Being a Colombian

What does really mean being a Colombian?

Social researchers who wanted to define it, with difficulty have managed to only a few brushstrokes. The ordinary people can barely make a list of strengths and weaknesses. Even literary characters have tried to answer it, one created by Jorge Luis Borges, gave a very general answer, but somehow contains a profound truth: "Being Colombian is an act of faith."

Despite these difficulties, finally came to light the characteristics that define us. First, the Colombian is traditional and so his list of priorities. The priority of every Colombian is the family. Most take their decisions according to the values that gave the family, feel that parents should be loved and respected. Also it has been proved that for 90 percent of Colombians God is very important

It is an extremely difficult task to describe what specifically a Colombian is but in few words a Colombian always wants to make his or her parents proud, gives everything to others even if he or she doesn’t have it and even if they live in some kind of poverty the election of being happiness will always prevail.

In Colombia two politicians kidnapped by the FARC in Nariño are released.

A city councilman and a candidate for a mayor of a town in the Colombian department of Nariño, were finally free on Sunday after six days of being abducted by suspected guerrillas of the FARC.

On July 12, suspected guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia intercepted in waters of the Pacific, two boats and kidnapped 20 people.

A day after rebels let in liberty 18 of the 20 people who made captives as they navigated the Bay of Tumaco, a town on the Pacific coast in Colombia. This information about how many people is still being kidnapped by the Guerrilla is still being normal for many Colombians. We sometimes as Colombians tend to accepts violence and we get used to live with it. Which one would be worse? Accept to live that way and don’t do anything or being a group of rebels without solid ideals?

A new Colombian movie called: All your deads

The makers of 'dog eat dog' have found another strong image to summarize the Colombian conflict and they are trying to portray it in this new film.

The beginning of this story starts as Salvador, a farmer that usually rises to work in the fields like every day. But one day just a few steps inside the cornfield he comes face to face with a mountain of dead bodies. It's Sunday elections in this town that is locate in the Valley of Colombia. Everything in the town suggests that it is a voting of life and death.

Colombians usually complain because the movies that are shown to the world are usually about drug dealing, corruption or about the violence of Colombia and they blame these movies for being the reasons of why people think so poorly about Colombia. I do think there is so much more that meet the eye in Colombia and that in fact people should know more about it but at the same time its also important to show the reality of our country and make the Colombians wake up and decide to change it.

The Colombian company Ecopetrol is listed as one of the 500 largest companies in the world.

The Colombian company Ecopetrol is listed as one of the 500 largest companies in the world.

The oil company first entered the prestigious Fortune ranking produced at the position 444. This company is the only Colombian company in the listing. Walmart is number one on the planet.

This is the first time of any Colombian business to be in the list of the 500 largest in the world. While the Walmart supermarket keeps being the number one all over the world. The next ones are Royal Dutch Shell Oil and Exxon Mobil.

Walmart, it’s the largest company in the world and had managed to regain first place in the "Global 500" of last year,. The company climbed to the top of the rankings after scoring sales of U.S. $ 421,849 million and record profits of 16.389 million.

Colombian investment abroad is being increased

Long time ago, years ago, when there was talk of investing in real Colombians in Panama City and Miami, it was suspected that some of that money came from drug cartels. But the reality is that today Colombian investments abroad are many, legitimate and growing faster and faster.

Colombian companies are opening their wallets, buying companies abroad and investing in sectors such as electricity, credit cards and banks and oil industries.

In Bogota, the president of the National Association of Financial Institutions, Sergio Clavijo, said that one of the biggest reasons Colombians are deciding to invest their money outside the country is because the high taxes at the local level.

Colombians should use the bicycle daily.

Given the traffic chaos of Bogota, many people are promoting the use of the bicycle. The artist David Byrne will be in Colombia on July 23 to promote the activity.

David Byrne is a former leader of the rock group Talking Heads, he is a complete artist in addition to some music, installations, films, books and blogs. He recently added to his resume a new activity: Defender of the bicycle. It was something spontaneous, which emerged when he decided to blog about the experience of riding on his own in New York, the city, and others. Then he wrote a book called the Bicycle Diaries that now experts from many parts of the world have as a reference.

Now he travels all around the world with planners and traffic experts discussing why cities should be friendly with this means of transport. This will happen in Bogota on Saturday July 23 at the Convention Center Gabriel García Márquez with the forum that is called "Cities, bicycles and the future of mobility", with Enrique Penalosa. This event is not only essential for Bogota but also will serve to launch the Spanish version of his book .

More woman in politics?

More woman in politics?

The reform in Colombia about having a big change in politics had included the controversial 'positive discrimination' in favor of women: in all its lists of candidates for councils, assemblies and Congress, the parties should include a female every 30 percent. Some people argue that there are already so many women in politics and will include the obligation to make a lot of 'fill' in the lists. Others, however, believe that they do exist, but the policies of many parties think that there is necessary to have a balance between man and women. And others see it as a necessary evil to encourage participation of women in politics. And there are even those who argue that the text of the law says "genres" and "women" should be counted in this total. In any event, controversial or not, there is already a rule to try to hasten the day when you have more than 30 percent of women in politics by choice.

Piedad Bonnet Wins House of Poetry Latin American award.

The poet, playwright and novelist Antioquia Piedad Bonnet was awarded last weekend on July 16 with the: Casa de América Award XI of American Poetry for his "Explanations are not ordered."

The jury said of the winning "his intelligence, his sensitivity and poetic devices that manage to establish a unitary dialogue between imagination and reality"

The prize is endowed with 6,000 euros in advance by copyright and publication of the work by the publisher.

It is essential to remember that this award is really well recognized between the Latin America culture. Among the poets awarded in previous years include the Peruvian Eduardo small pieces.

I'm so happy," movie from a Colombian director goes to Cannes

The short film "I'm so happy," from the Colombian filmmaker Vladimir Durán its going to be part of the competition of short films at Cannes in Paris.

The selection of short films that will participate in this year consists of nine titles and last week announced the list of the official selection of films in competition for the Palme d'Or.

The jury for the selection of short films in competition at Cannes this year is chaired by French filmmaker Michel Gondry. As Colombians we feel very proud of this success and it’s a huge step forward for the Colombian film industry.

Colombian artist Gustavo Zalamea dies.

The painter, draftsman, printmaker and teacher Gustavo Zalamea died Tuesday July 12 at night.

Gustavo Zalamea, son of the renowned art critic Traba, was born in Buenos Aires in 1951. He studied architecture at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and anthropology and design at the University of Concepcion, Chile. Although he was born in Buenos Aires, he always considered himself Colombian because in Colombia was when he truly became an artist.

He devoted much of his life to teaching at the National University of Colombia where he served as Director of the School of Visual Arts during 2004-2006.

When people asked him about his artistic passion he answered “ The drawing is memory and is resistance”.

Colombia is mourning the loss of one of the most important painters of our decade and without a doubt will be remembered in the Colombians hearts.

Sadly in soccer Colombia usually gets excited and then we loose.

During the America Cup

Colombia seemed to have a foot in the semifinals, but all of the tricolor selection , however, gave numerous scoring plays, including a penalty, and fell 2-0 to the Peruvians in the quarterfinals of the game this last Saturday on July 16.

Colombia played well, it has amazing players and there is no doubt that there is talent in the field, but sadly they haven’t learned how to play as a group.

The mission of the Director of the soccer selection is to bring back to Colombia the possibility of participating in a World Cup, since the last trip from Colombia to the World Cup was in France in 1998.

Environmental abuses in Colombia

The exploitation of natural resources in Colombia is often so abusive and unfair that some think it should be compared with the exploitative labor or sexual exploitation.

What does explode means? It means mined the riches they contain. 2. Remove utility of a business or industry to their advantage. 3. Using their own benefit, usually in an abusive, qualities or feelings of a person, an event or any circumstance.

In Colombia every day there are more than 5000 cases of nature exploitation and there must be an stop.

The natural resources are not on another planet. Almost the natural resources are always around the dams or on top of oil fields or mines of gold surrounded by people. People who live there. People who breathe the air and eat the fish that can get contaminated and conclude their lives if there is no action taking.

FARC killed three guerrillas officers in fighting in Huila last Saturday.

A total of three guerrillas officers are dead and seven captured including its top leader. The incident happened in a fight between troops of the Colombian army and FARC in the department of Huila.

The president Juan Manuel Santos said in a statement that in fighting with the army were killed three members of the FARC, while seven other members were captured. This is a huge success for the Colombian army since the guerrilla is one of the rebel groups with more power in the country.

Reasons why corruption in Colombia continues.

Few dare to say how much is the loss of the country in corruption, especially when new 'rotten pot' begin to uncover. The Interior Minister German Vargas Lleras, in his defense of anti-corruption draft Statute stated an estimated losses amounted to 6 billion pesos.

There are several factors fueling corruption. And in all of them there is a common element: the tendency of a number of Colombians to accept help instill and perpetuate the culture of corruption.

Colombians decide to accept corruption and to report it at all.

Besides being a responsibility as Colombians we need to report it for our community. When Colombians know about something or accept bribes is when they should act but sadly most of colombians accept it and cover it up.

Who could be responsible for car bomb in Bogota and what to look fo

Who could be responsible for car bomb in Bogota and what to look for?

Who will bet he author of the pump that exploded early Thursday July 7 on the Seventh Avenue to 67th Street?

The assumptions come and go. The first is that this attack was against freedom of press. Caracol radio permanently has been doing allegations against drug trafficking, guerrillas and paramilitaries. Some of its journalists have been seriously threatened.

Two years ago, Darío Arizmendi, director of 'Today', had to leave the country because of death threats after a campaign for the release of the hostages of the FARC.

Thursday's episode is just another reminder of the harsh attacks from drug trafficking, when Pablo Escobar ordered attacking the media and state agencies in the 80’s and 90’s, or the brutal attack on the FARC against the club El Nogal in 2003.

Now, the task to find those responsible will challenge the authorities, and let’s hope that justice can play its part.

Gunmen killed a man in northern Bogota!

On July 14 at about eleven o'clock authorities registered a case of contract killings in the north of Bogota, in exactly the Boyaca Avenue and Calle 116.

According to information provided by the Metropolitan Police of Bogota, the gunman, who was traveling on a motorcycle struck him three shots at a man who was passing the corridor.

Paramedics who went to the scene tried to save his life but it was not possible and Police are investigating the causes of the attack.

Like this incident there are thousand like these that happens in Bogota. Bogota although it’s a beautiful and futuristic city it still deals with a huge problem: delinquency. Like the case of this man, each day there is people being killed or kidnapped in Bogota that is not announced in the radio or in Tv. There is a need in Bogota to reinforce the Police department and mitigate killings and robberies of this beautiful a gigantic city.

Colombian government tries to make arrangements so a Colombian wont be executed in China.

A taxi driver called Harold Carrillo Sanchez was caught in Beijing with a load of drugs and sentenced to death in China on drug charges in April.

The Foreign Ministry said that "through the Consulate of Colombia in Beijing, has been in constant contact with the Chinese authorities and the families of Harold Carrillo Sanchez since his arrest was notified by the Chinese authorities. "

The Colombian Constitution does not contemplate the death penalty for committing a crime. Government is trying everything possible to make the Chinese authorities to reconsider the sentence of Harold Carrillo.

Meanwhile Carrillo has a family that is waiting for him in Colombia and that are trying their best to knock on every door possible to ask for help and avoid the death sentence in China. The family knows that Harold Carrillo made a mistake and that he indeed needs to be punished but not by being executed.

It is necessary to understand that the process in China are way different to the ones in Colombia for drug issues and that now the only hope is in the arrangements that the Colombian government may do with the Chinese one.

Colombians, immigrants most educated in the United States.

Colombians, immigrants most educated in the United States.

A study made in May 2011 confirms that Colombian immigrants have the highest level of education among all those from the Western Hemisphere.

A 32.1% of Colombians over age 25 who enter the United States have a college degree, followed by Brazil and Peru 30.6%, 26.0%.

The United States has 35.2 million people born abroad, the study said. Of that total, between 8 and 10 million are illegal, and about a million or more that have not been counted.

Mexico remains being the country of origin of most new immigrants, followed by East Asia, Europe, the Caribbean, Central and South America, according to the study of CIS.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, Colombian migrants had an average schooling of all ages, from 13.3 years against 13.2 for the other South American countries.

Also according to the study of CIS in terms of graduation rates among immigrants aged 25 to 60 years followed by Colombia, Brazil and Peru. In conclusion, the Colombians still being rated as the immigrants that are the most well prepared in the educational field.

Shakira has released the video for the song 'Rabid' in Spanish

Shakira has released the video for the song 'Rabid' in Spanish

The Colombian/Barranquillera singer interprets this version with the rapper Dominican Dizzee Rascal.

This video shows the usual Shakira with a very different look from the blond hair that keeps the Colombian diva for several years. Shakira surprised his fans in this video by having a new color in her hair and also with short hair. In the video you can see the pop star in the middle of a party and also performing acrobatic dance moves. 'Rabid', is a song that is now available on iTunes and it seems to become the song of the summer. This is the latest single from the album 'The sun rises', with which the artist Barranquilla has reached number one in over ten countries. The video was filmed in Barcelona last April 24 and directed by photographer Jaume de la Iguana

Bogota ready for Rock at the Park 2011

June 30 2011

The 17 version of the festival will take place July first through July 4.

More than 90 bands, four stages instead of two, and an effort to recognize the current level of national rock are the main stakes for version 17 of the Rock at the park Festival, in the Media Torta in Bogotá, and the second at Parque Simón Bolívar.

There will be three platforms that pays tribute to the environment: Arco, Bio and Eco. The entry is free, anyone can come. The programming of the festival promises intense days of metal, reggae, electro rock and other tracks in the rock culture in Bogota. In addition to the concert area, there will be recreational areas and markets rock culture.

This is the first festival organized by the District Institute of the Arts of Bogota, which is a major challenge for the city.

Some of the recommendations in this festival are The New York band Fischerspooner that creates electronic music with rock ingredients and Cultura Profetica a group of reggae from Puerto Rico.

Colombia is so much more than drug trafficking

I’m from Colombia and I’m very proud of my country. Colombia is so much more than violence and drug trafficking. I'm tired of every time I step by the United States, either visit or transit, just because I come from Colombia or because I have a Colombian passport I am treated as if I had a drug load.

For no reason, especially in the United States Immigration, retain passports, frisk bags and no matter if you have connecting flights to other countries, they retain you for hours just to check you are not bringing any type of drug.

I missed a connecting flight to Chicago and almost missed a connecting flight to Colombia. They do not explain anything, do not care if one has to pay tickets and also they treat you like a criminal. They are despots in their treatment and did not even have the decency to give priority to passengers who have connecting flights.

Someone has to stop the stigma that unfortunately we carry through the action of a few who are alive today and people need to be more intelligent when it comes to Colombian history. There is so much beauty in Colombia that people don’t even know and they just marked us with a violence and drug tag.

The Colombian are mostly good people, people that want to be happy, that enjoy life and that are friendly and kind towards anyone. I hope some day people can gain more knowledge about my country and realize how wrong they are.

Violence in Colombia

Violence in Colombia might be considered as a phenomenon that historically has caused more damage and psychological, social, economic and physical consequences. I'm talking about violence in Colombia, which has permeated all layers of society, because it has affected our most representative institutions or organizations. First begin by making a brief history of violence in Colombia and it is therefore necessary to clarify that it is recurrent, and that on several occasions and different episodes has been political, armed forces conflict and drug trafficking. The first episode of violence was the war of 1,000 days, between conservatives and liberals, called the Patria Boba, between 1899-1902,then came the slaughter of banana in 1928, followed conflict stage for change of government in 1930 Enrique Olaya Herrera and Mariano Ospina Perez in 1946, after the death of Jorge Eliecer Gaitan on April 9, 1948. This was the first wave of violence by the traditional parties then the second wave of violence came from 1954 to 1958 when the guerrilla was formated, a group of ravages of drug trafficking from the 80's. Years later there was a group that was created called Paramilitares, they were created with the purpose to defend all the poor people that was being affected by la Guerrilla. Sooner Paramilitares forgot their ideals and started killing, kidnapping and drug trafficking began to be their number one source of economy.

To analyze the violence in Colombia might take us years to understand, but for now the truth is that Colombia has been affected by violence since long time ago and it started with group of rebels who wanted to create justice between the social classes but then they forgot their ideals and started to worry more about gaining more power and money.

Fashion in Colombia

Between January and June were spent on Colombian apparel (clothing and shoes), a total of 6.9 billion pesos, which would be something close to what the government gives annually to the Social Security Institute to pay the pensions of their retirees (8.5 billion).

As explained by Juan Diego Becerra, director of analysis of Radda the in Colombia the fashionable shopping boom is due because several reasons.

An analysis of the Centre reports that between January and June, the price adjustment of footwear and clothing was only 0.22 percent. Similarly, there are many more imports.

The citizens were the biggest spenders on fashion, followed by the inhabitants of Medellin and Cali.

Colombians spent money on clothes and shoes more for fun than necessity. It seems that Colombians care for their image more than they care for their finances.

Arizona Fire

It’s finally summer, but in Arizona the heat of summer can become a nightmare. Last weeks a fire in Arizona forced the evacuation of 11,000 people in the State.

This is the second largest fire in Arizona history and cover more than 157,000 acres. The fire has damaged an area that is larger than the area of the city of New York and Chicago together and the worst is that it can continue to grow.

The Captain Jim Wilkins, an U.S. fire service officer, has said: “ It is too early to know how many hundreds of homes in the city have been lost.”

More than 2,500 firefighters have been working in trying to extinguish the fire that began two weeks ago.

The flames happened by the White Mountains and have destroyed at least 11 other structures and damaged 588 more structures. The smoke was extended even to the New Mexico border where authorities are alert of the process of the flames in the State.

Brenyn Lohmoelder a spokesman of the fire service Reuters stated that “ The fire was very large and intense and that they are trying their best to control it.”

The fire has expanded so quickly that smoke have also been sighted in Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska.

Colombian Journalists marched for their rights

Thousands of Colombian journalists gathered yesterday on may 2 and marched in cities across the country. They marched because they were asking the Colombian government for protection and guarantees for their work and they decided to do it yesterday as the World Press Freedom Day was happening.

The secretary of the Colombian Federation of Journalists Glemis Mogollon said that what the principal reason of why reporters decided to go out and march for their rights was because all the threats that they receive daily against the practice of journalism in the country. In 2011 there have been more than 56 attacks on journalists in Colombia in which twenty-three were threatened, two attempted murders, ten obstructions to journalism and eight physical attacks.

Reporters marched wearing white t-shirts and blouses and some of them with tape on their mouths as a symbol of silence and the threats against freedom of expression.

The most recognized channels of the country gave spaces during the day to cover the event and to promote the freedom of expression.

Reporters that work in diverse areas of journalism like radio, Television, Magazines and Newspapers gave a message to the Colombians about the importance and necessity that there is to have the freedom to communicate and to inform the world and the nation of everything that happens in the country.

Since 1987 a total of 147 journalists have been murdered in Colombia according to investigative reports. I really think this is a relevant number and that Colombian reporters have all the right to ask for protection. As a student that is pursuing a degree in journalism and as a Colombian for me it’s really frustrating to know all the injustice and violence that is happening in the country and what it hurts me the most is also knowing that one of the functions that we as reporters have is to tell the truth and to be the voice of our people and knowing that you can even die for doing that in a way cut your journalist wings. I know that I definitely want to have a positive impact in people lives and I want to help them to improve their lives through my stories and if that means that I need to take a chance and be in risk, then I will die happy knowing that I did my part.