The following excerpt appeared in Pacifica Literary Review, issue 9 – Winter 2017. Read the rest of the excerpt… Read more I am happy to share another book excerpt from Pacifica Literary Review.
Some excerpts of my book!
The kind folks at The Grief Diaries published an excerpt of my book about Colombia. In February 1983, Colombia’s state… Read more Some excerpts of my book!
(Again) From archives: Chavez’s 120,000 Armed Civilian Guards
In a documentary, “Guardians of Chavez,” made by the Spanish journalist David Beriain back in 2010, we get a glimpse of the self-defense vigilante groups which now dominate images of Venezuela, via Twitter. Back in 2010, a young member expressed, “Let the right know, let the empire (that’s the U.S. to you and me) know, if we have to defend the (Chavez’s socialist) revolution through arms, we will do it.”
What Peace? Where is the Rule of Law?
Whatever happens on October 2nd, when Colombians vote on a referendum on the result of an accord between the FARC and the government, Colombia will not be “at peace.” We need state-building; the challenges of drug trafficking, neo-paramilitary groups, the ELN, and illegal mining remain.
Give Afro-Colombian and Indigenous Peoples a Voice at the current Peace Table.
It is tiring to read in today’s papers, the same debates that occurred fifty years ago, only that the same roles are now being played by new actors? Will our children be reading the same sorts of headlines, and receiving the same sorts of petitions?
Gone to re-write!
Friends! I am buried in a re-write. You will find my nose in this pile.
First transgender woman running for mayor of small town in Antioquia.
A 38-year-old transgender woman is running for mayor of a small town in Antioquia in north central Colombia.
Today, May 27: 51st Anniversary of the Battle of Marquetalia, which led to the FARC’s founding.
Today, May 27, marks the 51st anniversary of the FARC’s founding. FROM THE ARCHIVES: This video, made by the FARC, explains… Read more Today, May 27: 51st Anniversary of the Battle of Marquetalia, which led to the FARC’s founding.
With transitional justice on the table, peace talks appear to be at an impasse.
The deputy prosecutor for the International Criminal Court again highlighted that those responsible for heinous crimes need to be punished. The FARC say they will not serve one day in prison. Meanwhile, Peace Negotiator Sergio Jaramillo said, “This is our last chance (for peace). This is the last generation of FARC that is both military and political, the last of FARC as a university-educated political movement with Marxist politics we disagree with, but they are at least politics. The generation coming up behind them know only jungle and war.”
Journalist Antonio Salas on “How is a Terrorist Made?”
In 2006, Antonio Salas, an under-cover investigative reporter, set off for Venezuela because, he said, “the place in the world where a terrorist can be born was Venezuela.” In Venezuela, he found the presence of ETA, FARC, Colombian paramilitary groups, Hamas, Al Qaeda, and clumps of Venezuela’s Bolivarian groups whose members converted to Islam.
Talking About Colombia 