Stories about Colombia from November, 2011
Colombia: Internally Displaced People Tell Blogger their Stories
According to the Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement (CODHES) Colombia has 5.2 million internally displaced people. Mike Ceaser talked “to several of the displaced people who've been demonstrating daily in Plaza Bolivar [in Bogota], demanding that the government give them land and other benefits.” Read some of their stories...
Latin American Students March for Education
Inspired by the student movements in Colombia and Chile, students across the continent marched on November 24, 2011 to demand free, high-quality education. El Ciudadano [es] links to the Facebook events organized in each country; Kena Lorenzini posts pictures of the Chilean protests in her blog, and Mike shares pictures...
Colombia: Bogota's Ignored Street Art
After participating in the ‘Bogotá Graffiti Tour‘, blogger Vicki Kellaway from the Banna Skin Flip Flops writes about the “other” street art in Bogotá, “the kind that’s moulding and rusting away as we speak. Yes, I’m talking about sculpture and, for that matter, statues. When was the last time you...
Colombia: Students Suspend Strike in Public Universities
Starting November 17, 2011 students from public universities [es] are gradually returning to class, after the strike that had started last October 11, 2011. This decision was announced on November 16 by the National Student Board (MANE) [es] -and published in their blog- in response to the government fulfilling its...
Colombia: President Asks Congress to Remove Education Reform Law 30
A tweet by the Presidency of the Republic [es] (@infopresidencia) reported that President Santos already sent a request to Congress asking for the removal of the project to reform higher education Law 30 [es]. Consequently, the MANE [es] (the National Student Board) said they would [es] lift the national university...
Colombia: Students Gather in Bogotá's Bolívar Square
On November 10, public university students participated in marches throughout the country and gathered in Bolivar Square in Bogota, the principal administrative center of the country. The event aimed to pressure the government to definitively repeal Law 30 for higher education reform.
Colombia: Massive National Mobilization Rejecting Reform of Law 30
Blog El salmon [es] published [es] a post titled “|No to Law 30|… We are occupying Bogotá!!” on the November 10 national mobilization [es], reporting that other social movements like indigenous people and transportation workers have joined the protest. It is estimated that 35 thousand people are protesting. Bogota is...
Latin America: New Online Learning Platform Oja.la
The Next Web highlights new online leaning platform Oja.la [es], which plans to offer IT courses in Spanish starting with “How to find investors for an online project” with entrepreneur Wenceslao Casares. However, as TNW explains, students have to pre-register through Facebook because Oja.la wants to “makes sure enough people...
Colombia: Sabaneta Municipality Outraged Due to Electoral Anomalies
After the October 30 regional elections, citizens of the smallest municipality in Colombia - Sabaneta, Antioquia - have peacefully opposed the mayoral election result and called for an investigation into electoral anomalies.
Colombia: Online Petition Calls for Resignation of Minister of Education
With widespread opposition to the Colombian government's reform to higher education, Pilar Sáenz (@Mapisaro) tweets a link [es] and shares that she signed an online petition [es] that calls for the resignation of the current Minister of Education, María Fernanda Campo [es]. A Senator [es] has been promoting this measure....
Colombia: President Santos Proposes Removal of Reform to Law 30 if Students Lift Strike
Seconds after President Juan Manuel Santos announced [es] that if students lifted their strike he would remove the project to reform higher education Law 30 from Congress, ‘Presidente Juan Manuel Santos’ [es] and ‘Santos‘ [es] became local Trending Topics on Twitter. This occurs on the eve of a protest scheduled...
Colombia: FARC Main Ideologue “Alfonso Cano” Killed
Alfonso Cano, the top leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), was taken out on November 4 in the department of Cauca during combat against the army. Colombians reacted to his death in their blogs, and also expressed their opinions on Twitter using the hashtag #AlfonsoCano.
Colombia: Top FARC Leader Alfonso Cano Dies
On November 4, top FARC leader Guillermo León Sáenz Paez, alias Alfonso Cano, died at the age of 63 in a military operation in the southwestern Cauca department. Reactions on Twitter [es] and online [es] media [es] are numerous.
Colombia: Lleras Law Sinks in Congress
Congress once again discussed the controversial bill called ‘Lleras Law” [es] on copyright and intellectual property on the Internet, but this time Senator Roy Barreras proposed to sink the bill, arguing the it contained inconsistencies. While the media reported [es] the news, Colombians reacted on Twitter with the hashtag #Ley...
Colombia: Universities Continue Strike in Protest of Law 30
Colombian university students are still on strike in protest of a reform to Law 30. They argue the reform will privatize public universities, and emphasize they will not start classes until the bill is withdrawn from Congress.
Latin America: Travel Writer Tackles the Andes
Michael Busch interviews travel writer Michael Jacobs about his book Andes: “Beginning in Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela and finishing up in the heart of Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego, Andes masterfully details the history, art, geography, personalities, and politics that have defined and been given shape by life in the region.”
Colombia: Anonymous Invites Citizens to Protest on November 10
Anonymous, through its Twitter account @Anonymiss_Co [es], links to a video [es] where they confirm their support of the student strikes in rejection of a reform to higher education Law 30. They also congratulate the students for their resistance, and invite citizens to join a national mobilization on November 10, 2011.
Colombia: The 2011 Regional Elections
On Sunday, October 30, Colombia held regional elections for local public posts. Due to the importance of these posts, these elections are tracked in the same manner as the presidential elections. Citizens followed the voting closely and the elections were widely discussed on citizen media platforms and social networks.
Colombia: Gustavo Petro, Bogotá's New Mayor
Regional elections were held in Colombia on October 30. Although the right to vote was exercised throughout the country, the Bogotá election generated the greatest expectations since its citizens went to the polls during one of the capital city's biggest institutional crises.
