prevent an ongoing civil war. This settlement was called the national front agreement, both ruling parties agreed to swap leadership every four years and split the spoils of the land equally.
From this settlement the bureaucracy was the only one that benefited, suffering became the daily bread and wine of the peasants. As a result of this ongoing oppression more insurgent groups emerged in the countryside to fight against the oppression and displacement of paesants from their land.
More sinister yet was the emergence of criminal organisations and death squads, all this added weight to the constant suffering of Colombians.
Since the late 1980s about 25,000 people die a year from the result of the conflict, about 1 million people has left the country in search of a more peaceful and economicaly sound country, and over 1 million paesants have been displaced from their lands. The displacement of people is the worse of the results from this conflict, most of the paesants are forced out of their lands, have no where to go therefore migrate to the main cities where they have to build their homes from scratch in shanty towns that haven't got even the basic services for housing.
All this a colombian would say is something they already know, but the problem is that there is nothing much the government has done about it, its a shame that this is happening in a land that is fertile enough to grow any sort of food crops yet the land is raped with the growth of illicit plants.
I still ask, is colombia a dictator ship, for the last 100 years all the leaders that have worried about the state of the nation have been killed, kidnapped or pushed into exile. What democracy would kill its journalists, comedians, kidnap its senators, kill presidential candidates, kill its teachers and union leaders and allow thugs run the country? if we live in a democracy why do political dissidents die by the thousands, why do union leaders get killed so constantly, in democratic countries in europe and north america unionists are looked upon as the protectors of workers rights but in colombia they are seen as devils that fight against the national interest. Is fighting for the peoples rights against the national interest? I dont understand. What democracy allows corruption on election day, what democracy sends on election day the army to scare the people from voting?
What kind of peace do we have now, we have peace under the barrel of the gun, is that really peace, we are calling foreigners to come visit our country because we are more militarized now than ever before, which means we are more "safe" how can we ever solve anything with violence. Violence does not bring peace. Perhaps conditions are better now than 100 years ago, but the fact that we are living in the XXI century a time of globalization says that freedom of speech should be a given right, and that the right to access to better living conditions is a must. There are plenty of more sources that indicate that colombia has the qualities of a dictatorship, the problem is that colombia doesnt not have a dictator, there is no junta or supreme leader, what we have is democratically elected leaders and parties. So who should we blame then, it seems colombias dictatorship is invisible, we cannot identify who or what it is. It is scary to know that we do not know which side or who is truly responsible for our problems, no one can be taken to trial in the future because no one knows anything, the only thing we know is that any one that speaks in favour of progressive ideas, or any one that mocks or criticizes the system is systematically killed, dissappears, and so on.
People is sick of wars, i dont think any person that goes out to vote thinks of choosing a war mogering leader, people wants peace, people just wants to live in tranquility with their family and neighbours. Colombia is just a mere example and reflection of what is happening in the developing world, i hope it is not too late for real change because so far as things are going the snowball keeps growing and growing, and thats aside from the fact that global warming will worsen our situation. Global warming will affect south america, with the speed we are cutting trees in the Amazon we will most likely have a new Sahara desert pretty soon, and what will absorb the CO2 emitions? our kids i guess. Our environment is a reflection of how our politicians are dealing with humanity, if we dont change our politics we won't change our enviroment. Colombians have to stop worrying about the soccer game, the soap opera, the bargains at the nearest shop and all those traps the system puts along the way to distract us from the reality we are living in.
11.28.2007
Open Veins and Colombia
This last few months have been interetsing, Politicians in colombia have been found to have links to terrorist groups and many are in jail or standing at court as it is. Also since the Democrats in the U.S gained the numbers in congress the Free trade agreement between both nations has been rolled back. The democrats say that plan colombia has not been effective and that the Uribe regime needs to be more transparent. This comes as a blow to many in colombia, especially multinational corporations that want to get a tighter grip of colombia and its natural resources.
A free trade agreement cannot be done in colombia until the civil war and corruption finishes. Any agreemnet will only legitimize the ongoing corruption that has existed in the government for decades.
I recently finished reading Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano, there was very little of colombia there, but the whole picture of imperialism and explotation in the whole of south america fits perfectly with what is still happening in Colombia.
Free trade agreements according to what i got from that book, cause more harm than trouble. Although the book does not have a profound political theory it gives a historical account of how free trade agreements have wrecked South America.
The only successful case being chile, but still not so, because the peso is really high but salaries very low, chile is a success because the whole country is privatized and no one has a chance to change or speak against it. Freetrade agreement means to colombia, to further privatize what ever assets the state has, sell off land and natural resources and to provide cheap labor, but in no way does it mean that Colombia is going to be any better.
Reading that book made me understand what South America means to The U.S, Europe and emerging super Powers. It is sad that South America is only seen as a land that needs to be sqeezed to its maximum to satisfy the capitalist societies of the north. Our history and all we know is all a lie, or an invented tradition, to keep us blind to what the truth really is.
The U.S should change its neo-liberal approach not only to colombia but to the rest of south america, otherwise it will oose grip of the region, to emergin countries like China, India and a fast growing E.U. South America should be more independent of how it runs its business, but at the same time be close to the U.S for the simple fact that both continents are in the same location, therefore an ongoing relation ship shold exist in a more equitative way, and this will prevent any foreign power from provoking conflict that will worsen the situation in the region.
Reading Open veins opened my eyes to the real politik and made me believe that there isn't a way out for South Americans. Howver there is still a hope of change, not in the current form but in our future generations, unfortunately climate change and future wars and food shortages will happen around the world and that will change peoples consciousness and lead to a positive change.
I totally recommend Open Veins of Latin America, as an alternative history to what people commonly know as the discovery of america. What i learnt in school about our history looks like a joke in front of this history Galeano speaks of. In fact it makes me feel ashamed and sad to know that South America has been used in such a horrible way. Its not just a left wing book, it is a real history that doesnt hide the reality from the reader, and makes you recapacitate about our past and present.
A free trade agreement cannot be done in colombia until the civil war and corruption finishes. Any agreemnet will only legitimize the ongoing corruption that has existed in the government for decades.
I recently finished reading Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano, there was very little of colombia there, but the whole picture of imperialism and explotation in the whole of south america fits perfectly with what is still happening in Colombia.
Free trade agreements according to what i got from that book, cause more harm than trouble. Although the book does not have a profound political theory it gives a historical account of how free trade agreements have wrecked South America.
The only successful case being chile, but still not so, because the peso is really high but salaries very low, chile is a success because the whole country is privatized and no one has a chance to change or speak against it. Freetrade agreement means to colombia, to further privatize what ever assets the state has, sell off land and natural resources and to provide cheap labor, but in no way does it mean that Colombia is going to be any better.
Reading that book made me understand what South America means to The U.S, Europe and emerging super Powers. It is sad that South America is only seen as a land that needs to be sqeezed to its maximum to satisfy the capitalist societies of the north. Our history and all we know is all a lie, or an invented tradition, to keep us blind to what the truth really is.
The U.S should change its neo-liberal approach not only to colombia but to the rest of south america, otherwise it will oose grip of the region, to emergin countries like China, India and a fast growing E.U. South America should be more independent of how it runs its business, but at the same time be close to the U.S for the simple fact that both continents are in the same location, therefore an ongoing relation ship shold exist in a more equitative way, and this will prevent any foreign power from provoking conflict that will worsen the situation in the region.
Reading Open veins opened my eyes to the real politik and made me believe that there isn't a way out for South Americans. Howver there is still a hope of change, not in the current form but in our future generations, unfortunately climate change and future wars and food shortages will happen around the world and that will change peoples consciousness and lead to a positive change.
I totally recommend Open Veins of Latin America, as an alternative history to what people commonly know as the discovery of america. What i learnt in school about our history looks like a joke in front of this history Galeano speaks of. In fact it makes me feel ashamed and sad to know that South America has been used in such a horrible way. Its not just a left wing book, it is a real history that doesnt hide the reality from the reader, and makes you recapacitate about our past and present.
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