SiV has written 15 posts

Poverty in Colombia: Wikipedia

Was just doing a search on the Gini Index (an economic indicator showing inquality of wealth distribution) for Colombia, when I came across this Wikipedia post: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_Colombia Incidentally, the Gini coefficient shows Colombia to be one of the most unequal countries in the world, and has the second highest coefficient in Latin America, after Brazil. ...

Pasto: hiking Galeras

Has anyone done this? Is it safe at the moment? What are the logistics- getting there, costs, etc.? Is special equipment/ clothing necessary? Any information would be appreciated. Thanks. P.S. What other things are there to do in/around Pasto? ...

So, you think you have women problems? 'I fell in love with a female assassin'

See this article in today's Independent newspaper: 'I fell in love with a female assassin' They met on a train and fell in love. Then Jason P Howe discovered that his girlfriend Marylin was leading a secret double life – as an assassin for right-wing death squads in Colombia's brutal civil war. With their story set to become a major Hollywood film, he recalls an extraordinary, doomed romance Read the rest of this sap's article: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/i-fe ...

Left-Right politics

As Colombia, Latin America and PBH seems to polarising along political lines, even more than usual, I thought I'd include this definition of Left-Right taken from wikipedia in the hope of clarifying some concepts and better understanding: Left-Right politics Main article: Left-Right politics Most political analysts and politicians divide politics into left wing and right wing politics, often also using the idea of center politics as a middle path of policy between the right and left. This c ...

Facebook anti-March 6th group: slanderous?

I was pretty disgusted the other day, when I saw an anti-March 6th group on Facebook. It slogan stated, "I will not march alongside Chavez, Piedad Cordoba or Raul Reyes" and had almost 18,000 members. The march tommorrow is for the victims of paramilitaries, tens of thousands of displaced, massacred poor campesinos, indigenous, afro-Colombians, unionists, etc. often killed and tortured in the most inhuman ways: chainsawed alive, fed their own amputated body parts, nailed to trees, heads smash ...

Visas: Spain via the UK?

OK, this type of stuff is not my strongpoint. I am British and my wife is Colombian. We are thinking of going back to Europe, well Spain, for a while, a few years, and I'm trying to figure out the easiest/least expensive way to get there. The options as I see them are: 1. Go to the UK first. This would require UK visitor or temporary visa. I understand as the UK isn't part of the Schengen countries, she would then have to apply for one. I imagine the fact that she would already have the ...

Rugby in Cali

It's been a while since I've clocked PBH, and I noticed that with the Rugby World Cup, there's some interest in rugby here. Well, if you want to play, there is a team here in Cali. We train at the Univalle, Cancha 2 on Saturdays. Also the Javieriana are starting up there own team. The Chiguacos has been going for about 7 years. Nice people, and a few foreigners train (myself included). Please come, or contact me via email. SiV ...

Colombia report. Alternative to Plan Colombia summary

Thought I´d post the URL for the most recent quarterly update from ABColombia: an overview of the last few months in Colombia.

There´s also a summary of the US Office on Latin America´s blueprint for an alternative to Plan Colombia (at the end of the report):

http://www.abcolombia.org.uk/upload/Colombia%20Forum%2038.pdf

It´s all in English.

SiV ...

ABColombia bulletin

If there´s anybody out there wanting a weekly news update about Colombia´s conflict, the human rights situation, etc. in English. Have a look on this site:

www.abcolombia.org.uk

and subscribe to their "colombia this week" bulletin, or I think you can just read them direct from the archive. Obviously it´s free.

Laters,

SiV ...

ABColombia bulletin

Positive Press for Colombia in UK

At long last, it looks like there´s a bit of positive tourist press for Colombia. See link:

http://travel.guardian.co.uk/countries/story/0,7451,1438957,00.html

Seems a pretty truthful account, though the journalist misnamed Salento. Looks like he also ran into that mad geezer Camchaco on el Rio la Vieja . . .

SiV ...

Colombia Action

It's been a long time since I've been on the site, but looking at the topics (hot dog toppings, as well as girls, teaching and visas as per usual), it's not hard to see why.

Anyway, for those wanting to learn or do something positive for Colombia (particularly US citizens), here's a couple of good websites for info and ideas:

http://www.usofficeoncolombia.org/

and

http://www.witnessforpeace.org/tools/colombia_tools.html

< ...

What happened to the "search" function?

Nice new look, but now we can´t search by topic.
Are you going to re-add this function, Peter?

I hope so.

SiV

Bahía Solano, Choco

Hello everyone

I´ve heard it´s quite amazing there, and am thinking of visiting there soon. Anyone got any advice or comments, on getting there (from Cali), where to stay, what there is to see and do . . ?

Cheers

SiV ...

Cocaine and the Conflict

I don't normally find myself agreeing with Pacho Santos, but here's an interesting article he wrote for the Guardian. He talks about the moral connundrum in cocaine consumption and financing the illegal armed groups in Colombia.
As a European, I agree we seem to have a double standard, outrage against human rights violations, yet quite a permissive attitude towards personal drug consumption. But we ignore the connections and consequences between these two.
Here's the link (the art ...

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