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Civil War in Colombia

Do you think there will be civil war in Colombia. The rich are happy, the poor seems to support FARC. The election is coming! The free trade treaty is dead! Prices are rising! Debt is rasing!

By RussianFred on Aug 17, 2007, 18:25 in Friendly Talkzone.

gabolicious says on Aug 17, 2007, 18:39:

"the poor seems to support FARC"

seem??????

could you explain a little bit more this point???

cause I think you are speculating....

Elección no canonización....

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robi666 says on Aug 17, 2007, 18:42:

Colombian children seem to like Barnie quite a lot... now shutting down his program would cause such a war!

"I am a citizen of the most beautiful nation on earth. A nation whose laws are harsh yet simple, a nation that never cheats, which is immense and without borders, where life is lived in the present."

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gabolicious says on Aug 17, 2007, 18:45:

maybe Barnie is the REAL cause of a war... don't you think?

Children grow up with some problems watching that tv show

;)

Elección no canonización....

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robi666 says on Aug 17, 2007, 18:48:

Oh, and think that I also bought a Barnie puppet to my child that sings "Te quiero yo y tu a mi...", will it cause problem in the future?

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gabolicious says on Aug 17, 2007, 18:52:

hope it doesn't dude...

maybe I should buy one for myself...

=D

Elección no canonización....

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robi666 says on Aug 17, 2007, 18:54:

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RussianFred says on Aug 17, 2007, 18:56:

I am speculating.... I spend a lot of time in the poor areas of Medellin. The people I talk too do not like the current President. "He doesn't care about the poor" They want change? I am not a expert that why I posted the question.

Annual Drug Deaths: Tobacco: 395,000, Alcohol: 125,000, 'Legal' Drugs: 38,000, Illegal Drug Overdoses: 5,200, Marijuana: 0. Considering government subsidies of tobacco, just what is our government protecting us from in the drug war?--Ralph Nader

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robi666 says on Aug 17, 2007, 19:00:

"I am not a expert that why I posted the question."
RussianFred, that's why gabo and me are trying to make you understand!

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timeforachangeofscenery says on Aug 17, 2007, 19:00:

The pooor are supporting FARC now ???

Because yesterday FARC were terrorising and brutalising them too. What happened since yesterday ???

Timefor.

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gabolicious says on Aug 17, 2007, 19:01:

Robi.. you are right, I think it is better for children to have these kind of puppets rather than weapons.. I've seen some children in Mexico with plastic guns as toys... go figure

Elección no canonización....

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robi666 says on Aug 17, 2007, 19:08:

Yes, Gabo. What it impressed me the most after got here, it is hearing Fajardo at the TV, after the documentary La Sierra, saying that it will be needed 7 generations for the violence and "civil war" to be forgotten. So, the voice goes on and on and on... FARC... AUC... like an echo and a photograph.

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gabolicious says on Aug 17, 2007, 19:08:

Well Russian Fred I asked because the fact that poor people you have talked to think that Uribe does not support them does not necessarily mean that they are PRO FARC...

I think we are dealing here with two different topics...

- What the poor people think (at least the ones you have talked to) in your opinion

and

- Whether poor people (again, the one you have talked to) are or not PRO FARC (in your opinion)

Elección no canonización....

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gabolicious says on Aug 17, 2007, 19:12:

7 generations?????

wow!!!!

so let's start right now with our kids... maybe this could be the first generation.

Elección no canonización....

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robi666 says on Aug 17, 2007, 19:16:

"I am speculating.... I spend a lot of time in the poor areas of Medellin"
Where exactly?

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RussianFred says on Aug 17, 2007, 19:38:

bello

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RussianFred says on Aug 17, 2007, 19:38:

bello

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RussianFred says on Aug 17, 2007, 19:38:

bello

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scotty says on Aug 17, 2007, 19:47:

gloom and doom, bad news on the door step, the sky is falling, end times, did i forget any?

Get Rhythm, when you got the blues. Johnny Cash

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Robert Jorge says on Aug 17, 2007, 20:21:

RF, I was going to comment, but I let the monkey get the best of me. Let me just say the poor people I know in Colombia do not like the FARC. There is as much love for the FARC from them, as there is for a Viet Nam vet loving Jane Fonda.

--"I believe in making the world safe for our children. But not for our children's children, because I don't think that children should be having sex." - Jack Handy

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juancegomez says on Aug 17, 2007, 21:01:

If you consider the current conflict a "civil war", then the first question is moot.

If not, then I think others have already addressed the main issues in the first post.

I would add, however, that obviously FARC does have some degree of support, perhaps relatively small as far as our perceptions go but not only among the poor.

Still, it's definitely not a neatly divided matter ("rich" vs "poor"). You have poor people that have no problem interacting with narcos and paramilitaries, for example, and a few non-poor intellectuals that end up liking FARC for one reason or another (thankfully this isn't as often as it was in the past).

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Robert Jorge says on Aug 17, 2007, 21:07:

Perfectly said juancegomez.

--"I believe in making the world safe for our children. But not for our children's children, because I don't think that children should be having sex." - Jack Handy

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billyb says on Aug 17, 2007, 21:11:

As always JM.

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billyb says on Aug 17, 2007, 21:12:

Damn, I mean as always JG. (whisky)

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Cerealkiller says on Aug 18, 2007, 04:09:

RussianFred, the answer to your question is NO, it wont happen now or it 10 years. For it to be considered civil war you would need two (or more) clear sides dividing the country...right now you only have mafias with very little popular support. FARC and AUC are not for the poor, they kill them and abduct their children for recruitment more than they kidnap and kill the rich. So you could have a couple of gangs in poor neighborhoods who say they support FARC but even with that, the number woudnt be significant to polarize the nation. In addition, you can just look at colombias recent past, you can find a fair amount of presidents who have done a lot of pretty stupid things for the nation and no body has ever protested or demanded a change of regime.

Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives -John Stuart Mill

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