May 3, 2014

Une Fin Pathétique.

Under seas of mistakes and forgotten motives I lay in the surface of what the call present. It is sort of like my past is all that moves above and around me, and future is still a navigation plan that has not yet been created. Slowly, but with a clear intention of answering all of the questions I’ve been asking myself, this ocean migrates to a region that we call childhood. A memory of distant tears and smiles, of joy and fear, of being human. While facing a new sun that burns my face but still is not able to provide some warmth to my back, I look in my pockets for some facts that can provide a solid base in order to justify my existence.  
In fact, there is no fact. The ultimate truth I have been looking for the last 15 years of my life is still hidden somewhere, in some book, in some library in a place I haven’t visited, in a language I don’t understand. Or maybe, just maybe I already found it, but forgot it. Perhaps it does not exist, and the continuous struggle for finding it was just a parody. Someone out there might be watching my moves, wondering what the hell I’m doing, or what I’m pretending to do. But I have to be honest. I don’t know. And the idea that maybe, just maybe, I will never find what I’m looking for is horrible. However, there is a question that I need to answer first, before I can manifest what my condemnation or my salvation is.
While seated, I contemplate the movement of the world around me, outside my window. I get nauseated. Just as Jean Paul Sartre’s Nausea, I can feel the anguish and the hope inside me. It is like vomiting while eating. I can’t elicit whether the world is moving and my window is static, or the inverse. The uttermost fear of all, solitude, loneliness arises, and then hides in a cabinet in the kitchen when the door hinges make that peculiar sound. What I’m trying to say is basically what we all know. I’m alive, but, at what cost? I am supposed to fulfil ideas and expectations just because I exist. Therefore, existence becomes a monotonous acceptation of what “fate” brings, and yes mom, I will finish my soup.
Under the tree that I sat when I was four I see how things rank, and I have to ask myself whether I’m growing or slowly becoming grosser. To manifest anguish? Or to pretend to know-it-all and be like God? No, honesty is the last weapon I carry in my arsenal. Maybe pretending every day to understand the essence of my own dilemma is not being dishonest, it’s loathing reality. Lying to myself is like morphine, and I’ve become an addict.  But a rupture is necessary to move on, some other drug will pop up, and maybe meditation, loneliness or the blue notes of a guitar.
Here I am, with no cloth to cover my real being, with cold, but with strength. This is what I’ve been covering my entire life. I’m not really sure of whether I’m pure anguish or anguish is me, personalized through teachings and essais et erreurs. And after all, that is what academic life is for; to create some sort of alter-ego, and show us that behind our doubts there are metaphysical diagrams traced in the emptiness of the universe. I will never understand, or will want to understand how the ultimate goal of humanity is to unify everything under one equation, forgetting about sounds, passion and sweat.
I close my eyes in order to see what my next step in the air should be. What purpose, what force, what impulse, what destination? The more I think about it the more I realize that our end is the same one, it does not change; sooner or later we will reach it. However our path is still delineable, and with my finger I can point at a tree, then at a star, then at your face or mine, and then again at the depths of night’s obscurity. The only truth I can defend right now it the “fact” that after I inhale air I will exhale nudity and moisture, Consumerism, Capitalism, Democracy, and I’m so hungry, let’s go and have a sandwich at Subway. We are blindfolded, and our hands are tied together behind our backs. But we still have our feet, and our faith. Jorge Luis Borges once said that being a Colombian is an act of faith, and that is kind of the best and more romantic way of approaching the vacuity of jumping out of bed every day. I would add that being Colombian also implies eating dirt and rottenness and crapping dignity. And that it what holds my body together, the idea that someday I will finally join the ones who “triumphed,” even though the only belongings that will matter will be my dust-covered books and my memories, of course.
Motivation is another name for alteration. One day I’ll dream of a cup of coffee in a Parisian shop, and the next day I’ll dream of a child dying in Africa. Paradox: Motivation wants what the soul desires, and this desire will not change, because the soul does not change. Therefore the mutation of the want is what moves the world, which will never change, because that mutation is just a false illusion. The universe is what it has been, and what it will be. Therefore, changing it seems banal.
But I cannot allow that to be the only self-evident truth. Letting everything to motivation-based plans is giving up on life. My body is owned, my necessity is owned, but my soul is mine. And yes, I´m talking about you, sistema de mierda. The only thing I can promise is to never let go of my mistakes, my anguish, my sadness, because that is what makes up my most precious treasure: my humanity. This century is contamination, condemnation, rents, taxes, Monsanto and garbage everywhere, but I know that resisting is the only way to push forward. Ergo, here I present to you, my dear brothers in anguish my life’s resolution: To let the system do what it wants with our humanness is to perish. My goal? To be a human.
Many may argue that the only acceptable way of becoming successful is to escalate the socio-economical pyramid designed by the system. Well, with all the respect that these people deserve, Me importa un carajo. I want to be free, and happy, I want to draw elephants in the air, with crayons made out of clouds and hopes. Not much to ask, however, it is a lot. Maybe one day I’ll forget everything and become dirt, or the president of a corporation, which is almost the same thing. But as long as I see sadness in the mirror of my bathroom I’ll be alive, and I’ll be a human. Pero esperame Che, I know I’m late, tomá tu pastilla y salí a la calle, Tomorrow will be another day. 

Apr 29, 2014

Just Buy. 

It is kind of ironic and even hypocritical to try to write about consumerism and planned obsolescence. It is really easy to criticize the system in which we are immersed in, however, to act according to your critical ideas is a whole other thing. We've been taught that the only way to achieve happiness is through consuming and through buying as much as we can. Even though it seems that some individuals are trying to change this mental paradigm in order to create a better society for the next generations, we are somehow really far from this. And this is because it is really complicated to eliminate on pillar of our system. We always end up falling in the same speech, we are supposed to resist and only buy what we need in order to stop feeding the system. But after leaving the room we immediately go out to the mall and buy things that in simple words are just a bunch of garbage with a nice design. How are we supposed to end this vicious cycle if consumerism is part of who we are as a society?
The Light Bulb Conspiracy is a 2010 documentary that illustrates how rotten the companies that control the global economy are. It shows how they design products in order to fail after a certain period of time. Through this method the can obtain more profit, while companies that create long-lasting products are condemned to fail under these big corporations. The movie shows how some objects as simple as light bulbs can elicit the origins and ideas behind this sick plan to dominate our pockets called planned obsolescence. Light Bulbs were created by the end of the XIX century, and during the beginning of the XX century companies began to produce them for commercial purposes. The interesting thing is that these first light bulbs had an average duration that goes over the light bulbs's duration we are using today. One can ask, how is this possible if there has been a lot of technological advances in the last 100 years? The answer is quite simple: Planned obsolescence and ambition.
The corporations that were producing these long-lasting light bubs found out that after a certain period of time their sales dropped. They reached the conclusion that the reason for this was the fact that consumers did not need more than one light bulb for many years, and they could keep on using the same one for decades. This served the purpose of supplying well-manufactured goods to the public, however, their most valued goal was not being accomplished. They needed money and needed it quickly and in big amounts. Their solution was to lower the quality of their artifacts and sell goods that had a determined life-span. Even though this seems like a plain and simple rob, people accepted it, and the first world-wide mafia was created.
Nowadays, planned obsolescence is not only common but it is the pattern and almost the rule. Even though many had tried to make it an obligation, laws that permit it had not been passed, showing some sort of hope for the future of our economy. The problem with planned obsolescence is that it creates a lot of problems, including social problems such as dependence, cultural problems like unlimited consumerism and economic inequalities, economic problems such as speculation and instability, and environmental problems like contamination and pollution. Why can the world see this? Are we blinded? The truth is that the world is lazy, and they, or we, do not care about anything important as long as we have our iPods and our Starbucks' coffee. The only thing we can hope for is that in the next decades people find out that apple's apple is not to be eaten, and that the boxes in our attics can make or roofs collapse over our heads. 

Image taken from the web page www.whyamericanssuck.blogspot.com
Dannoritzer, Cosima. "The Light Bulb Conspiracy." (2010). Arte France, Televisión Española, Televisió de Catalunya. Film

Apr 23, 2014

The Classical Scenario: The Fall of an Empire.

All throughout history, empires had fall and decline. Our books are filled with the stories of mighty kingdoms that seemed unstoppable and had characteristics that lead people to believe that those kingdoms and empires were created by God itself. However, the closer they got to their maximum development, the closer they were to their imminent fall. Examples include the Mesopotamian empire, the Chinese, the Greek, the Roman, the Egyptian, etc. And, If there is a fact that we can't ignore is that History repeats itself, and if we do not learn from it, we are condemned to repeat the same mistakes that our ancestors made. This rule is also applicable to today's world. Even though it does not seem like the world is divided among empires that constantly fight each other, there are some economical and political empires that are definitively clashing in order to gain control of resources and profit of the entire world. And in order to survive and struggle to obtain a better and fairer world, it is important for us to understand what the heck is happening. 
The idea that the system we are immersed in is close to its end its an idea that may seem a little bit incongruous. However, many individuals who have witnessed the mistakes and errors of this system are starting to question it. This questions all end up in the same kind of answers. Everything points to the conclusion that we need reforms. But before coming up with a possible solution, we need to understand the crisis itself, because understanding something means to be liberated from it.
Four Horsemen is a 2012 documentary that tries to depict the economical crisis that leads to the creation of social and cultural problems in the XXI century. The documentary assures that today's system is directly heading towards an imminent end. It provides evidence to support this claim such as the fact that the problem of the system is located at its core; it is a vicious structure. The system is centered in the banking system, meaning that every movement of the financial world is based on the movement of the banks. The reality is that the government has lost it's power, the ones that control our world are the ones who sit everyday behind a desk in the top of a building in Wall Street. The banking system has created a moral code that glorifies it, and therefore, not only economically but socially and culturally banks are the strongest empires that the world has seen since the beginning of the existence of the human race. Since 1971, the world's strongest economical structures, including the U.S (thanks to Nixon)  are part of a system called FIAT, which literally means "Let it be so." Speculation  is the central belief of the investments and transactions all around the world, and speculation create speculation bubbles, which lead to the constant increase of the gap between the rich and the poor. The world is fooled by the capitalist idea that everything is okay as long as we keep buying stuff, because having things implies being happy. More and more citizens seem to ignore the fact that 97% of the world's money is debt. This leads to inflation, increase in the price of mortgages, taxes, interests, devaluation, and the rise of the false belief that unregulated finances are the best way to find a way out of this chaos.
Even though that when money finally finds its way down to the bottom of the social pyramid it has lost its purchase power, the solution for this is not the redistribution of wealth. The system needs to crash in oreder to rise form its ashes. Only rich companies and enterprises have the right to delimit and come up with the governmental resolutions to be made, and this system is not a democratic one, it's a plurtocratic one. Once example that definitively proofs this idea is the 2008 bailout in the U.S. 
If the system fails, there are two possible outcomes. The first one is a total chaos, the end of an organized era and the beginning of Anarchy. Obviously, this is the last thing we want, to be forced to see who is the strongest person and who can survive this apocalyptic scenario. The second outcome is the understanding that change is the reason for a better tomorrow, that capitalism is not the ultimate truth, and that if something fails, then something better is coming around the corner. However, for that to happen, we first need to remember that we are humans and that we need each other in order to thrive. Unfortunately, we are really far away from that.    

Image taken from the web page foxbusiness.com

Ashcroft, Ross. "Four Horsemen." (2012). Motherlode. Film. 

Apr 3, 2014

Colombia's Monetary System: From Gold to the Dollar.  

The first thing I realized when I was trying to find out how does the money emission system in Colombia works is that the information is really hidden in the web. Not even the web site of the Banco de la República gives the entire information of how the system of monetary creation in Colombia works. According to this site, Colombia's monetary system has fluctuated along the eras. The system has changed according to the needs of the country. During the first years after the Colombian independence, Colombia managed to create an equivalence to the Spanish coin, and therefore it depended on the exchange value that the Spanish coin had at a determined time. The system continued for some more decades, changing the reference coin every time. The Colombian peso also used as reference the French franc and the British pound. Later, the peso used as reference the amount of gold that the Banco de la República had, in order to decrease the probability of inflation. This new coin was called the Peso de Oro (Golden Peso).
This system worked perfectly during the first decades of its usage. However, this system was not useful when it came to global economics. As the planet's economy changed depending on the international supply/demand system, Colombia was getting behind in this ambit. During that time the country  needed to protect the value of its major product: Coffee. Therefore, during the presidency of Pedro Nel Opina (1922-1926), the government hired some economic specialists to advice the country about what monetary system the country should adopt. The Kemmerer mission recommended the abandonment of the gold exchange system and the adoption of the dollar-peso exchange system. Colombia officially abandoned the gold exchange system in 1931 as the result of the proclamation of the 1638 decree. The most important recommendation of the Kemmerer mission was the creation of an organism that could managed the monetary mechanics in the country. The Banco de la República was officially created in 1923.
But the central bank of Colombia changed its policies according to the ages and the different monetary movements of the world. By adopting the dollar exchange rate, Colombia officially became a dependence of the economic dynamics of the U.S. In this way, Colombia only creates money when the economic growth of the country allows it. Partially, it slows the devaluation of the peso, but does not stops it. In this way, Colombia's central bank differs from the Federal Reserve of the U.S, because the creation of money is directly proportional to the economic growth of the country, rather than the reserve of it. However, Colombia's growth depends on the value of the dollar, therefore, they share some traits including the devaluation and the decrease of the acquisitive value. Colombia, therefore, is part of a system designed to fail. 

Image taken from the web site dinero.com
n.a. "Emisión de Dinero." Biblioteca Virtual Luis Ángel Arango. n.p. (2011). Web. <http://www.banrepcultural.org/blaavirtual/ayudadetareas/economia/econo83.htm> April 3, 2014. 
n.a. "Politica Monetaria." Banco de la República: Banco Central de Colombia. n.p. (2013). Web. <http://www.banrep.gov.co/es/politica-monetaria> April 3, 2014. 

Money: The Biggest Religion of Our Era. 

What is money and where does it comes from? These two questions seem easy to answer, but, do we really understand how money mechanics work? Zeitgeist Addemdum is a 2008 documentary that explains how the U.S creates and distributes money all around its territory. The ultimate truth that this documentary uncovers is that the whole monetary system is in crisis. Why? Because it creates money out of thin air. Out of thin air? Yes, U.S economic system is designed to create money out of very minimum reserves in order to "satisfy" the economic needs of its citizens. But this system only creates more and more problems, not only in the economic ambit but in the social and cultural sectors. When the government considers that there is a need for more money, it ask the Federal Reserve to create more of it. You may wonder, What do they need to have in order to create more money? Have some sort of equivalency of it in gold or some other material? Well, the answer is no. They only need to have a reserve of 10% of the total amount of money desired. Then, money is created.
But so far money is no more than a simple number in a computer screen. In fact, only 3% of all of the U.S is actual printed paper. The governments sends this money to a determined bank. So far, the government acquires a debt with the Federal Reserve that it promise to pay, not only entirely, but with interests. We'll get back to this topic. When the bank obtains this recently created money, that bank is able to lend tons and tons of money. Law allows banks to only keep 10% of their total capital and lend all of the rest. The problem of this is that banks take the money they actually have and use it as the 10% the need to keep in reserve. Therefore, every time someone borrows money from a bank, more of it is created out of thin air. Citizens do exactly the same as the government does. They promise to pay their debt entirely plus some interests. And they the move their money from one bank onto the next one and the cycle repeats. In the end money is nothing more than your debt, or someone's debt, or the bank's debt, or the government's debt. Money is debt. Every time more capital is created, the debt of the U.S government grows. The first and direct effect of this is inflation. This system is inflationary. As more money is created, the acquisitive power of it decreases. If you cannot buy the same amount of things with the same amount of money as time goes by, then depreciation happens.
But the real issue is the social dilemma created out of it. If there is only a certain amount of money in the U.S, how can interests be payed? Interests are the direct implication for citizens in this system. By increasing debt, this system is able to control the most important aspects of its citizens' lives. Individuals work for obtaining more money to pay their debts that continuously increase. This is a system of modern form of slavery. Our needs depend on whether we have the money, or ability to acquire more debt, in order to contribute to this incredible unfair system in which only a few ones receive all of the benefits from it. Poor individuals continue to get poorer and poorer as rich individuals get richer. We are no longer individuals, we are interests and money that moves around the world. This system is designed to eliminate all of our humanity, focusing on the better, faster, now. In the end, one day, we will realize that money does not really exists, that money can not be eaten or cultivated. That day, however, will be the brightest day for humanity.

Graph taken from the web page electromontis.net
Joseph, Peter. "Zeitgeist Addendum." (2008) Gentle Machine Productions. Film.

Mar 31, 2014

Psychosis? We Don't Care. 

Watching your love ones going down because of a mental illness is something that can really push anyone to the limit. Mental disorders are one of the most common illnesses that can create disability, however, governments all around the world seem to think that mental disorders are something that became part of the past. Al Jazeera's article titled "U.S Policy Puts Strain on Mentally Ill" describes this paradigm in the U.S, where the government shirked the budget for mental healthcare. Since the great depression in the 30's the number of beds in psychiatric hospitals have decreased from almost half a million to 35,000 as in 2012. The fact that the government is not longer paying attention to a community that is getting bigger and bigger everyday is worrying. In fact, after the school massacres that have happened in the U.S during the last years, the government should really consider the policies they are creating regarding this ambit. Psychological and Psychiatric treatment, just as other treatments for physical illnesses, is really expensive, and in some cases it is even more expensive than the treatment for body diseases. People who suffer from complicated psychiatric disorders need constant care and observation, which is not cheap either. As we can see, by shortening the aid for mentally ill individuals, the government is encouraging the outbreak of mental disorders. 
Epidemiology in Psychology explains that the individuals around a person with a mental disorder, specially if they are involved in an emotional level with the person who is suffering the disorder, are also vulnerable to developing a mental disorder. This does not happen because mental illnesses can be transferred from one person to another, but because of all the stress and anxiety this causes in the people around a person with a mental disorder. It is incredible to see how a government that has all the facilities and opportunities to help its people prefers to help the industrial and military complexes rather that encouraging welfare among its citizens. Mentally ill people are individuals how had suffer a lot of trauma in their lives. Their situation is not easy, they have to deal with their own problems, and one of these problems is to find an appropriate treatment. If they cannot find a treatment that can help them to find their way to a decent life, how can they find the internal peace they are denied? Sadly, the U.S government thinks that expending billions and billions of dollars in warfare and other kinds of stupid crap is better than helping their own people to find internal peace. 
What can someone do when there is no salvation at sight?

Image taken from the web page www.psychiatry.org 
n.a. "U.S Policy Puts Strain on Mentally Ill." Al Jazeera. Richmond, Virginia. (March 29, 2014). Web. <http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2014/03/us-policy-puts-strain-mentally-ill-2014328224322120970.html> March 31, 2014.

Food is Gross. REALLY GROSS. 

To eat or not to eat, that is the question. Nowadays, consuming food has become one of the most dangerous activities for humans. Food is not food anymore. The majority of products advertised are just a bunch of chemicals mix together with artificial flavor. The idea is revolting. We are being feed by multinationals that try to save money by transforming garbage into "food." But this is not the worst fact. The majority of individuals are buying and consuming that stuff. Why? Because transnational companies and multinationals are hiding the truth from everyone. They don't want people to know how food is being produced and what materials and substances are being added to our food without us knowing.
Companies are trying to fool consumers by creating the image of natural and organic food, when in all reality there is nothing natural in the garbage they sell. They only way to get to know what we eat is to get to know where does our food come from. Food Inc is a 2008 documentary directed by Robert Kenner in which investigators search for the origin of the food Americans consume. What they found is not only disgusting, but incredibly wicked. 
It is sick to find out that what we bring to our tables are products created with genetically modified plants and animals, diseases, animal wastes and more pathogens that can risk not only our health but our life. However it is even more sick to find out that the companies that are in control of this market are in control of politics, propaganda and economics in general. The documentary depicts the relationships created between lobbyists defending the wicked game of these companies, multinationals and the government. One clear example of this idea is how Monsanto, a company that genetically modifies food to create a "better agricultural impact," manages politics to do whatever they want. Monsanto created genetically engineered seeds that they patented. By doing so they were able to claim ownership of seeds. They sell seeds that are both infertile and  resistant to the chemicals they also sell. Farmers who don't buy their seeds are chased like the worst criminals. Why? because their crops are contaminated by genetically modified crops (GMO's) nearby. When this happens, Monsanto can claim the ownership of that crop, even though farmers never desired or bought Monsanto seeds. Farmers are also forbidden from keeping their seeds.
But how can authorities allow this violation of human and property rights? The answer to this is easy. The ones that own these companies and violate these rights are the ones that control national and international authorities. This is a direct effect of capitalism acting over human life. This is an example of the way that corporatocracy controls and runs the world. 
But Monsanto is not the only corporation doing this. Multiple companies all over the world are doing exactly the same thing. Their only goal is to gather as much money as possible. They don't care for the welfare of the world. Not even the welfare of their own nation. Other example of this politic management of the food corporations is the corn industry in the U.S. The amount of corn produced is ridicule. Mountains and mountains of corn are produced in the U.S everyday and this corn is not only used for feeding people. Nowadays corn is used for multiple purposes, including feeding cows and other animals who are not used to consume corn and for industrial complex. We can find corn everywhere, in cereal, sodas, in diapers, batteries and even politics. Companies pay individuals that have political power to pass laws that give them the results they want. 
As seen, the food industry more than industry is a mafia. They own nature, resources and have the power to do whatever they want. The only want to try to escape this ridicule is to go back to where the real food is produced. My only advice is to get to know what you are eating, and if it is possible, to buy the least contaminated food possible. By doing so, we stop contributing to the growth of these companies, sick for power.

Image taken form the web page pijamasurf.com
Kenner, Robert. "Food Inc." Magnolia Pictures. 2008. Film

Mar 24, 2014


The Economic Hitman: The Sickness of the Corporatocracy.

During these last weeks I've had the opportunity to get to know a great written work that illustrates how the world is being fooled by the biggest corporations without knowing anything about it. The game is easy, they offer money to countries, and then a little bit more, and the some more. Poor countries see in this the solution for all of their problems. However, this is not the entire game; otherwise it would be very boring. The corporations start their turn by increasing the interests' rates, in order to dominate for centuries the economic ambit of the countries. And in just two turns they win. The work of these Economic Hitmen is to corrupt the leaders of countries in order to obtain the most out of them. They enrich the most powerful sectors of the country by sucking all of the economic resources of the poorest peoples.
The book reveals how Economic Hitmen are the first stages of the game. If the leader of a country does not accept their "deal," the corporations send the "jackals" to finish up the game. Their job is to murder the leaders who denied them what they wanted. If this fails too, the last resource is the most feared of all: The U.S army. This means that there is absolutely nothing one can do to avoid the total dominance of these companies who love power and money. No one is exempted, and one the continents that is more affected by this sick game is Latin America.
The author explains the cases of Ecuador and Panama, and the assassination of Roldós and Torrijos, who refused to accept the "solutions" that these companies were offering them. However, the book only mentions Colombia once, and this country is the most connected with the Corporatocracy in my opinion. Colombia is the Latin-american country that is more connected to the U.S. The T.L.C, the embassies, the deals, the interconnections, the "Americanization," and the political and economic programs that connect these to countries show how bounded they are. However, this relationship does not work as it is depicted in the news; Colombia is the slave of the U.S.
There are multiple reasons to argue this. Colombia exports a lot of materials and resources to the U.S, however, the prices of these materials are so low that Colombian workers lose money most of the times. Colombia if forced to accept international programs that the U.S designs, and this has created a negative effect in the region. The country is now alienated from the rest because it is perceived as an enemy because of its close relation with the United States. This situation was more obvious when Venezuela argued that the U.S military bases in Colombia were designed to threaten the countries next to it. Even though this is partially right (by having military bases in Colombia, the U.S is able to spy on the governments of regions next to it) the more threatened population of all is the Colombian one. Colombians are being subjugated to the desires of Washington. The government is acting as the best friend of the White House, when in all reality is the dog. 

Sadly, not everyone knows about this, and they believe that the only acceptable way to do things is "The American Way." When the Corporatocracy decides to finally "close the deal" it is going to be very late for every one of us. No salvation. 

Image taken from the page: www.opsecnews.com
Perkins, John. "Cofessions of an Economic Hitman." San Francisco. B.K. 2004. Print.

The Aftermath of the Colombian Socialist Party Extermination.

Almost 30 years after its foundation and the continuous extermination of its members, representatives of the U.P (Unión Patriótica - Patriotic Union), a Socialist party founded in Colombia in 1985, are seeking justice after the systematic assassination of the majority of its leaders in the 80's and 90's. The politic movement was created by multiple ex-guerrilla members that wanted to participate democratically in order to end the civil war in which the country was immersed. However, there was to much hatred between the multiple parts of this conflict that made the U.P dream just an illusion. During this violent era of the Colombian history it was a common to see in the news that politic leaders were assassinated by either the Colombian government, the multiple guerrillas or the paramilitares. The U.P became the target of this dirty warfare, and the party was nearly exterminated. When the trials for the murdering of these leaders started, the government and the Colombian court system denied the participation of governmental members and the use of national resources in these killings. They blamed the guerrillas and the narco-traffic cartels.
Even though these organizations had some responsibility and were obviously involved, the reality was that the Colombian government had the biggest motives for murdering the leaders of the U.P. The members of the U.P were revealing some of the dirty games of the government, showing the alliances between the drug cartels, the paramilitares, the guerrillas and the government. Furthermore, they illustrated the mechanics that the government was using to control the country.
Now, the representatives of the U.P are in Washington, in the CIDH (Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos- Interamerican Court of Human Rights) seeking for a definitive solution in order to bring peace and justice for the family members of those who were assassinated. The government response was to send a representative in order to find a "peaceful" way to solve the conflict, some sort of conciliation. However, the reality behind this tactic is to avoid a sanction of the CIDH. If the CIDH considers that the rights of the representatives of the U.P are being violated, or that there was not a correct judicial process regarding the deaths of the U.P leaders, the court is able to emit a judgment that forces the government to do whatever the CIDH considers. That is what the government is trying to avoid. However, in my opinion, the legal representatives of the U.P should not accept the offer of the government. The government should be punished because of the sick and twisted tactics they use for keeping their interests protected. There is no other solution that showing the world what this government is capable of. 



Image taken form the web page www.radiomacondo.fm
Maseri, Sergio. "Colombia Pide en la CIDH conciliar en caso Unión Patiótica." El Tiempo. March 24, 2014. Web<http://www.eltiempo.com/justicia/colombia-pide-en-la-cidh-conciliar-en-caso-union-patriotica_13717235-4> March 24, 2014.

Mar 16, 2014

Colombian Idiosyncrasy.

Maybe, just maybe, what I'm going to explain in the next few lines would be perceived by many as plain and simple craziness, but I think something like this deserves a short analysis. 
One of the first book I read when I was little was a book titled "La Bruja" (The Witch) by a Colombian writer and journalist named German Castro Caycedo. In this book, Caycedo explained different factors of the Colombian idiosyncrasy. As many people know, Colombia is a territory full of economic and social differences and inequalities, and this causes that in different regions education becomes a "not so important" issue. This lack of education creates a lack of critical thinking, and fantastic ideas take over scientific and logical knowledge. One of these fantastic ideas is the belief in supernatural forces. The book was some kind of a long interview with a very famous witch from the region of Antioquia. In the report she argued that black magic was used by many individuals who wanted to obtain benefits by injuring others, and causing them multiple harms. Amanda, the witch, said that she also helped politicians and drug dealers by protecting them and harming their enemies. The book was, in conclusion a journalistic chronicle of the life of this woman.
However, last week I discovered an article titled "La Bruja Más Famosa de Colombia es Ahora un Apostol de Dios" that said that this same woman, who was previously a witch, now belongs to a religious group. For me there is absolutely no problem in this. For me the real issue is the reason why she decided to take this controversial turn. Some may say that this new life style is the correct "path," but, what is right and what is wrong? what is above, and what is below? The real issue for me is why Colombians are making such a huge deal out of this. In my mind, there is no other answer for this than saying that Colombians feel more puzzled by things and events that they cannot explain rather than feeling interested in logical and scientific events. In many cases and in many occasions I've seen how Colombians refuse to become educated, and by this I am talking about the fact of attending school, or even questioning if what they are told is truth or not. For me, and I'm being biased here, education and knowledge are the most valuable resources that one can obtain in this life. I cannot understand how an individual prefers a gun or a bottle of liquor rather than a book. Colombians are full of magical ideas, and when one question them about those magical ideas, they become furious. I wonder, is it fear, or just simple conformism? And this hurts me, my soul is harmed every time I observe something like this. But how can one help someone that does not want to be helped?
Thanks God we found the way to forget about all of this crap. Lets drink, pray and forget. After all, it is the Colombian way to do things. 
Image taken from the web site "La Bruja-Germán Castro Caycedo."
Mojica, Jose Alberto. "La Bruja Más Famosa de Colombia es Ahora un Apostol de Dios." El Tiempo. Bogota: March 15, 2024. Web. http://www.eltiempo.com/vida-de-hoy/religion/ARTICULO-WEB-NEW_NOTA_INTERIOR-13663195.html. March 16, 2014.

Race, The Biggest Lie of our Time.

It seems easy, you may think, to define what race is. But before you, my dear reader, say something regarding this topic, let me ask you one question: What is your race? Not so easy, don't you think? During these last days I've been asking myself the question of what is race, and I've come to the conclusion that I don't really understand what is race anymore. For many years I was told that race comes from the different physical differences between different groups of individuals. These physical traits were supposedly coded by genes, which carried all of our genetic information in our DNA. Therefore, race was nothing more than the "scientific" stratification of the physical differences among humans. I could not have been more wrong.
This revelation came to me thanks to an amazing documentary by California Newsreel titled "Race: The Power of an Illusion." This documentary gathered different sets of evidence that showed that race was not a scientific concept, but rather a biological myth. The documentary showed that scientist were unable to find any sort of genetic marks that defined race. According to it, humans were more similar between them than any other specie in the planet. Furthermore, the documentary proved that science and genetics have proved that variation in physical traits include very few genes and that more complex traits, such as intelligence, strength, and physical aptitude have no correlation with genetic material. This well supported evidence made me come to the realization that race is just the way to justify false ideas and concepts that are held as true by many, including me. But the documentary did not stop there, it went further. 
Race, as we understand it is nothing more than a cultural classification. It is based on false ideas that were spread by individuals who saw it as a form of justifying social hierarchy for the sole intention of obtaining both economic and social benefits. When one thinks about this and tries to connect it back to historical evidence one can see multiple connections. Events such as the Holocaust, American racism era, multiple genocides and the Apartheid in South Africa are examples of how race has been used as a method for obtaining power at any cost. The idea that my genetic material can be more alike to the genetic material of someone who does not belong to "my race" is mind-blowing. That is why I recommend everyone who has an opportunity to see this documentary to do so. It is time for everyone to realize that we are living a lie, we are living an illusion. 
Image taken from the web site US Slave.

Adelman, Larry. "Race: The Power of an Illusion." California Newsreel. 2003. Ford Foundation. Film.   

Mar 5, 2014

Venezuela: How to Communicate the "Thuth?"


Being so close to the Venezuelan conflict forces you to be continuously watching and reading news that contemplate and capture what is happening after almost to months of protests. The government is constantly repeating that all of the problems in Venezuela are not caused or have an origin in the governmental policies, but they are caused because of external factors. The government, and especially Nicolas Maduro, the president, and Diosdado Cabello, the president of the national assembly, blame all sorts of outsider entities. They have blamed the U.S and their policies, the Colombian Army, the Colombian Government and Alvaro Uribe Velez, the Colombian ex-president. However,  one of their major enemies is the press. 
After many year of trying to nationalize the entire country, the government has accomplished the domination of most of the things and events that get to be communicated. The government is able to determine what Venezuelans can know, and what should be kept away from the public. Even though most of the national press agencies are dominated by the officialist, the international press is still free to communicate whatever they think is worth of it. At least that was until some weeks ago. Maduro, in one of his public (and pathetic) speeches determined that NTN24, a Colombian news channel, was instigating the violence in the protest, by communicating all of the violations to the human rights that have been committed by the Venezuelan government. This news channel was taken out of the air, and their broadcast was cancelled. According to the Miami's Herald article "In Venezuela it's the President who Changes the Channels": "The government accused NTN24 of being alarmist and opening its microphones to the 'coup plotting' opposition" (Wyss 2014). This illustrates how the government is trying to blind the entire country by hiding what is really happening. Maduro knows what he is doing, he is not paranoiac, he is sick for power and control.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/21/3952191/in-venezuela-its-the-president.html#storylink=cpy
But this not only happened with NN24, CNN was also censored by the government. The reasons? Exactly the same. The government can't allow Venezuelans to get to know that their protests are causing a real effect. The main purpose of this dirty tactic is to debilitate the opposition's forces and demoralize their effort. However, and as History has shown us, when people fight for what is fair for everyone, at the end they will obtain their reward.
I just hope that the international community notice what is happening, and act in order to avoid more deaths of innocent people. We, the ones who are outside Venezuela, are not blinded. The least we can do is to communicate what is really happening in there. That's is why I encourage you, whoever is reading this, to post once in a while, if not everyday, something that helps to explain what is happening in Venezuela. We can't help the Venezuelan government to blind the rest of the world.

Photo taken from the Article: "Venezuela Revokes CNN Pres Credentials."
Wyss, Jim. "In Venezuela it's the President who Changes the Channels." Miami Herald. Miami Herald Media Co, Feb 21, 2014. Web. http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/21/3952191/in-venezuela-its-the-president.html. March 5, 2014.

Lemon Tree: An X-Ray Analysis of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.

Lemon Tree is more than a movie, is an experience. This 2008 Israeli drama movie shows the secret ambit of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the everyday life. We are used to see news reports about bombings, terrorists attacks, and government retaliations; but we are not used to see how Palestinians try to survive everyday under the Israeli regime. The conflict, which started in 1948, forced Palestinians to migrate inside and outside the newly created territory called "Israel." Palestinians, who were the majority of the population, became a minority, and many of the Israeli leaders tried to deny the existence of Palestinians. 
The conflict has been developed in multiple stages, but after almost 70 years of fighting, these two groups have become mortal enemies. This hatred is not always shown through violent means, but discrimination is a general rule. Palestinians believe that they have the right to own the land, because they were in the territory before Israel was created. Israelis believe they have the divine right to own this biblical land. There is no way to determine who is right and who is wrong. The most logical solution is find the way in which these two ethinc, religious and cultural groups live peacefully with each other. However, after many years of conflict, this is nearly impossible. 
Israelis became the strongest force in the territory. They have control over all the Palestinians. Israel determines each detail of the Palestinians' lives. And this paradigm is shown in the movie. Salma is a Palestinian widow that is forced to renounce to her lemon trees when an Israeli minister moves next to her. According to the Israeli Secret Service, her trees represented a threat for the minister's security. Salma trys to fight this injustice, however, she is forced to cut her threes down to 30 centimeters. 
It did not matter that the lemon trees represented her way to achieve some sort of economic welfare, the Israeli Supreme Court determined, in a wider general sense, that the minister's interests were more important than hers. This cannot be more true. Today in Israel, and after the invation and control of the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinians are forced to do whatever the Israelis tell them to do. Their lives are the result of a detrimental and unfair way to gain power at any cost. The lemons in this movie are the representation of all that has been lost by the Palestines because of the harsh Israeli policies.
I truly recommend to watch this movie, It is the summary of the social tragedy in this zone of the world.

Image taken from: "Lemon Tree: Extra Large Review."
Lemon Tree. Dir. Eran Riklins. Perf. Haim Abbass, Ali Suliman, Rona Lipaz-Michael, Doron Tavory. IFC Films, 2008. Film.

Mar 2, 2014

Advice:

http://eldadodelarte.blogspot.com excellent blog, a real pleasure to the eyes. 

Feb 27, 2014

How to Step over the Colombian Constitution.


After many years of conflict, different guerillas, and ideological clashes, Colombia is experimenting a period of relative peace and tranquility. However, many of these conflicts were absorbed into the political atmosphere, and each political party is continuously trying to overcome the other. During the last weeks, this was shown through the political and ideological clash between Alejandro Ordoñez, the General Inspector of Colombia and Gustavo Petro, the Bogota's Mayor. Petro was accused of not investing the money for a new garbage disposal plan in Bogota correctly, and was sanctioned by the General Inspector. The sanction included his destitution and his inability to participate in Colombian politics for 15 years.
But even though Petro's plan did not work as he wanted to, the entire amount of money was invested as it is summarized in the report he presented to the Colombian government. The main problem was that the trucks he ordered from the U.S were old and damaged. When those trucks (designed for garbage disposal) arrived to Cartagena, they were confiscated because they did not pass Colombia's environmental laws. During approximately a week, Bogota was covered by garbage. 
The investigation began, and Petro was accused to be the only responsible for this garbage chaos. The previous mayor of Bogota, Samuel Moreno, was also removed from power when the government discovered that he was stealing the money that was designated for the construction of the third phase of Trasmilenio, Bogota's system of integrated transportation. Moreno received a much more simpler punishement, compared to the crimes he committed.
But Petro was treated differently, because he is the main enemy of the General Inspector. Petro belonged to the M-19 guerilla back in the 80's. Ordoñez is a devouter catholic, an old fashioned politician. Their ideologies, ways, and strategies are completely different. But Ordoñez believes that he can outlaw and destitute whoever he wants, stepping over what people wants.
The tragedy is far from its end. In less than two months, Bogota's people is going to vote whether it  is fair to destitute Petro or not.

For further information: http://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/consejo-de-estado-deja-en-firme-destitucion-de-petro/378662-3

Image taken from the article "Ordoñez Sería Negador del Holocauto." 
n.a. "Consejo de Estado Deja en Firme la Destitución de Petro." Semana. n.p, Feb 26, 2014. Web. <http://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/consejo-de-estado-deja-en-firme-destitucion-de-petro/378662-3> Feb 27, 2014.

As Long as my pain is my country's pain... 

I´ve stumbled upon an article that showed me that the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is far from being solved. There is so much hate and resentment between these two religious, political and cultural groups that the only thing in their minds is to exterminate each other. However, it is impossible for me to lie. I can´t sympathize with any sort of idea that in order to justify its actions denies the existence of a cultural and religious tradition. I can not sympathize with Israelis. I simply can´t. 
And you might ask why am I being so biased, and the answer is simple: I can't justify violence, repression, and the idea that it is okay to pretend that everything is normal. The article explains how Samir Awad, a 16 year old Palestinian student, was shot, not once, but three times by Israeli soldiers. The first idea that pops into our minds is that the student was protesting or participating in a demonstration against Israel´s repressive politics, however, he was just hiking with his friends as a way to celebrate the end of his academic year. There is no way to justify the killing of people this young, this innocent, this vulnerable. The Israeli soldiers argued that he was trying to escape when he was captured by them, however, they first shot him in one leg. How fast can an injured child run? They could have chase him but they shot him two more times, one in the back and one in the head. 
As cruel as this may sound, this is the normal and average panorama in Israel. Gaza and the West Bank have become prisons for peoples who were driven out of their homes by intense and continuous fighting. This so proclaimed Jewish nation became what they we afraid of: The Nazis of the Middle East.
But Samir Awad's dead is just one example of the thousands of Palestinians that had been killed by Israeli forces, and the future does not look for the Palestinian people. Samir's death is just an allegory to represent the conflict; Palestinians were shot in the back, not only by the Israelis, but by the entire world community. They were forgotten and ignored, and the world questions itself why did Palestinians resorted to more violent tactics. 
My heart feels the pain of both nations, but as of today, I feel the Palestinian pain as my own. 
Photo taken from the article "New reports details 'brutal' Israeli policies" by Jonathan Cook 
Cook, Jonathan. " New Reports Details 'Brutal' Israeli Policies." Al Jazzera (English Version). Al Jazeera America, 27 Feb 2014. Web. <http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/02/new-report-details-brutal-israeli-policies-2014226121639588738.html> Feb 27 2014. 

Feb 18, 2014

Arepa, Chavez, and Our Condemnation. 

Getting to know a conflict is one thing, and feeling a conflict is a whole different concern. Possibilities of turning on your TV and finding out about what the hell is going on in the world are a lot, but finding someone that can narrate you what does it feel to see your country falling apart is something that does not happen everyday. I've known conflict, I've seen people living in the streets with their families because they were forced to leave their towns. It's part of the Colombian idiosyncrasy; seeing people suffering in the streets and then going home and turning on the TV to watch the 8pm telenovela and forgetting about everything else around you. Many individuals argue that Colombia is experimenting a period of productivity, prosperity, and relative peace, and Latin America in general is living that phase too, except for one country. 

Since I was very young I was forced to watch the news forecast every night, and through the time I got used to it. Some may say I actually like it. It started as an effort of my family to get me informed, to introduce me to the "evils" of this world. However, there was something that changed my perspective, actually, it was someone. 

One can get tired and grow sick of seeing the same face in TV every afternoon, saying the same crap over and over again. Viva la revolución Bolivariana, and the next day you're dead. Pathetic. Half of the country crying, lauding someone as the reincarnation of Simón Bolivar, and the other half drunk in ecstasy and alcohol over a corpse. Who is going to be the president now? The sunburned copy of Santa Claus (for those who don't understand the irony, of course it is Maduro) or Enrique "The only hope for the people" Capriles. Elections? What the hell is that thing for? Democracy? Chavez vive, He is alive, I swear, I saw him and he was a bird, He came to me and talked about the revolution. 

19/4/2013. Maduro was invested as the president of Venezuela, and everything went nuts. Honestly I was living inside my Colombian-American bubble and it was more important for me to contemplate the ceiling of my house than to get to know what was going on right next to me. But then she came, speaking in English and talking about musical theater. She was able to pop that bubble for me, and she did it with four words. I'm Venezuelan, you know?


Yes, She was Venezuelan, and even though she'd lived in the U.S for almost 5 years, she still carried that sweet and innocent accent that Venezuelans have. She was friendly, talented, loyal, a little lazy though. Emily taught my what a true arepa was, how Punto Fijo, estado Falcón, is the national center for refining oil, and the human nature of the conflict, a conflict that forced her out of her country. In my mind she seemed so unconnected to that crisis, always smiling and singing. I got to know her family, and that idea buried in my mind for a long time. She never mentioned her feelings regarding what her family that was living in Venezuela was going through, and I felt that I had not the right to ask.

One song, one Venezuelan Christmas song, finally showed me that this girl was not as tough as she claimed. She missed her country, of course she did! In a minute Emily felt more than a thousand emotions, she was sad, angry, desperate, lonely, and then calmed again. And as always, in moments of pressure and anxiety, I said something stupid. "Don't you worry, Colombia was even more destroyed some years ago,,. and now..." I could not finish. What is the point of thinking about a better future if you don't know if the present is going to explode? 

During the following weeks she told me about Cacerolazos, peaceful protests with metal pots in which the main objective is to produce as much noise as possible. She told me about Diosdado Cabello and the corruption, and about how one university of my city was planning to invite Leopoldo López, a Venezuelan opponent of the regime, and how much she wanted to go. I promised I would go with her.

I learned the different accents in Venezuela, and even though they all sounded the same to me, for her they were completely different. Her eyes lit up every time she heard one of us trying to copy the accent, and for an instant she smiled and our mission was completed. Emily came with different faces everyday, and we learned to decipher those faces in the newspapers. I learned to feel the pain of a country that is less than 400 kilometers away from where I am standing. I learned that Emily was my compatriot.

And if I'm getting tired and angry at this, I can't imagine how tired Emily and her family are. Almost a year has passed since that stupid presidential possession, and things are getting worse. Just some days ago Emily came to school and said that her cousin was protesting in the street and saw how another student, who was right next to him, was shot by a police officer. She did not seemed surprised. I felt the world crumbling under my feet. I'm getting more and more worried. I feel powerless, I feel like a part of the problem.

And that guilt will never stop growing. I figured that Emily and I are condemned to an awful and almost eternal wait, she wants her country to find peace again, and I want her to find peace inside her again.

Today, and after days of violent protests in Venezuela, Harvard educated Leopoldo López, who was accused of sedition by the regime, is going to surrender and go to jail. Emily did not come to school today, and even though she is always absent, today I'm more anxious than ever.