Uribe’s broken promises, Part 3 & 4
Originally published 14 May 2012 on Colombia Reports. Former President Alvaro Uribe is on a Twitter tirade claiming his successor Juan Manuel Santos has not lived up to 2010 campaign pledges. Not only is this false, but the former President is conveniently forgetting a large number of promises he broke himself. In fact, his failures … Read more
Uribe’s broken promises, Part Two
Originally published 07 May 2012 on Colombia Reports. Former President Alvaro Uribe is on a Twitter tirade claiming his successor Juan Manuel Santos has not lived up to 2010 campaign pledges. Not only is this false, but the former President is conveniently forgetting a large number of promises he broke himself. In fact, his failures … Read more
Uribe’s broken promises, Part One
Originally published 18 April 2012 on Colombia Reports. Former President Alvaro Uribe is on a Twitter tirade claiming his successor Juan Manuel Santos has not lived up to 2010 campaign pledges. Not only is this false, but the former President is conveniently forgetting a large number of promises he broke himself. In fact, his failures … Read more
Colombia’s up-and-coming: The Boqui-Toquis
Originally published 10 April 2012 on Colombia Reports. Medellin’s Boqui-Toquis is an indie-rock-surf-punk band born in the beginning of 2009, formed by four friends. Colombia Reports talked to lead singer Miguel Laverde to learn more about the band and its music. Who are you and where are you from? It all started when Tomas and Simon … Read more
Hope in the time of Colombia
Originally published 26 March 2012 on Colombia Reports. Why would the unquestionable victor of a war make considerable concessions to the vanquished? Why would the strong negotiate with the weak and willingly consolidate power? Traditional ‘might is right’ security policies are inadequate for explaining and predicting such occurrences and, in turn, are extremely shortsighted and … Read more
What does it mean to be Colombian?
Originally published 19 October 2010 on Colombia Reports. There are over 45 million “Colombians” living within the country’s borders and about 5 million abroad. I am said to fall under the latter category. However, of these 50+ million individuals, can we really sit down and agree on a set of characteristics in order to essentialize … Read more
Colombia’s ‘obligatory’ military service: The arbitrary role of class disparity
Originally published 24 July 2011 on Colombia Reports. When Alvaro Uribe (2002-2010) first ran for president of Colombia, a question I thought important was dodged. When asked why he and his sons had never performed military service, his campaign declined to comment. The shadow of this question remains indelible in my mind. This is the … Read more
Save the water for a rainy Colombian day
Originally published 31 May 2011 on Colombia Reports. In a time when Colombians are sick and tired of water because of the incessant torrential rains that have hit the country since last year, in a time during Colombia’s worst natural disaster in its history that has affected more than 3 million people and flooded over … Read more
Colombians: Can old dogs learn new tricks?
Originally published 19 May 2011 on Colombia Reports. When discussing Colombian security, it should be noted that we face more than one threat/conflict keeping us from realizing a more peaceful society. Our very social ethics are also at fault. It may be wise to expand horizons by looking beyond our traditional sources for peace and … Read more
Escobar & bin Laden: Bigger than the man
Originally published 5 May 2011 on Colombia Reports. Though there are similarities and differences between the two men, I liken Osama bin Laden’s assassination with Pablo Escobar’s in 1993. Both were the most wanted men in the world. Both were considered narco-terrorists. Both were a threat to U.S. interest. The U.S. also benefited at certain … Read more
Where have all Colombia’s disappeared gone?
Originally published 28 March 2011 on Colombia Reports. The current Colombian administration is denying the kidnap, torture, and murder of thousands of citizens. In an interview this past Wednesday, 23 March, Defense Minister Rodrigo Rivera spoke with certainty about what he called a definitive reduction of violence and delinquency. This so-called “certainty” is worrisome considering … Read more
God’s will or the will to power
Originally published 28 February 2011 on Colombia Reports. The so-called “intelligence” of a group depends in part on the ignorance of its members. When the soil nourishing the roots of our knowledge goes untilled – when our collective “wisdom” goes undiscussed, uninvestigated, and uncriticized – it may actually be our “intelligence” that stands in the way of … Read more
Poems for Medellin
Originally published 31 October 2010 on Colombia Reports. Medellin turns 335 years old on Tuesday. Or, at least this is what the city Mayor’s office is celebrating. The territory’s history, however, can be traced further back. In 1616, Spaniards officially founded Medellin in El Poblado. However, the valley and the area were explored by them … Read more
Hombre, it’s time to sit down and talk
Originally published 26 September 2010 on Colombia Reports. Since the time of La Violencia, negotiations between guerrilla groups (especially the FARC) and the government have mostly been ineffective, aside from a few successes in the early 1990s. As a result, it became fashionable for both sides to claim, “We have tried negotiations, but they haven’t worked … Read more
On behalf of Colombia’s war children
Originally published 20 September 2010 on Colombia Reports. When I was living in Bogota in 2009, authorities killed Pepe the Hippo. For a while it seemed that cafe and restaurant conversations mouthed Pepe’s name at least once in between bites of ajiaco and sips of tinto. I also remember a newspaper image of a woman … Read more
La CaSSaDaGa meant to chronicle my various journalistic and creative writing (#poetry & #fiction) endeavours. The project quickly evolved to also become the main cross+street where Colombian talent meets the world’s. La CaSSaDaGa’s new mission is to also share with an English-speaking, int’l audience the diverse, creative talents of budding Colombian artists and introduce Colombians to the emerging, non-mainstream talents of the world. From one CaSSaDaGaN to another, welcome and bienvenidos to mi CaSSa. Don't forget to remove your shoes -- we walk barefoot around here.
