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Colombia: Solidarity With Hiperbarrio After Library Robbery

Catalina Restrepo — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:54:17 +0000

Historically, libraries have been characterized as spaces for the free access to knowledge in the fields of literature, art, and culture, as well as becoming gathering places for the community. In this spirit, two years ago the Public Pilot Library of Medellín, Colombia at the La Loma site welcomed the participants of Hiperbarrio [es], one of the initial Rising Voices projects, where citizen journalism workshops have been taking place.

Photo of La Loma Library by Convergentes and used with permission. Click on photo to see a larger version of photo.

It is noteworthy that this library was created more than 50 years ago, as an initiative of the residents of La Loma, and throughout its service to the community it has offered classes in literature, painting, and music. The importance of its social role was described by Rezwan at the Rising Voices blog, who notes that that librarian's responsibility goes beyond the simple lending of books.

It is with those reasons that there were united voices of indignation surrounding the events that took place on October 13, which is described by @blueandtanit:

Ladrones robaron el equipo administrativo con información de La Loma, caja menor y El nica de Hiperbarrio en un asalto a la bpp de La Loma.

Thieves stole the administrative equipment with information of the La Loma library, petty cash, and the Nica (prize) during a robbery of the bpp (public library) of La Loma.

The director of Hiperbarrio, Álvaro Ramírez described his reaction upon hearing the news. He writes about the consequences of the robbery in his blog Ojo al Texto [es]:

Estoy un poco aturdido. Me concentro y trato de visualizar la modesta y hermosa Biblioteca de La Loma, sus estantes, las mesas y las sillas donde niños y grandes se sientan a diario a leer, a consultar libros, y a conversar.

Alcanzo a imaginar los computadores apagados y en la noche. Un par de intrusos llegan y logran penetrar por el techo. Entran con linternas y comienzan a sacar cosas

(…)

A la mañana siguiente llegan Gabriel Jaime y los otros empleados y encuentran el desastre. Un robo consumado. Un asalto a la comunidad de La Loma y un golpe duro para la Biblioteca Pública Piloto que ha venido dotando, con gran voluntad y paciencia a la filial más antigua de su extendida red de bibliotecas públicas: es decir gratuitas y abiertas para que todos podamos acceder a sus servicios.

(…)

Pienso en el daño que eso representa. En las personas que se van a perjudicar por no poder acceder gratis a los computadores.

I am a bit stunned. I concentrate and try to visualize the modest and beautiful La Loma Library, its shelves, the tables and chairs where children and adults sit to read on a daily basis, to read books, and to talk.

I am able to imagine the computers turned off at night. A couple of intruders arrive and are able to enter through the roof. They enter with flashlights and start to take things.

(…)

The next morning, (the library's coordinator) Gabriel Jaime and other employees arrive and find the disaster. A completed robbery. An assault on the community of La Loma and a hard blow for the Public Pilot Library, which has been providing, with a strong will and patience to the oldest branch in the extended network of public libraries: free and open services so that everyone can access its services.

(…)

I think about the damage that this represents. In the people that will be hurt and will not be able to have free access to computers.

Photo of La Loma library by blueandtanit and used under a Creative Commons license. Click on photo to see a larger version of the photo.

News of the robbery soon spread throughout different online networks, and the community also received notes from those who expressed their solidarity during the incident, showing that there is a strong network across the internet. For example, from Chile, Enzo Abbagliati sent a message of support on his blog Cadaunadas [es] after reading the post written by Ramírez:

Cadaunadas varias veces ha sido espacio para la alegría que desde una barriada de Medellín hemos recibido cotidianamente quienes creemos en las bibliotecas públicas como espacio de equidad y construcción de sociedades más democráticas. Reproduzco ahora una triste nota publicada por Álvaro Ramírez en ConVerGentes, quien desde el aturdimiento inicial nos avisa que han robado en la Biblioteca de La Loma. En Chile, en nuestras bibliotecas públicas, a veces sufrimos la misma suerte, la misma frustrante suerte.

¡Animo, amigos de La Loma! Sé que la comunidad estará con ustedes.

On many occasions, (the blog) Cadaunadas has been a space for daily joy received from a neighborhood in Medellín for those of us who believe in public libraries as a place for equality and the building of more democratic societies. I am now republishing the sad news written by Álvaro Ramírez from ConVerGentes, who tells us of the stunning news about the robbery of the La Loma Library. In Chile, our public libraries sometimes suffers the same luck, the same frustrating luck.

Cheer up, friends from La Loma! Know that the community stands with you.

Locally, the Colombian digital magazine Equinoxio [es] became one of the first sites to publish news about the acts of vandalism and wrote about the efforts to investigate the crime:

El director de la biblioteca se reunió con las autoridades y con efectivos de la Policía Nacional a fin de coordinar esfuerzos para recuperar los bienes que se llevaron los asaltantes y capturar a los responsables.

The library's director met with authorities and officers from the National Police to coordinate efforts to recuperate the items taken by the burglars and to capture those responsible.

Fortunately, the Golden Nicca prize was recovered, as it was found nearby, but the other objects remain missing. A member of Hiperbarrio, Catalina Urquijo of the blog $ujetate (Unknown II) [es] thanked those who sent messages through the different social networking sites:

Ofrecemos nuestros más sinceros agradecimientos a todos aquellos que nos acompañaron por diversos sitios de la red dándonos su apoyo tanto cuando creímos que nos habían robado el nica como ahora.

We would like to offer our most sincere gratitude to all those who have accompanied us through various online sites giving us their support, especially when we thought that they had stolen the Nicca (prize).

Finally, Libary Coordinator Gabriel Vanegas of the blog Esas Voces que Nos Llegan [es] summarizes the shock in which, as a public employee, he had to find out about the incident:

Duele ver la ignorancia de quienes perpetúan este delito contra el patrimonio de la comunidad, pero preocupa pensar en quienes dieron la orden de hacerlo y quienes sabiendo y viendo que se hacia no procedieron de manera correcta y oportuna ante las autoridades.

It hurts to see the ignorance from those that committed this crime against the community's patrimony, and it also is worrisome to think about those who gave the order to do it and those who knew about it, who did not do the right thing and go to the authorities.

Translation by Eduardo Ávila

Colombian film on petty theft wins National Documentary Award

Juliana Rincón Parra — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:16:55 +0000

In Square Eyes blog, a Colombian blog about TV, movies and shows, they bring us the trailer of Bagatelle, the winner of the National Documentary Award. Bagatelle shows the day to day happenings in the judicial system where petty criminals are brought to justice.

Colombia: “Ojo al Sancocho” Community Film Festival

Catalina Restrepo — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:21:17 +0000

The International Film and Alternative and Community Video Festival called “Ojo al Sancocho [es]” was recently organized by the company Sueños Film Colombia (Dream Films) and its second edition took place September 18-25, 2009 in Ciudad Bolívar in Southern Bogotá. During the week, Colombian audiovisual projects gathered to talk about topics, such as Latin American and local identity, and Web 2.0, as a way to create practical communities.

Sancocho is a traditional soup that can be found throughout Colombia and made with many ingredients. Festival organizers used the analogy of the soup to show how the week attracted many different individuals and organizations all contributing their own ideas to the event.

Photo of Festival workshop by Yuliana Paniagua of Convergentes and used with permission.

Cuba was the special invited guest, and representatives from the Festival of Cine Pobre [es] in Cuba spoke with admiration about the activities taking place in Colombia. There was also reflection on different topics, aesthetics, and creativity. Community and alternative groups also displayed their productions with the shared objective to create images that differ from those shown by traditional media. The festival's official blog [es] has additional information about the presenters, as well as the calendar of activities throughout the week.

The blog from Tal TV [es] writes that this community initiative was created from “the need to democratize the audiovisual culture in Colombia” and summarizes the philosophy behind the Festival that attracted participants from Colombia, as well as Spain, Cuba, and Argentina:

El festival Ojo al Sancocho, promueve nuevos realizadores y productores audiovisuales de Ciudad Bolívar, de Bogotá, de Colombia y de Latinoamérica, comprometidos con un audiovisual educativo-cultural, informativo y estimulante, que promuevan la identidad latinoamericana, pluriculturalidad y los valores de libertad, solidaridad, paz y justicia.

The Ojo al Sancocho Festival promotes new directors and audiovisual producers from Ciudad Bolívar, Bogotá, Colombia, and from Latin America, committed to an educational-cultural, informative, and stimulating audiovisual work, which promotes Latin American identity, pluriculturality, and the values of freedom, solidarity, peace, and justice.

The blog Idealistas [es] writes about the background of the company Sueños Films Colombia, the event organizer:

Sueños Films ha editado alrededor de 40 documentales y 4 largometrajes, entre los que se encuentran “Corazón de Ciudad Bolívar” de Felipe Ávila, ganador del premio al Mejor Argumental Local 2008, emitido por Caracol Televisión, y “El Alma de los Sueños”, producido por los niños que integran los talleres de EKO, la escuela audiovisual de la fundación.

Sueños Films has edited around 40 documentaries and 4 feature-length films, among them “Corazón de Ciudad Bolívar” (Heart of Ciudad Bolívar) by Felipe Ávila, winner of the prize for the Best Local Short Film 2008, awarded by Caracol Television and “El Alma de los Sueños” (The Heart of Dreams) produced by the children who take part in the EKO workshops, the foundation's audio-visual school.

Participants in the Ojo al Sancocho festival took part in a wide variety of programming and were well-received by the residents of Ciudad Bolívar. After the final activity, the basic conclusion revolved around the need to construct a solid network in which all of the local initiatives that are being created converge in order to strengthen the audiovisual processes that are taking place around the country.

Translation by Eduardo Ávila

Colombia: Love and Friendship day in Online times

Juliana Rincón Parra — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:56:32 +0000

candy by Yomi955

In Colombia, people don't celebrate Valentine's day on February 14th, but instead, celebrate the whole month of September with the peak during the third weekend. On these days not only romantic couples give each other presents, but friends also get together for drinks or to eat, and one of the most frequent ways to celebrate the month is through gift exchanges, quite common in workplaces and classrooms.

Juan Felipe Beltrán writes on his blog:

Es el mes donde las personas, amigos, parejas y enamorados se reúnen para pasar un mes de felicidad, alegría, armonía y vida. En algunas partes las personas juegan al amigo secreto, el juego trata al principio en que un monitor encargado del juego da una bolsita a cada persona y debe sacar un papelito, en ese papelito hay un nombre de una persona y nombre que te aparezca ese tu amigo secreto, a ninguno de tus amigos le puedes decir quién te tocó por que la gracia del juego es no revelar al amigo, porque si lo revela ya no será amigo secreto, entonces en cada día corresponde dar a tu amigo secreto algo, por ejemplo en un dia corresponde algo salado, el otro algo dulce, el otro algo ácido, el otro la broma y asi sucesivamente hasta que llegue el último dia que es el día del regalo especial. En Colombia es unos de los meses mas esperados y el más especial del año. [Ed. Note.- spelling corrected for clarity. ]

It is the month when people, friends, couples and lovers get together to spend a month of happiness, joy, harmony and life. In some parts, people play secret friend, the game consists that in the beginning there is a monitor in charge of the game who gives a bag with names and each person has to pull out a paper, in this paper is written the name of the person who will be your secret friend, you can't tell any of your friends who you got because the fun in the game is not revealing who your friend is, because it wouldn't be secret any more. Then each day you need to give your secret friend something, for example in one day you have to give something salty, the next something sweet, the next something sour, the next a joke and so on until the last day of the game arrives when there is a special present. In Colombia it is one of the most expected months and the most special one in the year.

However, not many share this point of view regarding gift exchanges. Emmanuel Ariza writes about why he dislikes this celebration:

Aun hoy me atormentan las pesadillas de mis época de colegial, tener que comprarle un regalo a un “amigo secreto”, que por más que me esmerara, siempre iba a ser poca cosa para él. Todo para que a fin de cuentas, el pelafustán que tendría que darme el regalo a mí, diera cualquier bicoca comprada ahí de afán.

Still today I'm tormented by nightmares from my times at school, having to buy a gift for a “secret friend”, that no matter how much effort I put into it, was always going to be underappreciated. All this just so that at the end of the matter, the jerk who was supposed to give me a present, would gift me any piece of crap bought in a hurry.

From youtube, creative online video collective Internautismo Crónico, has posted a video where one of their most famous characters, the Zarco (meaning someone with blue eyes), explains why he doesn't play secret friend anymore. The character of el Zarco represents many of the youth that live in marginal areas of the city of Medellin, and speaks with a specific slang called parlache. In the video, he explains his reasons for not playing secret friend.

The reasons El Zarco gives are the following:

it is a comercial invention and as such, it requires money, which he doesn't have
he gets picked by the laziest one who doesn't make an effort.
effort is not rewarded, and gifts given are not similar in value
picking out names from a bag and getting someone he dislikes is annoying
getting IOUs instead of candy from lazy secret friends.
not getting candy but having to give, and seeing everyone else get theirs.
day of unveiling secret friends is annoying, people holler cat call and expect kissing and hugging.
he is always single and depressed during love and friendship month but…
if he is not single, he has to split himself between friends, girlfriends and lovers.

At the end the Zarco proposes making this month a time to spend with friends and loved ones, taking the time to make peace with anyone with whom we don't get along very well, but not a time for these meaningless games… however, he admits that he will be playing this year again.

The game has taken an online tint as well. Secret Follower (or #FollowerSecreto) is the new method by which Colombian twitters are participating with their friends from the popular micro-blogging platform. The methodology is explained in this page and through this tool, people can send their secret follower messages, and anyone can also check out their own present. Click on the menu button and select a twitter user to see the types of gifts they have received: phrases of friendship, images of cute animals or candy, videos, poems and more.

The small gifts are popularly called “endulzadas” which means “to sweeten”, and in this online version they consist of nice pictures to share, links to fun websites or to sites where they can download their specific present. One of the presents is the following example, a short video made with popular internet images:

So happy Month of Friendship and Love to all!

(Image by Yomi955 used according to Creative Commons attribution license)

Colombia: Medellín Celebrates its Festival of Flowers

Catalina Restrepo — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 07:58:32 +0000

Each year when August arrives, the city of Medellín, Colombia turns into a Festival of Flowers in every sense of the word. Cultural activities take place in the city's museums and parks, and numerous musical orchestras play concerts around the city. There is also a parade of antique cars that make up part of the schedule of events enjoyed by residents and visitors. However, one of the main attractions is the parade of “silleteros” (flower carriers), who are peasants that move throughout the city to showcase the large variety of Colombian flowers.

Photo of Silleta Flower Display by Jota Estrada and used under a Creative Commons license.

The “silletas” are works of art created by the silleteros, and have become the defining symbol for the Festival of the Flowers [es]. During the last days of this event, close to 500 flower displays parade through the city on the shoulders of the silleteros, showing the color and size of these flowers cultivated by the peasants of Santa Elena, a municipality located one hour of travel time from the city of Medellín.

During the 2009 version of the Festival of the Flowers that took place from July 31 to August 9, people around the world followed along with the events through the official blog. On the blog, the festival administrators give the overall festival organization, events, attendance, security, and hotel occupancy high marks [es].

Photo of Silletero with flower display on his back by Felimartinez

However, festival organizers also recognized some things that can be improved upon [es], including some complaints about the high prices of admission for some tours, which were not well attended. There was also some disorder with the organization of some events:

Aunque las cifras entregadas hablan del éxito de la fiesta, este año la ‘mala nota’ la sacaron la noche de silleteros en Santa Elena y el desorden en el Desfile de Carros Antiguos.

Even though the submitted figures speak about the festival's success, this year the “black mark” was noticed on the night of the “silleteros” in Santa Elena and the disorder in the Antique Car Parade.

Blogger Xady of Expresate [es] writes about the city traffic that was affected by the closing of the principal avenues in order to accommodate the thousands of residents of Medellín, other Colombians and foreign visitors who enjoyed the multitude of events:

Para realizar algunos eventos o en su defecto muchos eventos la alcaldía y la secretaría de tránsito optan por cerrar vías que son muy utilizadas por otras personas que no están en los eventos agendados, generando así una congestión vehicular o una aglomeración en el transporte público tal como el metro que es la vía más rápida cuando hay este tipo de problemas en las calles.

Aparte de todo esto, en el evento de arrieros, mulas y fondas suele suceder que hay demasiadas riñas y peleas y adivinen el motivo, las mujeres o simplemente el trago. Generando así una cara negativa de la feria de las flores.

In order to put on some events or many events, the Mayor's office and the Transit Secretary chose to close some roads that are used heavily by other people who are not attending the planned events, which creates a vehicular congestion or an agglomeration in some forms public transportation, such as the metro which is the fastest way to move when there are these types of problems in the streets.

In addition, in the event of the carriers, mules, and fondas (bars), there are often many conflicts and fights and guess why, women or simply alcohol. This creates a negative side of the Festival of the Flowers.

Even with the things that went right and went wrong, the Festival of Flowers sought to unite the city through a tradition that started in 1957, after the peasants had been coming down to the city of Medellín with flowers on their back in order to sell them. Here are some highlights of the 2009 version of the Festival of Flowers produced by the festival organizers:

Colombia: The Extraordinary UNASUR Meeting in Bariloche

Julián Ortega Martínez — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:57:04 +0000

On Friday, August 28, 2009, an extraordinary meeting of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) was held in Bariloche, Argentina, primarily to discuss the use of 7 Colombian military bases by United States military personnel. The issue had prompted criticism from Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia, and raised concerns in the other South American countries.

Fearing he would be cornered by his colleagues, Colombian President Álvaro Uribe managed for the meeting to be broadcast live on television. People from all over South America followed the event, and Colombians were not an exception. Those working in offices without television sets, but with internet access could watch the summit through several websites streaming the meeting, which lasted more than 6 hours (it was scheduled for 3).

Colombian twitterers followed and commented on the event, using the hashtag #unasur, as did their counterparts from other countries. As the event was going on, Uribe defended the military deal with the US while the other presidents debated it, the local twittosphere expressed their views, took positions, and made jokes as if they were watching a football match.

El Chiflamicas @elchiflamicas:

temas para #unasur el regreso de nubeluz. grántico, palmani, zum!

#unasur topics: the Nubeluz [a popular 1990s Peruvian children's show] comeback: “grántico, palmani, zum!”

Jorge Ruiz @chandaxi:

¡MUY MADRE URIBE! Declare la guerra ya hdp y si es el caso vamos hasta por ese pedregal mal llamado malvinas, las falklands son Colombianas!

URIBE, YOU'RE TOO KIND WITH'EM! Declare war right now, you SOB and if that's the case we go to that scree bad-named Malvinas, the Falkland Islands are Colombian!

Miguel Olaya @juglardelzipa:

«imperio terrorista». ¡uribe y la revolución de las categorías políticas!

“terrorist empire.” Uribe and the revolution of political categories!

El Político @yosoyelpolitico:

Colombia es mi patria libre, democratica, soberana y pasional - yo tambien los soy y Unasur quiere privarnos y privarme de eso.

Colombia is my free, democratic, sovereign, and passionate motherland - I am too, and Unasur wants to deprive us and deprive me of that.

Andrea @ludovia:

me enferma Uribe, me enferma Chávez, me enferma Correa y están en el mismo salón!!! arrrg #unasur #masoquismo

Uribe makes me sick, [Hugo] Chávez makes me sick, [Rafael] Correa makes me sick and they are at the same room!!! arrrg #unasur #masochism

Dustin Martínez @DuXtin:

Cuando dijeron que iba a hablar el presidente de Perú, por un momento imaginé que iba a ver a Fujimori.

When they said the President of Peru was going to speak, I imagined for a moment that I was going to see Fujimori.

Manolo Paez @ManoloPaez:

Hoy soy colombiano y peruano! Suramericano no!

Today I'm Colombian and Peruvian! Not South American!

Juan David Escobar @ElReticente:

En RCN, en el “banner” dicen en Ultima hora: “Colombia no aceptara verificación de #Unasur”. Los benditos traductores del sentir
nacional.

On [pro-Uribe television network] RCN, at the [lower thirds] it says Breaking News: “Colombia will not accept #Unasur verification”. Holy translators of the national opinion.

Daniel Villegas @Villegasrest:

Chavez, Correa y Ortega son el diablo, cada uno tiene 6 letras en el apellido, son el “666″. #Unasur

Chavez, Correa, and [Nicaraguan president Daniel] Ortega are the devil, each one has 6 letters in their last names, they're “666″. #Unasur

Manuel Gomez @manuelj:

Correa esta diciendo cosas muy interesantes, lastima que el colombiano promedio va a ignorar todo lo que diga por el odio que le tiene.

Correa is saying very interesting things, it's a shame that the average Colombian will ignore everything he says because of their hatred toward him

Lanark @donAlvar:

jajaja “yo respondo por mi periodo de gobierno” pues por eso, huevón, para siempre #unasur

hahaha “I answer for my term in office”, of course, you sucker, that means forever #unasur

Miguel Olaya @juglardelzipa:

«los nazis usaban brazalete. lafar usa brazalente. entonces lafar son nazis», dijo uribe en #unasur.

“nazis wore armbands. lafar [the way Uribe uses to refer to “FARC”] wear armbands. therefore lafar are nazis,” Uribe said at #unasur.

Carlos Correa Cano @kloscorrea:

¿Y será que con tanto tratado EEUU- Colombia a los colombianos nos van a empezar a tratar con dignidad en los aeropuertos gringos?

So with so many US-Colombia treaties will we Colombians start to be treated with dignity at American airports?

@Aldobello

¿cúal es la herramienta de medición de cultivos ilícitos que existe ahora en Colombia pero no en el 2002?…. pues Google maps!!! #unasur

Which was the measuring tool for illegal crops now in use in Colombia but not in 2002? Google maps!!! #unasur

Andrea @ludovia:

no entiendo, no hay intervencionismo bueno ni malo pero ¿chávez no se puede meter y estados unidos sí? ¿me perdí? #unasur

i don't get it, there's no good or bad interventionism but Chávez can't mess [with us] and the US can? what did I miss?

Die Goth @DieGoth74:

#freemediave Documento secreto de #Chavez contra #Uribe en #Unasur fue robado en operación comando de temibles cuarteles de Wikipedia

#freemediave Secret document brought by #Chavez against #Uribe at #Unasur was stolen during a commando operation at the fearful Wikipedia headquarters

AsmodeoCastigado @Asmodeo_:

ESte pisco es un chiste total: RT @aabenedetti: El Presidente Uribe como siempre muy bien en UNASUR

This guy is a complete joke: RT @aabenedetti (Armando Benedetti, a pro-Uribe senator): President Uribe, as always, great at UNASUR

Túrin @Turint:

Lula da clases de completa sensatez, me dan ganas de ser brasilero… bueno, tambien cuando juega la seleccion

Lula gives very sensible lessons, I'd love to be Brazilian… well, when their national [football] team plays too

Sebastián Restrepo @SebasRestrepo:

Hubieran puesto a leer a Bachelet, eso lo lee en 20 segundos.

If they'd had Bachelet reading [the final statement], she can read it in 20 seconds.

@simonwilchesc

A qué horas se abren las líneas para que votemos en #unasur ????

When will the lines be open so we can vote at #unasur????

Carlos Santamaría B. @Flakster:

#UNASUR fue TOCONUR (TOdos CONtra URibe), pero ni así pudieron….. Ja ja

#UNASUR was TOCONUR (”Everyone against Uribe”), but even that way, they couldn't even….. Ha ha

Pablou @p4bl1t0:

hoy mas de uno aprendio que Surinam es un pais de suramerica xD #Unasur

today a lot of us learned that Suriname is a South American country xD #Unasur

Lina Artunduaga @LinaArtunduaga:

Que partida de nerdos somos, trinando 7 horas de una cumbre aburridísima!

We're such a bunch of nerds, tweeting for 7 hours about a really boring summit!

When Bolivian President Evo Morales spoke at the meeting, several twitterers wrote racist comments, ridiculing his accent, the way he was talking or the fact he is an indigenous. @lncognito compiles [es] some of these tweets.

On the blogosphere, president Uribe's former press secretary Ricardo Galán tries to summarize the meeting [es]:

La estrella de la jornada, Cristina Kirchner le arrebató el manejo de la cumbre al Rafael Correa, le bajó la temperatura al enfrentamiento verbal, le puso los puntos sobre las íes a Uribe y a Chavez y ejerció como buena anfitriona.

Michelle Bachelet fue la otra estrella. Fue la única que le dio dimensión internacional y visión de largo plazo a su discurso. Los demás estaban más preocupados por hablarle a los habitantes de sus países que al resto del continente como bien lo dijo el Presidente Lula. (…)

Uribe les manejó la cumbre de principio a fin. Dijo lo que quiso, cuando quiso y en el tono que quiso.

The star of the day, [Argentine president] Cristina [Fernández de] Kirchner snatched the management of the meeting away from Rafael Correa, cooled the temperature of the verbal faceoff, set the record straight to Uribe and Chávez and was a good hostess.
Michelle Bachelet was the other star. She was the only one who gave international dimension and long term vision to her speech. The others were more worried for speaking to the people of their countries than the rest of the continent, as president Lula said. (…)
Uribe handled the summit from top to bottom. He said what he wanted, when he wanted, and in the tone he wanted.

Journalist Jaime Restrepo agrees [es] with Galán that it was a victory for Uribe and a defeat for Chávez. He also complains about the uselessness of the UNASUR:

[S]i las decisiones de Unasur no son vinculantes, una de las quejas que presentó Alan García, los documentos pueden decir muchas cosas que, después de los encuentros, se convierten en letra muerta. Es más: mientras Chávez sea dictador, las decisiones de Unasur no serán vinculantes, pues al sátrapa no le interesa que el mundo conozca la verdadera naturaleza criminal de su régimen.

If UNASUR's decisions are non-binding, one of the complaints issued by Alan García, the documents may state many things that, after the meetings, become dead letter. Even more: as long as Chávez is a dictator, decisions by Unasur will not be binding, because the satrap is not interested for the world to know the true criminal nature of his regime.

Finally, Marsares declares [es] Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as the “winner” of the summit, and recognizes the Colombian diplomacy's “success” at neutering a “Chavista trap”, but claims that Uribe is still an obstacle for South American integration:

Es claro que la intervención de Lula los aterrizó, al punto que vieron lo que no habían querido ver antes. Que decisiones tomadas al calor de las emociones no sólo perjudican a los vecinos, sino también al propio país, pues Sudamérica es una red de vasos comunicantes, donde todos dependemos de todos. Así que la tarea a seguir, según lo predicado por Lula, es recomponer las maltrechas relaciones si es que se quiere, en un futuro que UNASUR sea una realidad y no un club en el que prime el diálogo de sordos.

It is clear that Lula's participation at the meeting forced them down, to the point they saw what they could not see before. Decisions made during the heat of emotions not only harm their neighbours, but also their own countries, because South America is a network of communicating vessels, where everyone depends on everyone. So the job to do, according to what Lula said, is to fix the battered relationships if they wish to, in a future when UNASUR becomes a reality and not a club where the dialog of the deaf prevails.

Colombia: Another Massacre of the Awá Indigenous Community

Eduardo Avila — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 17:26:45 +0000

Plan Colombia and Beyond writes about the report from the National Organization of Indigenous People about another massacre of members of the Awá indigenous community by an unidentified armed group in the department of Nariño.

Colombia: The Other Side of the Flower Fair

Eduardo Avila — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 09:09:04 +0000

The Flower Fair in Medellín, Colombia is a highly anticipated event, which attracts many visitors to the city. However, Xady of Expresate [es] shows another side to the fair, which includes traffic congestion and an increase in accidents.

Colombia: Hiperbarrio Featured at Periodismo Ciudadano

Juan Arellano — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:35:21 +0000

Those who follow Global Voices and who also have an interest in topics relating to participative journalism, digital communities, and the projects of Rising Voices, may already be familiar with Hiperbarrio [es], a project of Colombian young people from Medellín. They have recently been awarded with the Prix Arts Electronica in the category of “Digital Communities.” Not long ago, they have also celebrated their second anniversary and members from Periodismo Ciudadano [es] site (Citizen Journalism), our partners at GV in Spanish, as part of the celebration, had the excellent idea of producing a series of video interviews, two of which have already been posted on ther site. Volunteers from the Periodismo Ciudadano and Global Voices communities subtitled the videos into English.

In the first video, published with the post titled ConVerGentes Group celebrates its second anniversary [es], Catalina Restrepo, member of Hiperbarrio and blogger at Cosas del Alma [es] tells about how the project started and the problems faced by La Loma in Medellín, the neighborhood where they are located. Restrepo was recently awarded with the Talented Woman Award in the field of Social Development in her hometown.

Video I

In the second video, published under the title Gabriel Jaime Venegas: rescuing La Loma’s historic memory [es] features Gabriel, one of the pioneers of the project, who blogs at Esas Voces que Nos Llegan [es], who tells why recovering the neigborhood history is so important to them.

Video II

Jacinto Lajas, one of the members of Periodismo Ciudadano and the person who produced the videos shown above, is a self professed fan of Hiperbarrio project. Lajas describes why the project in Medellín was so appealing to their site and led to the production of the videos:

Since we started with PC (Periodismo Ciudadano), besides having friends there already (Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, etc.), our interest has been focused more in Latin America, which in the aspect of citizen journalism in Spanish is the logical area of interest, and where its development is more interesting at every level, because of the sociopolitical contexts from the different countries, among other things. Besides that, personally (and I guess everybody else) I’ve have always been interested about what was happening there (politically, socially…). At least, a lot of people of my generation in Spain were already interested in those themes during our own youth. Come on, we used to hear Quilapayún, Víctor Jara or Violeta Parra along with Deep Purple, Creedence (Clearwater Revival) or AC/DC, to make ourselves musically clear. :D

The first interest in Hiperbarrio came about through an article that dealt with the project as a way of taking young people to certain neighborhoods of Medellín, making the most of libraries, as an alternative to the way of weapons, something similar to computers vs. guns, to put it in simpler terms. And it was nice the touch of citizen journalism, where young people could document their own reality and thus be productive, instead of victims of a situation of deep-rooted violence, which always ends in the same way, crime and death. That was the part of the project that attracted me.

Then once I met them, my conviction about the huge injustices grew stronger. They were nice young people, intelligent, cultured, full of goals and dreams, with a lot of ability and with a lot to offer. Thanks to this path offered by Hiperbarrio, they are making it clear to the world what is happening in Colombia, as in other parts of Latin America and the world in general. It is not a problem of the people, but of those who lead people’s destiny without caring at all about the people. There are paths to fight against that sort of curse without deaths or bloody revolutions. Instead one can fight with their hearts and a free voice, in a peaceful and kind way (which now the Internet allows to spread further).

The complete series consists of five videos, two of them are posted at Periodismo Ciudadano [es], to watch the rest of them, you can do it here. Global Voices would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Hiperbarrio once more, who recently participated in Campus Party Bogotá 2009 with a workshop about videoblogging and who appeared days ago in a piece of news at the Colombian newspaper El Espectador.

Colombia: Senator Scolded For Using Twitter

Juliana Rincón Parra — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 04:22:00 +0000

Colombian Senator Armando Benedetti may be admonished by his political party for using Twitter to inform followers of declarations [es] made during a press conference. He wrote that there are bad feelings because he published the information before letting the media know [es].

Colombia: On Independence Day

Julián Ortega Martínez — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:06:29 +0000

Alejandro Ángel celebrates [es] the July 20 holiday and criticizes those Colombians who keep “complaining,” while Miguel Olaya writes [es] about the “re-signification” of this patriotic days during president Uribe's administration, and Apolo Duvalis is grateful [es] to Simón Bolívar and his “gang” for achieving the independence from Spain.

Colombia: The Hunt for Pablo Escobar's Hippo

Julián Ortega Martínez — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:03:42 +0000

On July 10, 2009, the Colombian magazine Donjuan published a story [es] about the hunt of a male hippopotamus that had escaped from Hacienda Nápoles, a estate owned by late drug lord Pablo Escobar Gaviria during his heyday. “Pepe” the hippo, a descendant of a pair of hippos brought by Escobar to his ranch in the early 80s, was killed [es] mid-June by hunters, accompanied by a company of Army soldiers, which was authorized by the Colombian authorities. Pepe died after three shots, one reached its brain and the other two, its heart. It was the photo of the hippo, already dead and surrounded by the soldiers, which had sparked a national controversy [es].

The Colombian government said it had tried to capture the hippo several times, claiming “they were carriers of disease and posed a risk to local communities”, but animal rights activists and organizations demanded [es] the resignation of Environment Minister Carlos Costa. Another magazine (Donjuan's main competitor) organized [es] a flashmob. After the outrage, the authorities suspended the order to hunt Pepe's female partner, known as “Matilda”, and their baby [es] “Hip”. Though initially the authorities said the hippos had attacked people and killed cattle, reports [es] by local media say people living in the area where Pepe was killed did not consider it a threat and that they were deceived by the government environmental agencies, which told them it would be taken to a zoo. Another 22 hippos still live [es] in Hacienda Nápoles.

The controversy, of course, quickly reached Colombian blogosphere and twittosphere. The opinions were divided: some supported the government's decision, others expressed their outrage, a few made jokes, sometimes with sarcasm:

donAlvar:

Ahí está la cuota colombiana para aplazar el apocalipsis: el ejército ya dio de baja a un productor irredento de metano. #hipopotamo

That's the Colombian quota to postpone the apocalypse: the Army has already put down an irredeemable methane producer.

panÓptiko:

Los soldados no tienen culpa de nada. Yo también me hubiera tomado foto con el #hipopótamo

Soldiers aren't guilty of anything. I would have taken a picture with the #hippo too.

cutemarieclaire:

si esa es la solucion frente a este problema como será con los mas graves…. #hipopotamo

if that's the solution for this problem, how will they deal the most serious ones…

miguel_k:

con la muerte del hipopotamo se demuestra que se aprendió la lección gringa de la guerra preventiva

the death of the hippo death shows that they learned the American lesson of preventive war

charlie_joe:

Hacemos más bulla por un puto hipopótamo que por una víctima de falsos positivos

We make more fuss for a f***ing hippo than for a victim of false positives

elchiflamicas:

es infame hacer chistes con lo del hipopótamo. es mejor hacerlos cuando los militares matan humanos, al menos esos no están en extinción

it's awful to make jokes with this hippo thing. it's better to make them when soldiers kill humans, at least those ones aren't [an] endangered [species]

g_orge:

la muerte de “PEPE” el hipopotamo traqueto, podría tumbar al ministro de Ambiente pero asesinatos de civiles no tumbaron al ministro Santos.

“PEPE”, the mafia hippo's death could force the removal of the Environment Minister from office, but murders of civilians couldn't oust [former Defense] minister [Juan Manuel] Santos

stultaviro:

Los liberales se razgan (sic) las vestiduras por el hipopótamo, ojalá lo hubieran hecho por el elefante.

Liberals lose sleep over the hippo's thing, I wish they had done so over the elephant

martinrestrepo:

Comentan que el hipopótamo antes de morir a manos del Ejército dijo “prefiero una tumba en Colombia que una jaula en Estados Unidos”.

They say the hippo, before die on Army's hands, said “I prefer a grave in Colombia, than a cage in the United States“

jack2502 asks to save the hippos [es] and is critical of the government:

esa orden de matar es algo irracional acaso cuando algo nos estorba no desasemos (sic) de el ,como si fuese basura y mas tratandose de unos indefensos animales que si son muy territoriales, pero de todas maneras no es justo. otra cosa hay dinero para guerra , referendos, factor x , que el desafio etc.. y otras estupidese mas pero no hay dinero para poderlos transportar

that order to kill is irrational, do we get rid of something when it comes on our way as if it was trash, even more when they are defenseless, yet territorial animals, but anyway it's not fair. another issue, there's money for war, referenda, x-factor, reality shows, and another stupid things but there's no money to move them [?]

With sarcasm, blueandtanit also deals [es] with the issue :

¿De cuando a acá, en Colombia, el país en el que se comen huevos de Iguana sin que nadie proteste, el país en el que se cazan y comen babillas, el país donde se venden tortugas y peces silvestres en las afueras de escuelas y colegios… Nos preocupamos por el cuidado de nuestra fauna y porque muchas especies de nuestra riqueza en diversidad biológica aumenten su peligro de extinción? No entiendo cuál es el escándalo con los hipopótamos.

[…]

¿De cuando a acá nos da pena que nuestro ejército nacional no haga cosas “más valerosas”, Acaso no es este el país donde nuestro “glorioso” ejército nacional muestra una banderita de la cruz roja “por miedo”? No entiendo cuál es el escándalo con los hipopótamos.

Since when in Colombia, the country where iguana eggs are eaten without anyone protesting, the country where spectacled caimans are hunted and eaten, the country where turtles and wild fishes are sold in front of schools… do we worry about our fauna and about a lot of species within our rich biodiversity that are becoming more endangered? I don't understand what's the scandal with the hippos.
[…]

Since when are we ashamed because our national army can't do “more courageous” things? Isn't this the country where our “glorious” national army shows a Red Cross flag out of “fear”? I don't understand what's the scandal with the hippos.

Some bloggers attacked both the excessive media coverage of the issue (denouncing their alleged mistakes and misconceptions [es]) and the hypocrisy [es] of most of the Colombian society. For example, Carlos Correa, who writes [es]:

Quizás podríamos entender con esto que los colombianos estamos tomando conciencia del valor de la vida, y de la conservación de nuestro ambiente. O mejor aún, podríamos decir exactamente que somos un gran pueblo hipócrita.

Que otro nombre darle a este pueblo que se rasga las vestiduras frente a la matanza del hipopótamo - que es lamentable, eso ni dudarlo- pero que guarda un silencio aterrador frente al asesinato de seres humanos. Un ejemplo: En Cali en la misma semana que mataron a “pepe” fueron asesinados ¡cuatro! indigentes, en una de las normales campañas de limpieza social.

Casi nadie dijo nada, los medios presentaron tenuemente la noticia y los colombianos defensores de la vida, como que estaban ocupados con el “hipo” porque no se pronunciaron. No hay correos electrónicos de este hecho, ni twiits, ni tan siquiera un grupo de Facebook que condene o comente el hecho. No hay encuestas, ni mensajes de políticos, ni comentarios llenos groserías repudiando la muertes de estos seres humanos, apesar que a dos de ellos los mataron con un paquete bomba, que le hicieron pasar por comida regalada - sádicos-.

Maybe we could understand that with this, that Colombians are becoming more conscious of the value of life and of the value of our environmental conservation. Or even better, we could exactly say we're a huge hypocritical country.

In which other way should we call these people who lose sleep over the hippo's killing -which is regrettable, without a doubt- but which keeps a frightening silence over the murder of human beings. An example: in the same week Pepe was killed, four beggars were murdered in Cali, as part of the usual social cleansing campaigns.

Practically no one said a word, the media reported the news briefly and those Colombians who defend life seemed to be busy with the hippo because they didn't react. No e-mails, no tweets, not even a Facebook group condemning or commenting this event. No polls, no statements by politicians, not even comments full of swear words repudiating the deaths of these human beings, despite the fact that two of them were killed with package bombs, disguised as free food -sadists-.

Finally, journalist Ricardo Galán, a former press secretary for president Álvaro Uribe and also a member of the National Television Commission, tries to explain [es] from his point of view why Colombians were outraged for Pepe's killing:

¿Por qué será que nos duele tanto la muerte del hipopótamo? Quizá porque Pepe no le estaba haciendo mal a nadie a propósito. Quizá porque tenemos claro que el único animal que mata por matar es el hombre. Los demás salvo que los molesten o tengan la imperiosa necesidad de alimentarse no atacan a nadie.

De pronto nuestro subconsciente le quiera decir a la sociedad y a quienes expidieron la orden de exterminarlos, que Pepe no había salido de su hábitat en busca de dinero fácil o aventura. Que no había partido atraído por el poder de las armas.

De pronto, queremos decir que no nos parece justo que se use tanta fuerza, la fuerza de la fuerza pública, para perseguir a un animal y su manada cuyo único pecado, si es que lo tuvo, es haber nacido muy lejos de su ambiente natural porque hace como 30 años a un mafioso se le ocurrió traer de Africa a sus antepasados para lucirlos como trofeos y símbolos andantes de su poder ante propios y extraños.

Why does the death of the hippo hurt us so much? Perhaps because Pepe was not doing evil to anyone on purpose. Perhaps because we are clear that the only animal who kills for the sake of killing is man. The others, unless they're disturbed or have the vital need to feed themselves, don't attack anyone.

Maybe our subconscious wants to tell society and those who issued the order to exterminate them that Pepe had not left its habitat looking for easy money or adventure. That he had not set off attracted by the power of guns.

Maybe we want to say we don't find fair they used such force, the force of the public security forces, to chase an animal and its herd whose only sin, if any, was to had been born very far away from their natural environment because around 30 years ago a mafioso had decided to bring their ancestors from Africa to show them as trophies and as walking symbols of his power in front of everyone.

Colombia: Where to Find the Best Buñuelo

Eduardo Avila — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:24:04 +0000

The buñuelo is a typical Colombian snack that can elicit hunger pangs with the mere mention of the word. That is what recently happened with a group of Colombian twitterers, who chose to discuss their favorite places to buy the buñuelo, as well as some of their favorite aspects of the typical snack.

Made from flour and cheese, then formed into balls, the buñuelo is typically fried and can be purchased by street vendors or other shops that sell to hungry customers. Although the buñuelo can vary among Latin American countries, the Colombian buñuelo is typically consumed during the holiday season, but is also eaten year-round.

Buñuelo by MundoNeko and used under a Creative Commons license. http://www.flickr.com/photos/36303292@N00/212493296/

Camilo García of the blog Hyperconectado [es] collected responses to the question posed to his fellow twitterers in the capital city of Bogotá. Where can one find the best buñuelo? He writes:

El buñuelo es rico. Punto. Tostadito y esponjadito, grande o chiquito, no importa… es simplemente rico. Por esta razón y gracias a la colaboración de Twitters colombianos se crea La Ruta del Buñuelo en Bogotá que busca ubicar y destacar los mejores buñuelos de la ciudad.

The buñuelo is delicious. Period. Crispy and spongy, large or small, it does not matter… it is simply delicious. For that reason and thanks to the collaboration of Colombian twitterers, the Route of the Buñuelo in Bogotá was created, which seeks to locate and highlight the best buñuelos in the city.

Many twitterers such as Catalina Alba, Victor Solano and Hector Linares responded to the call. They referred to specific points in the city where one can find the best buñuelo.

The online discussion regarding where to find the best version led into tips how to best eat a buñuelo and the sharing of anecdotes. José Carlos García R writes:

Como comer #buñuelo: Yo lo muerdo a la redonda, lo dejo como manzana mordida de caricatura y luego me como los polos.

How to eat a #buñuelo: I eat the round part, I leave it like an apple that has been bitten into, then I eat the ends.

Photo of frying buñuelos in Colombia by Cirofono and used under a Creative Commons license: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ciroduran/83584367/

He also remembers a curious story:

Recuerdo una noticia de una imagen de la virgen que apareció en un #buñuelo Orad antes de morder tu #buñuelo, hermanos. Josecarlos 2:12

I remember the news about the image of the Virgin Mary that appeared in a #bunuelo. Pray before biting into your #buñuelo, brothers and sisters. Josecarlos 2:12

All the talk about the buñuelo led some to rush out to buy the snack to munch on, but it also led to some messy consequences. In Bogotá, @Mkorsario wrote:

hay boronas de #buñuelo en el teclado……. todo por culpa de twitter

there are #buñuelo crumbs on the keyboard…. it is all Twitter's fault

Colombia: Campus Party 2009 in Bogotá

Eduardo Avila — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:20:59 +0000

The most recent edition of Campus Party in Bogotá, Colombia is currently underway and Catalina Restrepo of Cosas del Alma [es] writes about her 2nd participation in the event.

Colombia: Living with Flooding in Barranquilla

Juliana Rincón Parra — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:56:33 +0000

Image by Patton

Barranquilla in Colombia is the most important coastal city with a distinct characteristic: no rainwater drainage systems, so whenever it rains, the whole city floods with dangerous fast running rivers (called arroyos) replacing roads. On the following videos, taxis, cars and even buses float by on the streets as other citizens try to lend a helping hand to keep them from getting away.

The dangerous situations arising from the “arroyos”, are a result of bad city planning, no drainage systems, not enough clearance on the sides of creeks before building and the risky behaviour of those who try to brave the current. Following, some videos of these impressive forces of nature that take control over the most important city of the Caribbean coast.

Blogger Patton, who visited Barranquilla recently, did live streaming of the water covering the streets after a light rain. It was Maaria, travelling with him who narrates on the video and notified us about it on twitter. Patton also uploaded other videos of the flooding streets as well as pictures, such as the one used on this post, on his flickr account, pointing out on the accompanying notes how people have adapted to the situation.

Barranquilla native @allyfar also posted on twitter several pictures of the same storm right outside her house:

Although the flooding looks manageable from the previous videos, keep in mind it was a light rain which caused these arroyos. The following video, made by Telekinesishd, a production company based in Barranquilla, shows the water dragging away a full size pickup truck.

This next documentary, made by the regional government of Barranquilla and uploaded on YouTube by shchalel, explains why the city lacks rainwater drainage systems: it was thought they wouldn´t work since the city lies below the level of the Magdalena River, the largest river in Colombia and also Barranquilla's neighbor. The arroyos have claimed human lives in the past, and the damage to property and to the environment is quite extensive, particularly in the poorer communities, usually built too close to the margins of creeks and small tributaries.

The quantity of citizen videos reporting on the arroyos in Barranquilla is quite high. Almost all include a driver struggling to get their vehicle out of the arroyo's path. Some are lucky, others are dragged by the water and into the rivers. Some drivers are lucky and leave their car before its too late. The situation is made worse because it is just so common: drivers don't treat is a dangerous situation every time, they decide to risk it and hope for the best.

Sometimes the drivers ignore the danger and wait until it is too late to take their car into safety. This video by cafustar shows a taxi driver trying to pull into a parking garage, and as the water pulls the car away from the entrance, people start arriving to help pull it inside by brute force: at a time there are up to seven men, including the driver, fighting against the water. Finally, the arroyo is too strong and takes the taxi away.

Trightxu gives additional information about the following video featuring yet another taxi driver attempting to drive through an arroyo with his wife and a baby in the car when they get swept away by the water and struck by another car also floating along. Luckily they survived:

Here are even more videos of the arroyos, taken by ordinary citizens:

Reinaldo Pinilla (ReyPini):

LouisJuniorista:

PruebasyoPublico: