mariacvetanoski has left 668 comments

mariacvetanoski comments on Six dead after suspected Colombian rebels burn bus

"Six burned bodies were found, four adults and two children," he said.

mariacvetanoski comments on U.S. Military Documents Show Colombia Base Agreement Poses Threat to Region

Venezuela is already home to one of the world's largest refugee populations, with an estimated 4 million Colombians living there who fled their country's violence. Moreover, the conflict regularly causes border clashes between the Venezuelan and Ecuadoran armed forces and Colombian armed groups (military, paramilitary, and guerrillas). It also contributes to lawlessness and crime throughout the Colombian border region. If mounting tensions lead to a cut-off in trade between Colombia and Venezuela, both economies will suffer-Colombia's probably more so, since it sells about six times as much to Venezuela than vice versa, and since it is generally more difficult to find new markets than it is to find new suppliers. Furthermore, trade is one of the best guarantors of good relations. Without it, the possibility is much greater of a conflict erupting between the two countries, a conflict far more serious than has yet taken place.

mariacvetanoski comments on COLOMBIAN victims were taken to Guatemala and Panama and forced to work as prostitutes

just like the movie "TAKEN" with Liam Neeson , guess was based on true stories there in europe... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0936501/

mariacvetanoski comments on COLOMBIAN victims were taken to Guatemala and Panama and forced to work as prostitutes

"It began when a neighbor told me I was pretty, and could work in a casino in Spain and make good money," recalls Viviana. "She said I could earn $1,000 a week. It seemed like the only way I could ever buy a house for my son. So I said yes." Viviana's case was typical of many young women in Colombia. Once relatively calm, her hometown became snared in the country's decades-old civil war in the last year, when paramilitary soldiers began massacring supposed guerrilla sympathizers. Hundreds fled her native Tuluá, joining Colombia's estimated 2 million internal refugees. Viviana moved to nearby Cali, but the city staggered under 21 percent unemployment. The offer seemed like a good deal, until she got to Asturias, Spain, where a man began explaining about "towels, sheets, condoms, and percentages." He also said she owed them $4,000. She then realized - "this was not a casino, it was a bordello." She spent that night crying, convinced she had "fallen into the jaws of a beast." Trafficking women is increasingly attractive to organized crime, since "people are cheaper and easier to traffic than drugs and arms, and the laws are pretty lax even if you get caught," said lawyer Ann Jordan of Washington's Human Rights Law Group. Her organization was in a broad coalition that worked on the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, a bill that received unusual bipartisan support in the US Congress last fall and has been called the first modern antislavery law. Ms. Jordan thinks that trafficking people, whether for sex slavery or other forms of labor, is an issue whose time has come. The CIA first reported on it in 1999, and in December's UN meeting on organized crime, 80 nations signed a protocol to share information on trafficking rings, and protect women forced into prostitution. Fanny Polanía is the founder of Fundacíon Esperanza, or Hope Foundation, with offices in Amsterdam and Bogotá. Since 1995, the group has offered public information, given protection to deported women after being forced into prostitution, and lobbied for more prosecution of traffickers. Ms. Polanía says that Colombia's ongoing conflict and its displacement of millions is increasing the trafficking of women - even regionally. "We have information from Ecuador that increasing numbers of Colombian women are arriving over the border and being convinced by international crime rings to travel to other countries, where they wind up in prostitution," she said. According to Polanía and several women interviewed for this article who preferred anonymity, trafficking rings work by offering a legitimate-sounding job overseas, like working in a night club or domestic labor. They give the women money and help for visas and plane fare, and cash to pass as tourists to immigration authorities. Once abroad, they must work as prostitutes to pay a "fee." The time it takes to earn this money is usually longer than the duration of the visa, making the women illegal and more vulnerable. Traffickers threaten their families back home if they disagree with terms. Some are let go after paying the debt; others are kept in captivity. Attorney Bill Cartwright of Chicago's Depaul University is leading the first study of trafficking women and children for prostitution in the Americas. "There's a lot of anecdotal evidence, and we want to get beyond that," he said. He hopes to have results next year. Meanwhile, Viviana works odd jobs and volunteers at a center for special-needs children. "I would like to study education," she says. "I just wish my country offered more opportunities for women."

mariacvetanoski comments on COLOMBIAN victims were taken to Guatemala and Panama and forced to work as prostitutes

http://www.libertadlatina.org/LA_Colombia_CS Monitor Article_01112001.htm Though only 23 and from a small town in southwestern Colombia, Viviana has already lived through "something you would only see in the movies," she says. She has escaped from a Spanish bordello at dawn, received death threats directed at her 5-year-old son, and informed on an international crime network to Interpol. Viviana is a victim of sex slavery, a multibillion-dollar racket where women are sold as prostitutes to mafia-style networks that stretch from Spain and Germany to Japan and the United States. Though the women have traditionally come from Asia and Eastern Europe, it is a growing problem throughout Latin America as well. Viviana was one of what the Interpol estimates are 35,000 women trafficked out of Colombia every year, with estimated profits of $500 million, making it second only to the Dominican Republic in the West.

mariacvetanoski comments on Police drug dogs are honored for sniffing out nearly 3 tons of cocaine at Colombia's Ports.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19938928/ cats and rats to sniff out bombs and mines in colombia BOGOTA, Colombia - Who says Tom and Jerry can’t be friends? For the past year, a special Colombian police unit has been locking rats in cages with cats as part of a project to train the rodents to sniff out the more than 100,000 land mines planted mostly by leftist rebels across this conflict-wracked Andean country. Bringing the rats face to face with an enemy allows them to stay more focused once they are released, veterinarian Luisa Mendez, who’s been working with the animals for two years, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

mariacvetanoski comments on Chavez to troops: Prepare for war with Colombia

Is This going to INCREASE GAS PRICES here in the US???

mariacvetanoski comments on Thousands of Japanese protest U.S. base plan with a visit from BARACK OBAMA;COLOMBIAN TAMBIEN??

http://www.reuters.com/article/americasCrisis/idUSN07411579 Obama denies US creating military bases in Colombia Obama: no intention of sending large numbers of troops * Venezuela's Chavez says U.S. plan a step toward war * Obama says opposition is "anti-Yankee rhetoric" WASHINGTON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday denied the United States is planning to set up military bases in Colombia as part of an upgraded security agreement with the South American nation. "There have been those in the region who have been trying to play this up as part of a traditional anti-Yankee rhetoric. This is not accurate," Obama told Hispanic media reporters. Leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez -- a persistent critic of Washington -- has said the enhanced U.S.-Colombian security plan could be a step toward war in South America. On Sunday, Chavez called on Obama not to increase the U.S. military presence in Colombia. Obama said this was a myth. "We have had a security agreement with Colombia for many years now. We have updated that agreement. We have no intent in establishing a U.S. military base in Colombia," Obama said. "This is continuation of assistance that we had been providing them. We have no intention of sending large numbers of additional troops into Colombia, and we have every interest in seeing Colombia and its neighbors operate peacefully." The new security arrangement would allow the Pentagon to lease access to seven Colombian military bases for U.S. support in fighting drug traffickers and guerrillas involved in the cocaine trade. The agreement would also increase the number of American troops in Colombia above the current total of less than 300 but not more than 800, the maximum permitted under the existing pact. Colombia has accused Ecuador and Venezuela of assisting Marxist FARC rebels waging a four-decade-old guerrilla war against the Colombian state. "I think Colombia has some legitimate concerns about the FARC operating from over the border. I hope that could be resolved in conversations with its neighbors," Obama said. (Reporting by Anthony Boadle, editing by Eric Beech) will OBAMA visit the US BASES in COLOMBIA AS WELL?? ©

mariacvetanoski comments on Breaking News: Anyone Have Reletives in Orlando? Massive Shooting with Dead& Wounded Downtown

yes there was some schools here on lockdown and the killer was right by my sons school and the apartment we live out here in orlando!! they dont do this in COLOMBIA , not so far ... ?

mariacvetanoski comments on Venezuela deploys 15,000 more troops to border with Colombia

The troops would be deployed to the southern states of Amazonas, Apure and Bolivar, and to the southwestern states of Barinas, Tachira and Zuila, Venezuelan Vice President and Defense Minister Ramon Carrizalez told the press on Thursday.

mariacvetanoski comments on FIDEL Castro Criticizes Obama for US-Colombia Deal

Mr. Castro says allowing the United States to use Colombia's military bases threatens not only neighboring Venezuela, but all people in the region. so UNTRUE....

mariacvetanoski comments on Colombia: Pact to Expand U.S. Army Presence Signed

this is WHY THEY NEED THE US TROOPS THERE IN COLOMBIA>>>> YOUTH GANGS IN COLOMBIA http://www.vimeo.com/6221658

mariacvetanoski comments on Colombia: Pact to Expand U.S. Army Presence Signed

-- Colombia and the United States signed an agreement Friday that allows U.S. personnel to be stationed at seven military bases in the South American nation. The United States says it needs the bases to help in its fight against terrorists and narcotraffickers, especially since the closure a few months ago of a U.S. base in Ecuador. The United States maintains similar "forward operating locations" in El Salvador and Aruba-Curacao. Colombia's agreement to host the Americans has come under harsh criticism in Latin America, particularly from President Hugo Chavez in neighboring Venezuela. Chavez has likened the agreement to an act of war and accuses the United States of wanting to stage military personnel nearby to destabilize his leftist government. The U.S. forward operating location in Aruba-Curacao is off the northern coast of Venezuela. The United States linked Colombia's agreement to a trade pact the South American nation wants. Colombia also stands to gain from U.S. help in the nation's 45-year-old war against Marxist guerrillas known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, commonly called FARC. Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez, Defense Minister Gabriel Silva and Interior and Justice Minister Fabio Valencia Cossio were joined by U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield in signing the document Friday in Bogota, the nation's capital.

mariacvetanoski comments on Its Official Now.

does this mean they are going pull troops from afganistan and move them to COLOMBIA?? http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/65703-obama-exploring-options-to-send-fewer-than-40k-troops-to-afghanistan Obama exploring options to send fewer than 40k troops to Afghanistan By Tony Romm - 10/31/09 09:30 AM ET The president and his national security team are investigating options to dispatch fewer troops to Afghanistan than Gen. Stanley McChrystal first requested. Although McChrystal, the ground commander, has long asked Obama for a new deployment of about 44,000 troops, the president's national security team remains skeptical of that idea -- and at odds with some Pentagon officials, who believe McChrystal's approach is correct,

mariacvetanoski comments on mining and logging firms are pushing farmers off the land by force or trickery

my cousins had their farmland stolen by the guerrillas and had two sons killed as well... they need their land to survive for their families... what comes around goes around...

mariacvetanoski comments on Colombian soccer players found dead in Venezuela

Prosecutors said the kidnappers, described as armed men dressed in black, were thought to have called out the names of the team's members one by one before taking them away in vehicles. The killings occurred near a porous border where Colombian rebels, paramilitary fighters and drug smugglers are often able to move about with ease. Venezuelan officials also have struggled in recent years with frequent kidnappings and murders blamed on common criminals in various parts of the country. The motive behind the latest slayings remains unclear. The single known survivor, 19-year-old Manuel Cortez of Colombia, was shot in the neck, said Orlando Lopez, one of his brothers. Lopez told The Associated Press that his brother didn't know his abductors. "They had them tied up for 14 days in the sun," Lopez said. "They tied them up to some trees, with chains on their necks and with their hands locked up." Lopez said his brother recalled the men saying the hostages "didn't have anything to do with it but that they were going to kill them because they had seen their faces." As for Cortez, "they put him on his knees and they shot him," Lopez said by phone from the military hospital in Caracas where his brother was moved after being afraid for his safety at a hospital in San Cristobal in the border region. A stranger arrived at the first hospital asking to see Cortez and was detained by authorities, Lopez said.

mariacvetanoski comments on Colombian soccer players found dead in Venezuela

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hEIbx9D3uqnqol--oD2Uk26WVf8gD9BIF4U01 Venezuela ups border security after 10 slayings By IAN JAMES (AP) – 20 hours ago CARACAS, Venezuela — Ten men who belonged to the same soccer team were slain execution-style nearly two weeks after being abducted in a crime that Venezuela said Sunday could be the work of warring factions in neighboring Colombia. Venezuelan troops stepped up security patrols in the area near the Colombian border after the bodies of 10 men, most of them Colombians, were found in multiple spots in western Tachira state Saturday, Vice President Ramon Carrizalez said. The victims were among a group of 12 men who authorities say were kidnapped Oct. 11 from a field where they were playing soccer

mariacvetanoski comments on Colombian soccer players found dead in Venezuela

video http://www.colombianews.tv/ During the next hours the 12 bodies of the soccer players killed in Venezuela will arrive to Colombia. President Alvaro Uribe asked Venezuela's Government for cooperation in order to arrest the people responsible.

mariacvetanoski comments on Colombian soccer players found dead in Venezuela

Venezuelan Vice President Ramon Carrizalez told reporters the men were found with bullet wounds in various parts of the western state of Tachira, on the border between the two South American neighbors.

mariacvetanoski comments on Guatemalan, U.S. military forces detain submarine with 10 tons of cocaine from COLOMBIA

The commercial value of the cocaine was at 1 billion quetzals (some 120 million U.S. dollars). This has been the first detention of a submarine loaded with drugs in Guatemalan territory.

mariacvetanoski comments on Afganistan Child Soldiers VS. Colombian Child soldiers

This is why we need to "HELP" the children of COLOMBIA or NO ONE ELSE WILL...

mariacvetanoski comments on Afganistan Child Soldiers VS. Colombian Child soldiers

I escaped one day during the day. I had left all my weapons behind. I was on guard duty and I snuck away. They caught me after an hour. The militia recognized me, even though I had changed into civilian clothes. I cried when they caught me. I begged them to let me go. They chained me up with a metal chain. I couldn't move my arms. At the war council, I wasn't allowed to talk. But luckily, they voted not to kill me. Instead, they made me dig twenty meters of trenches, make twenty trips to get wood, and ordered me tied to a pole for two weeks. I had to give a talk in front of everyone explaining why I had tried to desert, why I had made this mistake. Guerrilla units are from one-quarter to nearly one-half female, and may include girls as young as eight.

mariacvetanoski comments on Afganistan Child Soldiers VS. Colombian Child soldiers

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/colombia0903/4.htm#_Toc05 Child Combatants with the FARC-EP The FARC-EP shows no leniency to children because of their age, assigning children the same duties as adults. Those who break minor disciplinary rules are sent off to dig trenches or latrines, clear forest, cut and carry firewood, or do kitchen duties. If they lose a weapon, they may be forced to enter combat without one until they are able to recover a replacement from the enemy. To deal with serious breaches, a "war council" is held. Combatants hear the charges and the defence. A death sentence may be passed by a show of hands. Children who desert are often shot, especially if they take their weapons with them. The same fate awaits suspected informers, infiltrators, or children who fall asleep on guard duty. The commander handpicks a group to carry out the sentence. The child, hands tied by nylon cord, is taken beyond the camp's perimeter and made to wait while the squad digs a grave. Several children told Human Rights Watch that they had been ordered to carry out an execution of another child. Some said they had been selected deliberately because the victim was a friend. After the execution, usually by revolver shot, the body may be gutted before it is buried. The dead child's family is rarely, if ever, notified. Children are also called upon to execute captured enemies. Several former FARC-EP child combatants described in detail to Human Rights Watch how guerrillas tortured captive paramilitaries by pushing needles under their nails, severing fingers and arms, and cutting their faces. Several children told us that their commanders made them watch these gruesome spectacles.

mariacvetanoski comments on Border towns in COLOMBIA/ Ecuador target of assassinations - two community leaders dead

The Report to Members of the Committee on Foreign Relations United States Senate, delivered on April 28, 2008, “Playing with Fire: Colombia, Ecuador and Venzuela,” maintains that the Ecuadorian government has for years welcomed large numbers of Colombian refugees, but that they have never received compensation for their care or restitution for Ecuadorian properties that have been destroyed by the Colombian military during Colombian operations along the border. The report also maintains that the Colombian government has not conducted impartial investigations when Ecuadorians are killed during these operations. This has not stopped Ecuadorian efforts.

mariacvetanoski comments on HALLOWEEN in COLOMBIA

HALLOWEEN in CALI, http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&source=hp&q=halloween in colombia&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=0NzQSqznHISqtgfCuryABA&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CCUQqwQwAw#

mariacvetanoski comments on HALLOWEEN in COLOMBIA

halloween in colombia 2008 video http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&source=hp&q=halloween in colombia&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=0NzQSqznHISqtgfCuryABA&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CCUQqwQwAw#

mariacvetanoski comments on UN paints grim picture of child abuse in Colombian conflict

soylo the point is children are suffering, and worked with an orphanage in bogota, colombia for the last 14yrs and see how their lives are changing because someone "CARED" enough to get them off the streets of Colombia had 2 cousins killed by guerrillas, and some cousins who lost their mother at 23 yrs of age. as well seen some of my cousins not be able to go to school or find work.. due to lack of employment there are so "many children" but so few workers..... Hopefully the next president of Colombia and can help out with this situation thanks. ps Colombia Rules and is one of the most beautiful countries in the world especially its children....

mariacvetanoski comments on UN paints grim picture of child abuse in Colombian conflict

Turning to extrajudicial killings, he cites figures from the Attorney-General’s office showing 51 child victims as of November 2008, and also mentions the case of 11 people, including a child who disappeared near Bogotá, the capital, and whose bodies were later displayed by the national army as members of illegal groups killed in combat in Norte de Santander department. Mr. Ban notes that Colombia has the second largest population of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the world, with nearly 3 million being displaced between 1997 and the end of 2008, and more than 1 million of them children.

mariacvetanoski comments on MARIA FULL OF GRACE vs. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

trailers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIzbwV7on6Q http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390221/trailers

mariacvetanoski comments on Gunman on horseback slays councilman in Colombia

41-year-old German Herrera, was the president of the town council in Castillo and a father of four.

mariacvetanoski comments on Colombian and Mexican customs agents in one week this month seized more than $41 million in cash

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8279446.stm Agents make record cash seizure The cash was hidden in bags of industrial chemicals Customs agents from the US, Mexico and Colombia have confiscated about $41m (£26m) in cash. The money, thought to belong to drug gangs, was found hidden in shipping containers at the ports of Manzanillo in Mexico and Buenaventura in Colombia. The two ports are regularly used by drug traffickers to channel cocaine to the US and cash from drug sales back to the gangs' headquarters in Colombia. It is one of the biggest ever cash seizures of its kind, officials said. Chemicals A total of about $41m in cash was seized in five separate raids last month. On 9 September, Colombian customs officials aided by local police found $11.2m in two shipping containers on a boat bound for Buenaventura. The cash was hidden in bags filled with ammonium sulphate, a chemical used to make fertiliser. A further $11.2m was seized on 10 September, also in Colombia, and $11m of cash hidden in containers containing sodium sulphate was found on 11 September in Manzanillo by US customs agents. On 14 September, US agents confiscated $5m in Buenaventura, and on 18 September $2.15m was taken in Manzanillo. "This seizure... has surely put a dent in the illegal activities of the individuals involved," said John Morton, Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) at the US Department of Homeland Security. No arrests have yet been made as a result of the seizure, but the investigation is ongoing. Officials are operating under a "strong suspicion" that the cash belonged to drug traffickers.

mariacvetanoski comments on Colombian and Mexican customs agents in one week this month seized more than $41 million in cash

watch the video: http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&source=hp&q=colombia news&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=Fn3CSqzSNpentge8vbj1BA&sa=X&oi=news_group&ct=title&resnum=1

mariacvetanoski comments on Click "M" For Murder In Cali

check out the video http://www.vimeo.com/6221658 Gangs of youths shout at each other from one hill to the other and gunshots can be heard, most alarmingly, this seems to have little effect on the children who play nearby in the streets. Death has become a daily spectacle. Armed gangs, who fight for control of territory, are part of the daily life for the inhabitants of District 13 who are frequently dragged into this dangerous turf war. A young man covered in blood lies in the middle of the street. Was he a member of a gang, or an innocent victim? Nobody knows or cares. Only a few children near the security perimeter installed by the police seem affected. Some of them hide their eyes or look away, but most of them seem fascinated by the violence which is eating away at this part of the city.

mariacvetanoski comments on URIBE 2010 RE-ELECTION TURNED DOWN

The organizer of the popular referendum that demands the possibility for Colombian President Álvaro Uribe to be re-elected continues to refuse to disclose the financiers of the project. Luis Guillermo Giraldo, secretary of coalition party Partido de la U, told Caracol Radio the 1.9 billion pesos (US$ 1 million) to fund the popular vote came of "a non-profit organization, which was created a few years ago and has its statutes." The foundation that financed the referendum is called Colombia Primero and has not the same members as Primero Colombia, the group that supported the first two candidacies of Uribe, Giraldo said. The Partido de la U secretary refuses to say the names of those in the foundation, but assured they were "respectable people" and do not handle dirty money.

mariacvetanoski comments on HELP for 3 young Colombian girls who lost their mother

thanks but everytime we go visit these girls they all say they want to come to the US, as they want to learn english, dance, sing, and maybe even play an instrument, and a chance to finish high school with possiblities of going to college here but it is very hard for them as they do work on the farm with their grandfather who is going blind and is illiterate... their mother was killed at 23 years of age, and the 3rd one has a different father, they want to see the US after all the pictures and dvd's and movies cds we send them of which they dont HAVE ACCESS to in COLOMBIA they walk 2-3 miles a day just to get school each day and have worked with chickens, and helped with the farmwork since they were little, thanks ...

mariacvetanoski comments on HELP for 3 young Colombian girls who lost their mother

would love to! but went that route with a lawyer already and said they were "too distant" as far as relatives, my mother has passed and the only way is to wait or to adopt them.. once they are here could claim asylum if it is to dangerous for them to go back to colombia.... am not sure... thanks

mariacvetanoski comments on HELP for 3 young Colombian girls who lost their mother

hopefully no war, but it does not sound good with Venezuela..

mariacvetanoski comments on HELP for 3 young Colombian girls who lost their mother

yes, they want to come to Disney and see Universal Studios, Sea World all that but cant due to their age!

mariacvetanoski comments on HELP for 3 young Colombian girls who lost their mother

their ages are 9,11 and 14

mariacvetanoski comments on HELP for 3 young Colombian girls who lost their mother

tourist visas wont help due to their age per the lawyer...

mariacvetanoski comments on jhoshua

have a friend from cali, maybe they can help will see also we work with an orphanage in bogota ,colombia called Associacion Corazon, Esperanza y Amor and has about 24 orphan boys there from 4-18 yrs of age you can contact Mario and Leslie Breton in bogota at cell# (011-57 from the US) but from bogota the # is 310-293-1793 or 310-349-7943 maybe they can help as they have other contacts in colombia as well... try it if you can adios.. and good luck!

mariacvetanoski comments on Venezuela has bought over $4 billion in weapons; COLOMBIA is fearful

Ecuadorean leader Rafael Correa says any more cross-border raids by Colombia will be met with a military response. In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton voiced U.S. concern that Venezuela's plan to buy more Russian weapons, including tanks and anti-aircraft missiles, could set off an arms race in the region. "We have expressed concerned about the number of Venezuelan arms purchases. They outpace all other countries in South America and certainly raise questions as to whether there is going to be an arms race in the region," she said at a press conference with visiting Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez. Tabare Vazquez said the arms race had already begun and was using up scarce resources in a region of widespread poverty. Colombia says its expanded pact with the U.S. military is aimed at helping the fight against drug trafficking. But Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, a fierce critic of U.S. foreign policy, says the bases could be used to launch an attack on his country. In recent years, Venezuela has bought over $4 billion in weapons from Russia, including 24 Sukhoi fighter jets. On Sunday Chavez said he was buying an advanced S-300 missile defense system and 92 tanks with a $2.2 billion credit from Moscow. Continued...

mariacvetanoski comments on Colombia and India (population 1 billion ) Different or the same??

The similarities of economies of India and Colombia are marked by remarkable performance of all the economic sectors that present excellent opportunities for establishing commercial alliance and economic and technical cooperation between India and Colombia.

mariacvetanoski comments on Colombian police: Bombs tied to donkeys kill 2

killing two coca-eradication workers and wounding six soldiers.

mariacvetanoski comments on

Since the demobilization of the Calima Front, narco-trafficking activity, coca growing and violence have significantly increased in both the Valle de Cauca department and Buenaventura. The mini-cartels Dozens of mini-cartels - each with its own system of coca past procurement (obtaining the glue-like substance used to chemically produce cocaine), cocaine processing, security and export - have popped up around Colombia. Continued high levels of coca leaf cultivation and cocaine production in Colombia prove their nationwide presence.

mariacvetanoski comments on Colombia confiscates $11 million in smuggled cash on ship

http://intelligence-summit.blogspot.com/2006/09/buenaventura-cocaine-export-center.html BUENAVENTURA A COCAINE EXPORT CENTER Colombia’s largest port city is a point of origin for cocaine smuggled north and a hotbed of violence as paramilitaries battle guerrillas for control of access to the source of mountain coca production and the river routes to the Pacific.

mariacvetanoski comments on Colombia confiscates $11 million in smuggled cash on ship

Wednesday's seizure at the port of Buenaventura may be the nation's largest

mariacvetanoski comments on Colombian TV airs footage of FARC hostages

Colombian President Álvaro Uribe has been trying to secure the release of 24 policemen and soldiers being held by the FARC, of which these ten men are a part.

mariacvetanoski comments on Colombian TV airs footage of FARC hostages

This situation almost guarantees that high-value hostages will be held by the FARC for many years with little chance for release, other than through a very risky rescue attempt.

mariacvetanoski comments on Colombia Reports - Scaring Sex Tourists in Colombia

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1708260.stm Bogota curfew aims at child sex Children out after 11pm will be arrested The mayor of Bogata has imposed a night-time curfew on minors to clamp down on child prostitution and reduce crime rates in the Colombian capital. Under the new rules, which came into force on Wednesday night, any children under the age of 16 caught out on the streets between 11pm and 5am will be arrested by police. Any bars selling alcohol to minors will be fined over $1,000 for every child served. "The sexual exploitation of children is perhaps one of the most deplorable customs that exists. What is of concern is that adults have a lot of opportunities to have sex freely among equals, but many minors are forced into it," Bogota Mayor Antanas Mockus said.