Global Voices » Julián Ortega Martínez

Colombia: Bomb Blast Targeted at Controversial Former Minister

Julián Ortega Martínez — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:45:33 +0000

Tuesday 15 May 2012 was a tense and heavy day for most Bogotanos. The day started with a car bomb, deactivated by the authorities, in the Eduardo Santos neighbourhood, a few blocks away from the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police of Bogotá. Hours later, as protests [es] (which left 3 injured) emerged in the National University of Colombia because the Free Trade Agreement with the United States was entering into force, a bomb exploded on Caracas Avenue and 74 Street, in northern Bogotá.

Initially it was reported that the bomb exploded in a bus, but as more information came in, reports confirmed that a magnetic bomb was left by a walking man on the hood of the car of former interior Minister Fernando Londoño Hoyos [es], 67, a conservative lawyer and politician who held that office during the first years of former president Álvaro Uribe Vélez's administration. Two of his bodyguards, the driver of the bus, and two other people were reportedly killed [es], though official reports still claim only 2 died. Londoño was taken to a hospital t0 undergo surgery to remove a piece of metal from his chest.

Mr Londoño has been controversial [es]: he was involved in a financial scandal involving stocks of an oil company named Invercolsa and was barred from public office in 2004 for 15 years out of conflict of interest. After he left the Ministry, he started a morning radio programme, La hora de la verdad [es] (”The hour of truth”), devoted to supporting former president Uribe's policies and attacking FARC and other left wing guerrillas. He was also actively writing op-eds for El Tiempo and El Colombiano newspapers. He supported current president Juan Manuel Santos during the elections, but as many other staunch supporters of Uribe, he felt betrayed and now opposes most of his policies. The Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP) condemned [es] the attack.

This attempt prompted thousands of reactions.

Car Bombing in Bogotá, Colombia targeting former Interior Minister Fernando Londono. Photo by David Maiolo under Creative Commons license (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Journalist Carolina Ruiz (@CaroRuizG) tweets [es]:

El terrorismo nos afecta a todos, independiente de las creencias políticas. Qué pendejada echarse culpas.

Terrorism affects us all, no matter our political beliefs. It's so silly to blame each other.

@JuliethBlues states [es]:

Lo peor que podría pasar es que a Londoño caiga en un atentado, su martirización le daría un poder impresionante a la ext.derecha

The worst thing that might happen is that Londoño gets killed in an attempt, his martyrisation would give the far right an impressive power.

Dan Gamboa Bohórquez (@larepuvlica) wonders [es] about the possible reasons of the attempt against Londoño:

Fernando Londoño debe tener información peligrosa. Es la única explicación para atentar contra alguien irrelevante en la actualidad.

Fernando Londoño must be holding dangerous information. That is the only reason for attacking someone currently irrelevant.

Richie (@MelisMatik) links the attack to other events in the day [es]:

Muy sofisticado el atentado. Súmenle día de protestas y votación del Marco para la Paz en el Congreso… ¿Para quién será el mensaje?

The attempt was quite sophisticated. Add to it the day of protests and voting in Congress of the Legal Framework for Peace… For whom will be the message?

(Mr. Londoño devoted his latest radio editorial piece [es] to this framework).

Many Twitter users harshly [es] criticized [es] the media [es] coverage [es] of the attack [es]: (Warning: The next three links lead to sites with strong images) newspapers [es] and TV newscasts broadcast bloody images [es] of the injured, including Mr. Londoño [es], and the country's main radio network interviewed live [es] the mother of Mr. Londoño's driver, which was deemed sensationalist [es]. @LaCaballero writes [es]:

Los periodistas de medios masivos COLABORAN con el terrorismo. Ayudan a sembrar el miedo, la [z]ozobra, la confusión.

Mainstream media journalists COLLABORATE with terrorism. They help sow fear, uneasiness, confusion.

Andrés Guerra Hoyos (@andresguerraho) tweets [es]:

Lo mas duro es entender que existe una parte del Pais que hoy esta Feliz con el atentado en Bogota, Infames

The hardest thing is to understand that there is a part of the country that is happy with the attack in Bogotá. They're so despicable.

Roberto S (@manoloparis_) criticizes [es] some ‘theories' on the attack:

Por eso es que nos va como nos va, no falta la mente torcida que ya esta diciendo que es un autoatentado, Por Dios, y los medio[s] harán eco.

That's why we are doing like this, there's always the wicked mind already saying this was an auto-attack. For God's sake, and the media will echo it.

Frustrated, Olga Cuartas (@Olpacu) tweets [es]:

Ni para rechazar un acto terrorista somos capaces de unirnos como sociedad.

We're not even able to unite as a society to reject a terrorist act.

María (@lamarialeja) asks [es]:

No jodamos. ¿ Aún están usando esa falacia de “los buenos somos más”?.

F*** this. Are they still using that ‘we the good people are more' fallacy?

Finally, @dianadaista reacts to the reactions (1, 2, 3) [es]:

1) Los atentados se han hecho en múltiples y muy diferentes gobiernos, vayan a culpar al mandato de su madre. 2) Londoño y los demás afectados son seres humanos, hacer chiste de ellos no te hace más irreverente ni interesante. 3) Quien se considere periodista, no puede estar arrojando juicios de valor y teorías así como así, para eso existen la taberna y la cerveza

1) Attacks have occurred in many different administrations, go blame your mother's rule. 2) Londoño and the other affected people are human beings, mocking them doesn't make you irreverent nor interesting. 3) Anyone who considers themselves journalists shouldn't be judging and theorizing just like that, pubs and beer are best for that

In the blogosphere, Aleyda Rodríguez from Pulso Social writes about the coverage, rather than the reactions, on social media [es], and Javier Moreno shares his thoughts [es]:

Promover la confusión es preferible. Lo que importa es sostener la guerra activa en todos sus frentes. El juego de acusaciones subsiguiente es útil a los asesinos pues genera polarización, desconfianza y agresividad. (…) El mensaje de la explosión es abierto pero al mismo tiempo llega a quien debe llegar: cada cual lo interpreta a su conveniencia y cualquier interpretación es válida en tanto que no hay cómo refutarla. La amenaza es más efectiva y amplia cuando no se sabe de dónde proviene. Una amenaza sin firma es una amenaza contra todos.

[For Colombian terrorists] promoting confusion is preferable. What matters is keeping the war active in all its fronts. The following game of accusations is useful to the murderers because it creates polarisation, distrust, and aggressiveness (…) The message of the explosion is open but at the same time reaches its intended destination: each one interprets it out of their convenience and any interpretation is valid as long as there's no way to refute it. The threat is more effective and wide when its origin is unknown. An unsigned threat is a threat against everyone.

Colombia: Telework Law or Microsoft Law?

Julián Ortega Martínez — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:40:07 +0000

lncognito wonders what is behind [es] the ‘telework law' (Decreto 884 de 2012 [es], which regulates the Ley 1228 de 2008 [es]), signed by President Juan Manuel Santos at the headquarters of Microsoft Colombia [es], and whose official website [es] seems to be sponsored by the Labour Ministry and the American company: “Interestingly, while most developing countries bet on free software, in this colony, sorry, Colombia, ICT and labour laws are signed by Microsoft.”

Colombia: 12-Year-Old Boy Bullied at School Dies

Julián Ortega Martínez — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:04:09 +0000

On Tuesday April 24, 2012, John Alexander Larrahondo, age 12, died over a week after three of his classmates reportedly beat him because he had defended a 9-year-old girl from their class. The incident happened at the Los Gómez School [es], located in the rural area of Itagüí, a municipality of the Antioquia department near Medellín.

Although forensics ruled [es] the cause of death was a bone condition, his mother [es] and some physicians [es] rejected the ruling and claim bullying was the ultimate cause of the boy's death.

The Attorney General's Office opened [es] an investigation, and the Justice Minister stated [es] that bullying is “unacceptable” and must be fought by the competent authorities (namely, the Ministries of Education and Justice, the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare, and the Attorney General's Office). Meanwhile, Green Party Senator Gilma Jiménez said [es] she will bring the issue to Congress.

On Twitter, @mariaramitas writes (1, 2) [es]:

El problema de los chinos de ahora es que ven el matoneo como simple mamadera de gallo. Y los profesores no es que hagan mucho tampoco. Y si lo del matoneo sigue así, no demoran dos culicagados y agarrar el colegio a bala a lo Columbine. Pilas profesores.

The problem with today's kids is that they see bullying as if it were just joking around. And teachers don't do much either. And if the bullying thing keeps going on like this, soon two boys will shoot up a school with bullets like in Columbine. Attention, teachers.

With sorrow, Juan Gonzalo Benítez (@juanbenitez1973) tweets [es]:

Triste, indignado… un niño de 12 años murio por una paliza. Lo mataron a patadas porque “puso la queja” de que agredieron a otra niña

Sad, outraged… a 12 year old boy died because of a beating. He was kicked to death because he “complained” that another girl was attacked

María Isabel Ángel (@MaisAngel) shows [es] her pessimism:

A mí lo de la muerte del niño por matoneo en Itagüí me quita aún más la fe en la humanidad. Queda uno desmoralizado

The child's death due to bullying in Itagüí further takes my faith in humanity away from me. I'm left demoralized.

Lina Rouge (@linarouge) reacts [es] to the forensic's ruling:

Bueno espero que ahora que se sabe que el niño no murió por los golpes, no nos hagamos los bobos con el asunto del “matoneo” en los colegios

Well, I hope that now that we know the kid didn't die because he was beaten, we don't play dumb with the ‘bullying' issue at schools.

Journalist Víctor Solano (@solano) posted several tweets about the issue (1, 2, 3, 4), [es] and later elaborated in his column [es] for the Colombian version of the free daily Metro newspaper [es]:

Anoche creo que a varios se nos escurrieron las lágrimas con la nota del niño asesinado por sus compañeros de clase por defender a una niña. Y eso que la nota no fue amarillista; simplemente mostró que nuestra sociedad está incubando una generación movida por el odio. […] Nuestra sociedad perdió los lacrimales por agotamiento; nos secamos cuando la violencia se volvió paisaje y la indolencia nos gobernó. La muerte de ese niño nos comprueba que tocamos fondo, pero aún así seguimos cavando como esperando encontrar lo peor de nosotros.

Last night I think some of us cried with the report of the child killed by his classmates for defending a girl. The report wasn't even sensationalistic; it simply showed that our society is incubating a generation moved by hatred. […] Our society lost its lacrimal [glands] out of exhaustion; we dried up when violence became a landscape and indolence ruled us. The death of that child proves we've hit the bottom, but even so we're still digging as if we wished to find the worst of us.

Carolina Ruiz (@CaroRuizG) writes [es] claiming she was left speechless, while @lncognito tweets [es] that the problem must be solved through education and not with repression.

In the blogosphere, colombiaopina writes [es] about the responsibility of parents, teachers, and the State, and asks for laws to be reviewed:

Urge entonces una revisión e integración de las normas que tienen que ver con las conductas delictivas de infantes y adolescentes, haciendo más drásticas las medidas cautelares en desarrollo de la implementación del Sistema de Responsabilidad Penal de niños y adolescentes de que trata el Decreto 4652 de 2006.

Both a revision and the integration of the norms dealing with the crimes committed by children and teenagers are urgent, making the protective measures more drastic in the development of the implementation of the System of Criminal Responsibility for children and teenagers enacted by Decree 4652, 2006.

Jaime Andrés Jaramillo Botero, at Ojo en lupa, writes [es]:

Pero el control y la observancia, como dijo Fajardo, deben partir de nosotros como padres, responsables del futuro de nuestros hijos; y de la Escuela, como el aparato ideológico por excelencia, al cual le confiamos la educación de nuestra descendencia.

But control and observance, as [Antioquia governor Sergio] Fajardo said, must come from us as parents, responsible for the future of our children, and from the school, as the quintessential ideological machine, to which we entrust the education of our descendants.

Finally, Wilmar Mejía criticizes [es] the Itagüí municipality and the media for focusing on the incident without reporting the context of the rural school and the situation of the teachers in the area:

El matoneo entre los escolares implicados es objeto de noticia, pero nada se comenta porque no hay interés en hacerlo, acerca de la historia reciente de la Institución Educativa, de sus procesos académicos y administrativos, del déficit de oportunidades de recreación, cultura, deportes o de continuidad en el ciclo de formación técnica, tecnológica o profesional, para los niños y jóvenes que residen en las veredas.

The bullying between the involved students is news, but no one says anything because there's no interest, about the school's recent history, its administrative and academic processes, the lack of opportunities for recreation, culture, sports or continuity in the cycle for technical, technological or professional formation for the children and teens who live in the towns.

Colombia: Nostalgia for 1990s Peruvian TV

Julián Ortega Martínez — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:32:06 +0000

In the 1990s, cable television was too expensive for most Colombians, who resorted to cheap satellite dish services colloquially known as perubólicas [es] (a portmanteau of Peru and [antenas] parabólicas), because they carried virtually all Peruvian networks. On the night of April 4, 2012, hundreds of Colombian Twitter users recalled their favourite TV shows, commercials and characters of the era using #NostalgiaDePerubolica.

Colombia: 10 ‘Last' Armed Forces Hostages Released by FARC

Julián Ortega Martínez — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:42:55 +0000

On Monday April 2, 2012, four soldiers and six policemen, kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) since 1998 or 1999, were released by that same guerrilla group in a rural area [es] between Meta and Guaviare (southeastern Colombia). The release of six of these hostages was announced by FARC late last year, and in February the group announced they would abandon kidnappings and release the remaining hostages.

Once again former senator Piedad Córdoba and a group called Colombianos y Colombianas por la Paz (Colombians for Peace, CCP) brokered the release. Two Brazilian helicopters left the airport of Villavicencio to pick up the hostages, with two delegates of the International Commitee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Ms Córdoba and Olga Amparo Díaz from CCP.

At 17:40 COT (22:40 UTC) the helicopters went back to Villavicencio bringing the former hostages back to freedom. Minutes later, they were sent to a brief medical checkup before being taken to Bogotá, where they met their families and received more medical attention.

Twitter overflowed with thousands of reactions to the news.

Diana Lara (@LaCura_) [es] tweets:

¿cual es la indignación de los uribistas con que se televisen las liberaciones? ¿que han hecho ellos para gestionar al menos UNA? ¡NADA!

What's the outrage of the Uribistas (supporters of former president Álvaro Uribe Vélez) with the TV broadcast of the releases? What have they done to broker at least ONE? NOTHING!

While Mario Cabrera (@amarilloazulado) [es] celebrates with caution:

Que felicidad por la liberación de los secuestrados. No se puede olvidar a quienes los retuvieron por 14 años. #NoMasfarc

So happy for the release of the kidnapped. We can't forget those who kept them hostage during 14 years #nomoreFARC

Angela Ospina (@aodenicholls) [es] reminds her followers that the FARC is still holding civilians:

ONG Pais Libre dice q aun existen 407 secuestrados en manos de las FARC. existirá quien medie x su regreso a casa? Nos quedaremos callados?

NGO País Libre says there are still 407 [civilian] people kidnapped by FARC. Is there someone [willing to] mediate for their return home? Will we stay silent?

Villavicencio, Colombia. April 2, 2012 — A group of 10 hostages held for more than 12 years arrive on the tarmac in Villavicencio. Photo by Nestor Silva. Copyright Demotix.

José Carlos García R (@JoseCarlosTecno) [es] writes:

Luego de 14 años de secuestro vil e infame, esta ‘buena voluntad' de las Farc debe ser contestada con un buen bombardeo…

After 14 years of despicable and awful kidnapping, this ‘good will' from FARC should be answered with a good bombing

Some used humor, like El Chiflamicas (@elchiflamicas) [es]:

The Walking Dead! RT @Hora20: Hoy en H20: 10 secuestrados regresan a la vida…

The Walking Dead! RT @Hora20: Today on H20 (a nightly radio opinion show): 10 kidnapped come back to life…

And not all users are celebrating the release. Ramiro Castañeda (@ramiroski_) [es] tweets:

Yo, la verdad, siento rabia e indignación, al ver a estos hombres con media vida acabada por culpa de los terroristas de las farc. No olvido

I, actually, feel angered and outraged, by seeing these men with half of their lives destroyed because of the FARC terrorist. Let's not forget.

Daniel Arango (@stultaviro) [es] recalls how former hostage Ingrid Betancourt sought to sue the state:

Muy bueno por los liberados. Mañana demandan al estado y pagamos todos.

Good for the kidnapped that were released. Tomorrow they'll sue the State and we all pay.

Julieth Beltrán (@JuliethBlues) [es] also remembers another release:

A mí nunca se me va a olvidar cuando liberaron a Moncayo y muchos dijeron que parecía guerrillero. Hasta allá llegaron…

I'll never forget when they freed Moncayo and a lot of people said he looked like a guerrilla member. They went that far…

Meanwhile Andrea Salazar (@MssSookie) [es] expresses her thoughts on this release and on kidnapping in general:

Ver esto me hace doler el país. Me alegra que recuperen su libertad. Pero la alegría no supera el dolor de lo que en ppio no debería ser.

Seeing this makes my country hurt. I'm glad they recovered their freedom. But [that] joy can't overcome the pain of what in principle shouldn't happen.

Juliana Fitzgerald (@Julianitra) [es] points out the irony in this release:

Vivo en el país más extraño del mundo, un paraiso que hace la guerra proclamando la paz.

I live in the strangest country in the world, a paradise which makes war by proclaiming peace.

Similarly, Luis G. Forero (@LuisGForero) [es] points out:

Las liberaciones NO son un acto humanitario que hay que agradecer, pero SÍ son un gesto político que hay que apreciar en toda su dimensión

The releases ARE NOT a humanitarian act which should be thanked for, but ARE a political gesture which should be appreciated in its whole dimension.

Diego Pava (@salentoq) [es] refers to William Domínguez, a former FARC hostage released in 2009 and murdered in a bar fight in September 2011:

Y el gobierno debe aislar en lo posible a estos secuestrados de la prensa, no queremos mas soldados Dominguez

And the government should isolate these kidnapped from the press, we don't want more Domínguez soldiers

Yoyoma Carrillo (@medio_evo) [es] tweets:

Liberación humanitaria? Después que lo tuvieron en un campo de concentración y encadenados como animales.

Humanitarian release? After they put them into a concentration camp and chained as animals.

Colombia en ruinas (@PaisEnRuinas) [es] mentions the role of the army:

Este es un triunfo de nuestro Ejército que nunca cedió a los requerimientos de los terroristas, los asedió y fueron obligados a liberarlos.

This is a victory for our Army which never gave in to the terrorists' request, besieged them and forced them to release them.

Finally, Camilo Martínez N. (@CamiloMartinezN) [es] declares:

OJO, comunidad internacional debe recordad que el criminal, asesino, terrorista y secuestrador son las farc! No olvidar!! No caer en juego!

BEWARE, the international community should remember that the criminals, murderers, terrorists, and kidnappers are the FARC!! Don't forget! Don't fall in their trap!

The released (date of captivity): Army First Sergeant Luis Alfonso Beltrán Franco (1998-03-03), Army First Sergeant Luis Arturo Arcia (1998-03-04), Army First Sergeant Robinson Salcedo Guarín (1998-08-03), Army First Sergeant Luis Alfredo Moreno Chagüeza (1998-08-03), Police Intendent in Chief Carlos José Duarte (1999-07-10), Police Sergeant Major César Augusto Lasso Monsalve (1998-11-01), Police Intendent in Chief Jorge Trujillo Solarte (1999-07-10), Police Intendent in Chief Jorge Humberto Romero (1999-07-10), Police First Sergeant José Libardo Forero (1999-07-10), and Police Intendent in Chief Wilson Rojas Medina (1999-07-10).

Colombia: A “Football for All” Bill Proposed in Congress

Julián Ortega Martínez — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:35:24 +0000

Since the biggest TV cable operators could not reach a deal with the Colombian football administration for the rights of the domestic tournament matches until 2016, a Senator proposed a bill in order to break the “monopoly,” so the matches can be broadcast on over-the-air channels (only one of the nine matches every week is broadcast on national TV). Both Mache at Falta contra el balón [es] and Alejandro Pino Calad on Gotas de veneno [es] explain why this bill is a bad copy of a bill implemented in Argentina, why taxes should not be spent on this, and why there is no such ‘monopoly.'

Panama City Mayor Resigns

Julián Ortega Martínez — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:24:18 +0000

The resignation of the Mayor of Panama's capital city, amidst still unclear circumstances, marked the start of the 2012 political intrigues. Newspaper La Prensa [es] reports on its website:

El alcalde capitalino Bosco Ricardo Vallarino presentó este jueves, 12 de enero, su renuncia a ese puesto, mediante una carta enviada a la gobernadora de la provincia de Panamá, Mayín Correa.

La información se confirmó a través de un comunicado de prensa enviado vía correo electrónico, en el que se adjuntó una copia de la carta firmada por Vallarino. Vallarino explicó que está obligado a someterse a un tratamiento radioactivo que pueda revertir dos severas afectaciones que pesan sobre su salud.

The Mayor from the capital Bosco Ricardo Vallarino presented on Thursday, January 2, his resignation to that office, through a letter sent to Mayín Correa, Governor of the province of Panama.

The information was confirmed in a press release sent via e-mail, with a copy of the letter signed by Vallarino [es] attached. Vallarino explained he must undergo radioactive treatment in order to revert two severe issues affecting his health.

The news arrives in the midst of confusion because the now former Mayor belongs to the centre-right Panameñista (Arnulfista) party, which had been allied to the ruling party (right-wing Democratic Change, or Cambio Democrático [CD] in Spanish) until last year when they broke relations. The Panama City mayorship is one of the most coveted political positions, and the office will now be occupied by Roxana Méndez, from the ruling party.

Panama City. Picture from Wikimedia Commons, under Creative Commons Attribution 1.0 Generic licence (CC BY 1.0)

Bosco Vallarino was severly criticized during his administration, and in several occassions was publicly warned by President Ricardo Martinelli. His resignation also occurs in the midst of a Supreme Court ruling which could revoke his citizenship, and therefore his position. Vallarino had adopted US citizenship voluntarily without being entitled to it by birth or family relationships, which, according to the Constitution, forbids him from being a Panamanian citizen. Nevertheless, this fact had been ignored during the elections, and after winning a law was passed which restored his citizenship and all his rights, including being elected Mayor.

Two years later, the law was about to be revoked; Vallarino preferred to resign before the Court's ruling and after a meeting with the president where there were allegedly conflicts and arguments. This was denied by the president, who wrote on his Twitter account (@rmartinelli [es]):

Altercados o discusiones no he tenido con nadie en el dia ayer

I didn't have any disputes nor arguments with anyone yesterday

The resignation has caused all kinds of reactions on social networks, from those who agree with Vallarino's decision, to those who see the action as an abuse of power by the president.

Lulu’s Cake (@lulu20cake [es]) thinks the resignation was a blow to democracy and wrote on her Twitter account:

No pertenezco a ningún partido político, pero todo este caso de Bosco, es un golpe muy duro para nuestra democracia. Muy injusto.

I don't belong to any political party, but this whole Bosco case is a very hard blow to our democracy. It's very unfair.

Jose Blandon (@BlandoJose [es]), deputy to the National Assembly and advisor to the now former mayor, wrote a tweet along the same lines:

Habrá quienes se vanaglorien y piensen q Bosco perdió. Perdió nuestra democracia. Pero la lucha por defenderla, debe continuar.

There will be those boasting and thinking Bosco lost. Our democracy lost. But the fight to defend it must go on.

Ubaldo Davis (@DavisZone [es]) comments that if Vallarino had nothing to fear he wouldn't have resigned, no matter how much pressure was put on him:

Dicen q la verdad Bosco renuncio por presión, el que no la debe no la teme, la plata jamás le ganara a la verdad

They say the truth is that Bosco resigned because of pressure, if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear, money won't ever beat truth

There were also tweets that handled the ex-mayor's situation humorously; for example, Delmiro Quiroga (@delmiroquiroga [es]) refers to the participation of the former mayor in the Panamanian version of Bailando por un sueño (”Dancing for a dream”) and tweets:

El gobierno falló, debió haber puesto que la gente llamara a un número o mandara un chat si querían salvar a Bosco.

The government failed, it should have made people call a number or send a chat if they wanted to save Bosco.

Gina Lee (@nowginalee [es]) jokingly writes about the way Bosco Vallarino went from being a widely criticized Mayor to becoming a popular personality:

everybody loves raymond es un detalle a lado del nuevo show panameño everybody loves bosco.

Everybody loves Raymond is nothing compared to the new Panamanian show Everybody loves Bosco.

The Mayor's party, the Panameñista party, made a statement where the vice president reminded President Ricardo Martinelli that he would be judged by the Panamanian people. La Prensa reports [es]:

“El mismo pueblo que te eligió te verá juzgado y derrotado”. Este fue el mensaje que le envió esta tarde el vicepresidente de la República y presidente del Partido Panameñista, Juan Carlos Varela, al presidente de la República, Ricardo Martinelli, tras reaccionar a la renuncia de Bosco Vallarino como alcalde de Panamá luego de presiones del mandatario.

“The same people who elected you will see you judged and defeated.” This was the message sent this afternoon by the Vice President of the Republic and president of Panameñista Party, Juan Carlos Varela, to the President of the Republic, Ricardo Martinelli, after reacting to Bosco Vallarino's resignation as Mayor of Panama (City) under pressure from the president.

Finally, blogger Joao Q reflects on this resignation and writes on his blog MedioCerrado [es]:

Sí, podrá decirse que una vez más se pisotea la institucionalidad y la legalidad dentro de gobierno, pero en honor a la verdad esto era como el título de una famosa novela de García Márquez, Crónica de una Muerte Anunciada. En buena parte nosotros mismos como votantes nos buscamos eso (ustedes porque yo voté por Bernal) al votar por Bosco, por ser como dice Andrés Vega “Domplin”: un pueblo demasiado emocional, por olvidar las razones al llegar a las urnas y estampar el gancho en la casilla del que tiene más cara de bonachón, por el que más llora o más caridad hace frente a las cámaras de televisión. Esta debe ser una lección para nosotros, un castigo por ser un pueblo que gusta del dramatismo y del escándalo. Bosco es la personificación de todo eso llevado al extremo y ya fuimos testigos de su tragicomedia que en buena parte también es la nuestra.

Yes, arguably once more the institutionality and legality inside the government are trampled on, but in honour of the truth this was like the title of a famous novel by García Márquez, Chronicle of a Death Foretold. To a good extent we as voters asked for this (you, because I voted for [Miguel Antonio] Bernal) by voting for Bosco, by being, as Andrés Vega “Domplin” says: too emotional, by leaving reasons behind when getting to the polls and marking the face of the one who seems most easy-going, the one who cries more, or the most generous in front of TV cameras. This should be a lesson for us, a punishment for being people who love drama and scandals. Bosco is the personification of all that taken to a extreme and we've already been witnesses of his tragicomedy, which is ours too, to a large extent.

Betsy Galbreath contributed to this translation.

Colombia: Professor's Resignation Sparks Debate on Writing

Julián Ortega Martínez — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 03:50:35 +0000

Last week, Camilo Jiménez [es], a journalist who has been the editor of several magazines, posted an entry [es] on his blog where he explains why he resigned from teaching a class (“Evaluation of Non-Fiction Texts” [es]) at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana's Social Communication undergraduate programme after nine years.

He claims that, despite their privileged, upper-middle class background, their educated parents and a lack of material concerns, his students weren't able to draft a summary of a paragraph of a text without making writing mistakes (3 out of 30 “were close” and another 2 “did their best”). Later he writes he might be behind the times, then describes his class, and finally admits that:

Image by Anonymous Account on Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Dejo la cátedra porque no me pude comunicar con los nativos digitales. No entiendo sus nuevos intereses, no encontré la manera de mostrarles lo que considero esencial en este hermoso oficio de la edición. Quizá la lectura sea ya otra cosa con la que no me pude sintonizar. De pronto ya no se trata de comprender un texto, de dialogar con él. Quizá la lectura sea ahora salir al mar de Internet a pescar fragmentos, citas y vínculos. Y en consecuencia, la escritura esté mudando a esas frases sueltas, grises, sin vida, siempre con errores. Por eso los nuevos párrafos que se están escribiendo parecen zombies.

I leave my professorship because I wasn't able to communicate with the digital natives. I don't understand their new interests, I couldn't find the way to show them what I consider essential in this beautiful job of editing. Maybe reading is already another thing I couldn't be in tune with. Perhaps it's no longer about understanding a text, having a conversation with it. Maybe reading is now to go to the Internet sea to catch fragments, quotes, and links. And in consequence, writing is changing to those loose, grey, lifeless sentences, always with errors. That's why the new paragraphs being written look like zombies.

There were some early reactions in the post's comments section and in a post [es] by Katina, a Chilean former university professor who mostly agrees with Jiménez but, after telling her personal experience, asks him not to “completely lose [his] faith in this generation.”

But after the post was republished [es] by the newspaper El Tiempo (Jiménez had to explain [es] it was sent by the university's academic vice-president), it gained wider exposure. The reactions exploded and the debate began. “Camilo Jiménez” [es] was a trending topic on Twitter in Colombia on Friday, December 9, and he was even interviewed [es] on national radio.

Journalist Daniel Pardo has a request of Jiménez [es], which starts by claiming that he [Pardo] lives out of writing despite not knowing how to draft a summary:

[L]e quiero pedir que no se vaya. Le quiero pedir, respetado editor, que investigue sobre nuevas formas de educación vía Internet. Su blog es un comienzo. Sigamos. Yo creo que las aptitudes que tienen sus estudiantes son valiosas. Tal vez no para la literatura como usted la aprendió. Pero sí para una nueva literatura: una que, de golpe, venga con un video, con diseño; una que el lector incluso pueda modificar.

I want to ask you not to leave. I want to ask you, dear editor, to research about new education methods using the Internet. Your blog is a start. Let's go on. I think the abilities your students have are valuable. Maybe not for literature the way you learned it. But they are [valuable] for a new literature: one that, perhaps, comes with a video, with design; one that the reader could even modify.

Hyperconectado [es] also comments about Jiménez's posts and gives some ideas: he welcomes the debate, mentions Newsgames and other new ways to educate in journalism. He criticizes the “blind faith” of a Colombian State obsessed with increasing Internet access without leaving the “feudal era”, which asks students to study and analyse seemingly trivial internet phenomena, and puts into question the whole “digital natives” notion.

From Mexico, Marco Gómez quotes and comments on[es] Jiménez's letter paragraph by paragraph, and writes that although his generation (the same as Jiménez's students) has issues, “there is hope”. José Luis Peñarredonda writes [es] about how the public debate on Jiménez's post in some ways deals with the difficulties faced by professors, students, and the Colombian educational system in general.

Humberto Ballesteros, a teacher of Italian, also sympathizes with Jiménez but recognizes [es] that,

afirmar que la cultura o el conocimiento mismos están desapareciendo por esa causa no es otra cosa que fetichismo de lector.

claiming that culture or knowledge themselves are disappearing because of that cause [changes brought by the digital age, including the loss of tolerance of silence and introspection] is nothing other than the reader's fetishism.

Alfonso Cabanzo proposes [es] putting Colombia's educational system “upside down” by increasing quality in secondary education, implementing a new college admission exam that includes interviews, and assuring state-funded education so universities start worrying less about their students' money and more about teaching and researching.

At Hipermediaciones [es], Argentine researcher Carlos A. Scolari links Jiménez's pessimism and boredom (the latter shared with the students) with the ‘boreout syndrome', and asks us to forget prejudices against the changes of the digital age and instead put these changes in an ecological and evolutionary perspective.

Students also reacted: 20-year-old Victoria Tobar wrote Jiménez a letter [es], where she criticizes him but at the same time thanks him for having the “good sense” of leaving. She writes:

Si usted se queja de que ya no hay estudiantes con un espíritu curioso y crítico, yo me quejo de que no tengo profesores que siembren en mí la duda y las ganas de saber. Por que si hay algo que creo firmemente, es que las ganas de aprender por parte de un estudiante reside, en gran medida, en las ganas del profesor de que sus estudiantes aprendan.

If you complain about the lack of students with a curious, critical spirit, I complain about not having teachers sowing the seed of doubt and the desire for learning in me. Because if there's something I firmly believe, it is that students' desire to learn comes, to a large extent, from their teachers' desire for their students to learn.

Richie Tamayo, a former university professor, replied to Tobar's letter [es]. Although he praises her writing skills, he criticizes her for not knowing her university's administration, faculty selection process, and internal government system, and for questioning an educational methodology which she is not familiar with. Though he doesn't entirely agree with Jiménez's letter, he defends his decision to resign (in an earlier post [es], Tamayo writes that the university should promote a serious, informed, and participative debate on the academic quality of its Social Communication programme).

Finally, María Camila Rincón, one of Jiménez's last students, confesses feeling ashamed after reading the letter, and renews the debate it prompted (her post was originally published on Facebook [es] and later reposted by one of her classmates on her blog [es]):

Es curioso ver cómo venimos de una lucha que logró la disolución de una reforma (¡y de qué manera!) pero cuando el fenómeno es más local (no menos importante) nos quedamos sólo con el chisme de quiénes eran esos tres que se acercaron al párrafo que Jiménez con tanto ahínco nos pidió. Aquí nadie se ha preguntado qué va a pasar con esa cátedra que no sólo es obligatoria sino pertinente para el oficio del editor. Suele pensarse que como ya pasamos por ella, pues nos salvamos de un profesor menos exigente o de uno con menos experiencia. ¿Y los de atrás qué? ¿Merecen recibir una educación de menor calidad porque a nosotros no nos importó?

It's curious to see how we come from a fight which was able to dissolve a reform (and how!) but when the phenomenon is more local (not less important) we settle for gossip about those three who were close to the paragraph Jiménez eagerly asked us [to write]. No one here has wondered what's going to happen with the class which is not only compulsory but relevant for the editor's job. We often think that, since we have already taken it, we are saved from a less demanding professor or one with less experience. What about the next students? Do they deserve to get an education of less quality because we didn't care?

Colombia: Outrage at Conservative Politician over Remarks about Rape and Abortion

Julián Ortega Martínez — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 14:51:26 +0000

On Tuesday October 11, Conservative politician Enrique Gómez Hurtado [es] surprised a lot of Colombians when he expressed his controversial stance on abortion during an interview on La W, an influential morning radio show broadcast nationally on W Radio. Gómez, 84, is the youngest son of former President Laureano Gómez (tenure 1950-1953) and brother of long-time presidential hopeful Álvaro Gómez Hurtado (murdered in 1995).

In the half-hour radio interview [es], Gómez expressed his support for a project to pass a legislative act [es] which seeks to reform Article 11 of the 1991 Constitution, related to the right to live, in order to outlaw abortion under any circumstance. In 2006, a Constitutional Court ruling (Spanish-language version) partially decriminalized abortion in three cases: rape or incest, threat to the mother's life, and malformations in the fetus.

The outrage began when Gómez, in order to explain his position, said [es] such things as “there's no way to know if a woman was raped,” “we can't really know when a [fetal] malformation starts,” or that such malformation could be “prevented” because in many cases it is hereditary. Twitter burst with outrage.

Paula Vejarano (@Asmodeo_) from Bogotá writes:

Increible que haya gente como Enrique Gomez Hurtado que duda de la violación como delito porque eso es una irresponsabilidad de las mujeres

[It's] incredible that there are people like Enrique Gómez Hurtado, who doubt that rape is a crime because it's women's irresponsibility

Donald Trumphetero (@DonPornocracia) tweets mockingly:

Enrique Gómez Hu[]rtado: -Señora, usted debió exigir a su violador el uso de un condón. Usted porqué no tenía puesta su T de cobre?

Enrique Gómez Hu[]rtado: -Ma'am, you should have demanded your rapist he use a condom. Why weren't you wearing your copper T?

While Angie Cruz (@AngieCruzP) argues that:

#debateaborto Si los hombres pudieran embarazarse, los conservadores serían los primeros en aprobar el aborto // Enrique Gómez Hurtado

#abortiondebate If men could get pregnant, Conservatives would be the first passing abortion // Enrique Gómez Hurtado

Twitter user Lanark (@donAlvar) jokes about the politician's chances of becoming a conservative presidential candidate:

Enrique Gómez Hurtado no cree en la existencia objetiva de la violación. Lo veo presidenciable. #juventudesconservadoras

Enrique Gómez Hurtado doesn't believe in the objective existence of rape. I see him as a presidential hopeful #conservativeyouths

Orlando (@DanielitoBang) connects Gómez's statements with a claim from October 2008 by former President Uribe to refer to the victims in the “false positives” scandal:

“Cualquier persona puede decir que fue violada” suena parecido a “seguramente no estaban recogiendo café”. Sigan votando así.

“Anyone can say they were raped” sounds a lot like “they surely weren't picking coffee.” Keep voting like that.

Lucas Peña (@lucaspe) reacts to Gómez's stance on malformations, paraphrasing one of his arguments:

“Yo me siento malformado porque soy feo y no me hubiera gustado ser abortado”, ridiculiza el argumento Enrique Gómez Hurtado.

“I feel malformed because I'm ugly and I wouldn't have liked being aborted”, Enrique Gómez Hurtado mocks his argument.

Some defended Gómez, like Carlos Florez (@CarlosFlorezS):

Apoyo a Enrique Gomez Hurtado, El Derecho a la vida esta por encima de cualquier otro derecho, por vanidad de una mujer no se puede asesinar

I support Enrique Gomez Hurtado, the Right to live is above any other right; a woman's vanity is no reason to murder

On October 11, the same day that Gómez spoke about abortion on the radio, Colombia's national football team played against Bolivia for the 2014 FIFA World Cup South American qualifiers. Diana Melo Espejo (@Dianadaista) writes:

Enrique Gómez Hurtado debe estar feliz porque hoy a las 3:00 p.m., cuando juegue Colombia, a todo el mundo se le va a olvidar su babosada.

Enrique Gómez Hurtado must be happy because today at 3:00 p.m., when Colombia plays, everyone will forget his nonsense.

Finally, user @2000dePan asks:

Quien va a organizar la marcha para hacer farandula en contra de Enrique Gomez Hurtado en la plaza de bolivar a la hora del almuerzo?

Who's gonna organize the march against Enrique Gómez Hurtado to show off at Plaza de Bolívar during lunchtime?

Hours after the interview, the Senate's First Commission (Constitutional Affairs) debated [es] the project. The debate was broadcast [es] on the Congress' cable channel and the state-run Canal Institucional, and was widely followed on Twitter. We will publish a separate post on the reactions to that debate.

Colombia: #Corzotón Protest Against the President of the Congress

Julián Ortega Martínez — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 00:16:12 +0000

Using Storify, journalist Lina Ceballos looks [es] at “why Colombians got excited on Twitter about the #Corzotón“, a protest against Juan Manuel Corzo –president of the Congress whose remarks caused outrage some days ago– since the protest's ‘offline' version last September 27 was not as successful as expected. Ceballos claims that “[offline] presentiality demands much more involvement” and concludes that “if you want something to be massive it must be entertaining.”

Colombia: Outrage at President of Congress Over Oil Subsidy

Julián Ortega Martínez — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 02:47:21 +0000

Last week, Juan Manuel Corzo [es], Senator and president of the Congress of Colombia, caused outrage when, in order to justify a fuel subsidy for congresspeople [es], he told W Radio [es] that it was impossible to fill the gas tanks for his two vehicles with his COP$16 million (€6,418 or US$8,784) salary (the minimum wage is COP$535,600, €207 or US$279). Despite living in a middle-ranked oil producing country, Colombians pay, as of August 2011, COP$8,635 (€3.34 or US$4.51) average per gallon, more than Americans.

During the next few days, Twitter and Facebook users showed their contempt [es] toward Senator Corzo, a member of the Conservative Party, with hashtags like #juanmanuelcorzo, #fueracorzo (”get out Corzo [from Congress]”), or #corzoton (Corzo + Telethon); Facebook pages like “We demand Juan Manuel Corzo's resignation”; and an event scheduled for Tuesday September 27 in front of the National Capitol. Even Anonymous staged a DDos attack [es] against the Senate's website.

Senador Juan Manuel Corzo, RedPaTo2 on Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

On Monday September 19, the issue became “personal” when Senator Corzo declared in a press conference that the Twitter users criticizing him were “rude,” and added that [es] “I'd rather not steal from the State and that [others] pay for my gasoline.” After that, Corzo claimed [es] he was going to an Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Azerbaijan to defend his controversial bill of parliamentary immunity, even though, as blogger Hernán Castro Rodríguez shows [es], the last IPU Assembly took place last April in Panama and the next one is scheduled for October in Switzerland.

Here is a small sample of the thousands of reactions on Twitter during the last days:

Daniel Arango (@stultaviro) puts things into context:

En un país con un salario mínimo de 300 dólares oír a un presidente del congreso llorando por sus cuitas de ricachón es un maldito insulto.

In a country with a minimum wage of 300 dollars hearing a President of the Congress crying for his troubles of well-heeled man is a damn insult.

José Carlos García (@josecarlostecno), Technology Editor for El Tiempo newspaper, writes:

Como colombiano, creo que todas la novelas de narcos juntas no me producen tanta vergüenza como este senador Corzo

As a Colombian, I think that all the narco-novelas together don't embarrass me as much as this senator Corzo

User @bobadaliteraria tweets:

Mientras tanto Corzo anda en Azerbaiyán y adivinen quiénes pagamos por su vuelo.

Meanwhile Corzo is in Azerbaijan and guess who is paying his flight.

Omar Ferrer (@OFFezt) refers to the “coalition of national unity”:

Veo uribistas y antiuribistas (Antes fachos y mamertos) unidos en un solo #Corzoton Esa es la Unidad Nacional que sirve.

I see Uribistas and Anti-Uribistas (before fascists and commies) united in one #Corzoton That's the National Unity which is useful

Naylea Barros (@NayBarros08) asks:

Quien mas grosero nosotros los twitteros o #JuanManuelCorzo que nos quiere tratar de estupidos?

Who is ruder: us Twitter users or #JuanManuelCorzo who wants to treat us like we are stupid?

Angela G (@gatinita) brings up Corzo's salary:

No joda, con 6 meses de sueldo se compra una estación de servicio, para que nunca vuelva a llorar por falta de gasolina.

Leave me f***ing alone, with 6 months of his salary he could buy a gas station, so he never cries for lack of fuel again.

With irony, Felipe Nuñez (@idreamofrobots) writes:

Yo cuando grande quiero ser como Juan Manuel Corzo y que ustedes me paguen la gasolina.

When I grow up I want be like Juan Manuel Corzo and make you to pay for my fuel

Angela Perversa (@AngelaPerversa) tweets about Corzo's statements:

“Prefiero no robar al estado” is the new “gracias al señor me estoy rehabilitando y no en la calle atracando a nadie, regálemen pa un pan”

“I'd rather not steal from the State” is the new “thanks to Lord I'm rehabilitating and not robbing anyone, gimme money to buy some bread”

Journalist and blogger Víctor Solano (@solano) refers to the same quote:

Dirán algunos: “Lo ‘bueno' de @juanmanuelcorzo es que nos da a escoger: O le damos para la gasolina o nos atraca; otros hacen las dos”

Some people will say: “The ‘good thing' about @juanmanuelcorzo is that he gives us a choice: or we give him money for his fuel or he robs us; others do both”

Catalina Palmer (@catalinapalmer) calls on Twitter users to act “in the streets”, not just online:

Lo de Corzo es más que #fueraCorzo. Hagan algo en la calle, no se queden en twitter. Construyan cultura política para que no se repita.

The Corzo issue is more than #getoutCorzo. Do something in the streets, don't stay on Twitter. Build political culture so it doesn't happen again.

Finally, Ramírez Jaramillo (@egolaxista_) says:

A menos que la Registraduría empiece a hacer valer el RT como voto, la indignación por lo de Corzo servirá para mierda y media.

Unless the National Civil Registry makes a RT worth a vote, the outrage about Corzo will be useless.

On the blogosphere, a heavily rotated post by @cynosargo titled “Colombia: who the f**k rules you?!” [es] slams the senator:

Es la primera vez que un político nos quiere robar de frente, en la cara. Literalmente, Corzo nos pidió a los contribuyentes colombianos que le pagáramos la gasolina de los carros que utiliza -carros por los cuales nosotros ya estamos pagando-, simplemente porque no le alcanza con su oneroso sueldo -el cual también pagamos nosotros-.

It is the first time that a politician wants to rob us overtly, in our faces. Literally, Corzo asked us, Colombian taxpayers, to pay for the gasoline fuelling the cars he uses —cars we are alreading paying for—, simply because his onerous salary —which we also pay— isn't enough.

The post includes a table showing that all the Presidents of Congress in the 21st century (the post is occupied by a Senator elected by fellow Senators at the beginning of the legislature, every July 20), except one, have been investigated either for corruption or for ties with armed groups, including Corzo.

Meanwhile, Ricardo Galán wonders [es] if the “I'd rather not steal from the State” remark by Corzo was a threat, blackmail, or a complaint; while Julián Rosero Navarrete, who has worked in Congress, supports [es] the general outrage but warns against discussing the issue based on erroneous information, and explains that the actual salary of a Congressman is COP$6 million (€2,321 or US$3,132), while the rest are “representation spendings,” which Corzo should be using to cover his fuel expenses.

Colombia: The Abortion Debate

Julián Ortega Martínez — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 15:37:59 +0000

Amidst the ongoing debate prompted by a Conservative bill aiming to outlaw abortion in all cases, Javier Moreno debunks [es] one of the arguments (a poorly referenced academic text) by columnist and former Congressman Nicolás Uribe Rueda [es] and voices his opinion about such debate. Meanwhile, Aleyda writes [es] about her own personal experience after having had an abortion.

Colombia: ‘Padding Journalism'

Julián Ortega Martínez — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:28:01 +0000

In the wake of the death of singer Joe Arroyo, Colombian news channel NTN24 featured reactions with actresses, models, and former beauty queens in English on its website. The video featuring model and presenter Carolina Cruz was heavily mocked on blogs and social media. Journalist Carolina Ruiz questions [es] the value of these interviews and the trivialization of Mr Arroyo's death, while Simón Posada “defends” [es] Ms Cruz blaming the media and the “ugly habit” Colombians have of “mocking everyone's way of speaking.”

Colombia: Challenges of the Victims’ Law

Julián Ortega Martínez — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:37:14 +0000

Paula Delgado-King writes about some of the challenges the recently approved Victims' Law faces: “the process needs to provide loans and credits, guidance for which crops and animals are most suitable where, and access to markets,” and that “the law has no accompanying truth commission to create a national conscience of what has happened.”

Colombia: On Independence Day

Julián Ortega Martínez — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 19:20:06 +0000

Colombia celebrates its 201st birthday on July 20. Guapacho writes about this year's Google Doodle [es]; Triana remembers [es] José María Espinosa, one of the first Colombian cartoonists; and Julián Rosero Navarrete argues [es] that the “independence” was actually a “secession war” among Spaniards from both sides of the Atlantic.