I don't normally talk very much about the news on this blog, but I
decided to post something timely today because it deserves attention. I
recommend you take a few minutes to check out this
video.
Although perhaps the
video makes it seem otherwise, this is more than a bunch of bleeding
hearts rallying around yet another random world issue. This is the
latest outgrowth of a conflict that has gripped Colombia for more than 40
years, which itself is an outgrowth of violence that has been ongoing since the
1940's. Colombia is an extremely beautiful country with vast
potential, but is sick and weary from many decades of violence.
As you might have heard, Ingrid Betancourt is a Colombian senator who
was kidnapped by drug-funded leftist terrorists (guerrilleros) known as
the FARC. In January, Betancourt's campaign
manager Clara Rojas was released in a prisoner
release negotiated by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, but not before
possibly being seduced or raped and giving birth to a child while in captivity. Because
of Betancourt's dual citizenship with France, and because it
seems as though now she may have become gravely ill, France and its
President Nicolas Sarkozy has become involved in trying to broker a
release of Betancourt and some of the hostages.
A
Facebook group was recently created to
protest the FARC and its strongarm tactics. The protests, held in
February, mobilized about thousands of people worldwide and 100,000 people within Colombia itself. This
received much coverage in the press, bringing more attention to the plight
of the persons kidnapped by the FARC.Families of those who have been
taken hostage by the FARC largely did not participate in the protests,
fearing the attention would cause the guerrilleros to mistreat the
hostages even more.
There are three thousand
hostages currently being held in the jungles of Colombia (borders which
apparently blurred partially into Venezuela and Ecuador).
For many years, ordinary people have lived in fear
of what the guerrilleros might do. They have a habit of coming into
rural towns and commandeering the entire place for their purposes.
Movement for those people in such areas is extremely restricted. Quite
predictably, there has been much displacement of those in the
countryside.
I have mixed feelings about Chavez. I
believe he wants to try and negotiate the hostages out of there in good
faith, and frankly, he has accomplished various releases (such as that
of Clara Rojas and several other hostages) and has a hand in making
some real progress. But at the same time, he shares a socialist
ideology with the guerrilleros and in exchange for these releases he
does speak in favor of formal recognition of the FARC. He is, in short, one of them. I dislike and distrust that.
I think the FARC are thugs and deserve no recognition. But on the other
hand, the families of the hostages favor having talks and ending their
captivity as quickly and peacably as possible. So if talk they
must.
But Betancourt is the FARC's high profile
trump card. They may let others go, but it seems unlikely they will
ever let her go. Maybe I'm wrong. I hope so.
So this
is more than just a "cause". Right now, in the jungles of Colombia,
Betancourt and 3,000 other hostages sleep in the dark, at the mercy of
brutal captors. Millions others in the countryside are intimidated and
displaced by the guerrilleros who commandeer
their towns. Also as a result of the violence, an equally brutal right-wing paramilitary (AUC) has also since come to
prominence. They are little better than the leftist FARC.
And all of these violent groups are funded at
least partially by drugs - cocaine, marijuana, etc. - purchased in this
and other countries.
I don't have a wrap up for
this. It's just a long, bad, and painful situation. But I guess maybe
more of us should put attention to it. Maybe we can protest, or send
money, or at least discourage drug use in our own small way. Maybe if
we know something we can do something.
Wow,im genuinely shocked,im normally pretty good at keeping up with whats hapening in the world but i hadnt heard anything about this woman or any of the other hostages,thanx for the info.Oh and the eye is getting better :) B.
I agree with you about the conflict, but I think sometimes conflicts go on so long that the media no longer pays attention. Tibet comes to mind. We only hear about the human rights violations when they are especially brutal, but in reality, monks, women and children of faith die everyday under Chinese rule. There are conflicts like this all over the world. The Western world seems too bored with them to care. Just like Darfur, we heard a ton about it, a bunch of celebs got on board. Nothing major was done, and now the public is bored with it and is moving on. It makes no sense to me. Good post. make people aware.
I've heard about this. I think the FARC started out as a political organization in the 70s but has devolved to pure criminality now, although they still try to pretend to have political goals. I think they're just the army of the drug lords.
We all discourage drug use all the time. That's why I say legalize. Take it out of the hands of the criminals. They would hate that. And there could be super high sin tax on it, like cigarettes, which could go to fund clinics for addicts. I know that won't be a popular opinion on your site, but there it is.
I hope they can release that poor woman and her fellow captives. So sad.
@B4Belfast - Thanks for the mini. I don't think this situation gets a lot of attention in the media, US or world, but especially US.
@row_ho - Definitely the case. We do have a tendency to get bored and move on, and if the issue is lucky, a few stars may make it a pet cause or a chic issue for a few seconds. Meantime, real people are suffering. You are so right... thanks for the comment.
@beli_grrl - Yes, it started out as the military arm of the Communist Party in the 60's, but it's since gotten way out of hand and they are now little better than thugs. I sometimes wonder how legalization would go. I think it would put a lot of thugs out of business, but the worst offenders (and the biggest traffickers) - wouldn't they just go legit, keep right on selling drugs with no punishment? Or at least fill in any black market demands that would still arise once drugs are legalized and regulated.
@squeakysoul - some of them would but I think a lot of them couldn't handle going legit. And I think it would shine a needed light on their bus practices and make them clean up. I can't speak for other countries at all, but I feel pretty certain that the transparency required of legit businesses in US law would force the criminals into better behavior. One thing I mentioned in someone else's post on a "legalize or no" type post was that when I was a kid, my friends and I were the fuckups, the stoners ya know. At age 13 (and lower for some) we could get marijuana anytime and often got other harder drugs with minimal effort. But we couldn't usually get alcohol, and not because we weren't interested, but because our parents kept it out of reach and the sellers of alcohol are law abiding business people rather than amoral criminals. That's the personal spin that I admit, drives much of my thinking on the matter.
alright. I'm going to make this short & simple. my name is Elle, and I'm a xanga provider site. I make layouts, create icons, collect music codes, and type best selling books so that you don't have to add your name to the already-280-person waiting list at the library.
I have 54 layouts made. I have thousands of graphics ready to be made into layouts. I've just begun collecting music codes. I've already started typing out 3 books (Twilight, Midnight Sun, & the Sorcerer's Stone).
Before I open up, I want 100 subscriptions, and 500 comments. I know it seems hefty to a lot of you, but it's not. Please, just come comment and subscribe, so that I can start posting everything I've made for you guys.
- Elle
I was just reading about Columbia in a Voice of the Martyrs magazine the other day. While missionaries are doing something about it, they are a small voice and cannot bring about change of themselves. I guess we don't normally hear about it in the media because it's not new news, just like we hear so very little about other outstanding abuses in the world such as Africa's wars and China's abuse of the people.
I don't trust or like Chavez. I think he's using the problems of his people to incite hatred and incooperativeness with the US and other nations for the purpose of gaining tyrannical control. And while he may seem to be helping in terms of these negotiations I believe it's only a smoke and mirrors trick to beguile everyone into thinking he's a good guy and distract from what's not so good about his power.
As a Colombian-American, I was almost kidnapped at one point when I was down in Colombia visiting my relatives in 2004. It was a scary experience. Its sad that the country is gripped by terror on a daily basis. Its one reason why my parents and I dont go down there very much. I'm also on that Facebook's anti FARC group.
This is a very good post. I've heard of Betancourt, but after reading this, I am more aware. I will try to do my part by praying and letting people know about Betancourt and Colombians.
About Chavez - I have no respect for any politicians, him included. They all have their own motives. No politician completely thinks about his people. I am being very cynical, but I just can't trust any of them. Even in my own country.
And I am inclined to agree with row_ho. It's so darn SAD, but so true. :(
It is a hard situation and there are no really really good guys down there.
As to legalization we are talking cocaine. It is much to addictive to ever be legal. Sorry is sounds good, but if legal, the number of those addicted would go way up. There are no easy answers.
Chavez is a supporter of these thugs. If he wanted them to release her they would do it right nows. His military enforces one of FARC's safe zones and they need it. If he turned on them they would die out (or be reduced to a small street gang), with nowhere to hide.
Chavez is simply another in a long line of power happy communists.
This is because the Columbian Cartel owns the country. There are 2 vastly abundant things in Columbia and that's their amazing coffee beans as well as the not so amazing illegal growing of marijuana and drug trafficking. I've known quite a few Columbians that have legally come to America and they as ordinary Columbian citizens are very nice people-- they're just owned by the Cartel, and that's a problem. As for Chavez, what a criminal! I have a feeling a few of the members of FARC that are involved are also terrorists/ mafia-related men with the power to kill without shedding a tear. Columbia IS NOT the only country gripped by terror.
Fun doesnt need a reason thats what makes it fun!
If people do turn away because of the lack of 'serious' post then tough luck to them. Everyone has to lighten up occasionally and your 'light' posts are just as entertaining as the more serious ones. If people genuinely enjoy your writing then they'll stick around. Enjoy your day off and hope those roses smell sweet
That war and Peru's civil war need to end. I wish the US would get more involved in making peace in South America and Africa.
Hi,
Thanks so much for all of your support during the contest! Please cast your final vote for me by going to
http://www.xanga.com/amandasbiggestfan
and posting a vote comment. Thanks again, I couldn't have done it without you. :D
Comments (15)
I agree with you about the conflict, but I think sometimes conflicts go on so long that the media no longer pays attention. Tibet comes to mind. We only hear about the human rights violations when they are especially brutal, but in reality, monks, women and children of faith die everyday under Chinese rule. There are conflicts like this all over the world. The Western world seems too bored with them to care. Just like Darfur, we heard a ton about it, a bunch of celebs got on board. Nothing major was done, and now the public is bored with it and is moving on. It makes no sense to me. Good post. make people aware.
I've heard about this. I think the FARC started out as a political organization in the 70s but has devolved to pure criminality now, although they still try to pretend to have political goals. I think they're just the army of the drug lords.
We all discourage drug use all the time. That's why I say legalize. Take it out of the hands of the criminals. They would hate that. And there could be super high sin tax on it, like cigarettes, which could go to fund clinics for addicts. I know that won't be a popular opinion on your site, but there it is.
I hope they can release that poor woman and her fellow captives. So sad.
@B4Belfast - Thanks for the mini. I don't think this situation gets a lot of attention in the media, US or world, but especially US.
@row_ho - Definitely the case. We do have a tendency to get bored and move on, and if the issue is lucky, a few stars may make it a pet cause or a chic issue for a few seconds. Meantime, real people are suffering. You are so right... thanks for the comment.
@beli_grrl - Yes, it started out as the military arm of the Communist Party in the 60's, but it's since gotten way out of hand and they are now little better than thugs. I sometimes wonder how legalization would go. I think it would put a lot of thugs out of business, but the worst offenders (and the biggest traffickers) - wouldn't they just go legit, keep right on selling drugs with no punishment? Or at least fill in any black market demands that would still arise once drugs are legalized and regulated.
@squeakysoul - some of them would but I think a lot of them couldn't handle going legit. And I think it would shine a needed light on their bus practices and make them clean up. I can't speak for other countries at all, but I feel pretty certain that the transparency required of legit businesses in US law would force the criminals into better behavior. One thing I mentioned in someone else's post on a "legalize or no" type post was that when I was a kid, my friends and I were the fuckups, the stoners ya know. At age 13 (and lower for some) we could get marijuana anytime and often got other harder drugs with minimal effort. But we couldn't usually get alcohol, and not because we weren't interested, but because our parents kept it out of reach and the sellers of alcohol are law abiding business people rather than amoral criminals. That's the personal spin that I admit, drives much of my thinking on the matter.
alright. I'm going to make this short & simple. my name is Elle, and I'm a xanga provider site. I make layouts, create icons, collect music codes, and type best selling books so that you don't have to add your name to the already-280-person waiting list at the library.
I have 54 layouts made. I have thousands of graphics ready to be made into layouts. I've just begun collecting music codes. I've already started typing out 3 books (Twilight, Midnight Sun, & the Sorcerer's Stone).
Before I open up, I want 100 subscriptions, and 500 comments. I know it seems hefty to a lot of you, but it's not. Please, just come comment and subscribe, so that I can start posting everything I've made for you guys.
- Elle
I was just reading about Columbia in a Voice of the Martyrs magazine the other day. While missionaries are doing something about it, they are a small voice and cannot bring about change of themselves. I guess we don't normally hear about it in the media because it's not new news, just like we hear so very little about other outstanding abuses in the world such as Africa's wars and China's abuse of the people.
I don't trust or like Chavez. I think he's using the problems of his people to incite hatred and incooperativeness with the US and other nations for the purpose of gaining tyrannical control. And while he may seem to be helping in terms of these negotiations I believe it's only a smoke and mirrors trick to beguile everyone into thinking he's a good guy and distract from what's not so good about his power.
As a Colombian-American, I was almost kidnapped at one point when I was down in Colombia visiting my relatives in 2004. It was a scary experience. Its sad that the country is gripped by terror on a daily basis. Its one reason why my parents and I dont go down there very much. I'm also on that Facebook's anti FARC group.
This is a very good post. I've heard of Betancourt, but after reading this, I am more aware. I will try to do my part by praying and letting people know about Betancourt and Colombians.
About Chavez - I have no respect for any politicians, him included. They all have their own motives. No politician completely thinks about his people. I am being very cynical, but I just can't trust any of them. Even in my own country.
And I am inclined to agree with row_ho. It's so darn SAD, but so true. :(
It is a hard situation and there are no really really good guys down there.
As to legalization we are talking cocaine. It is much to addictive to ever be legal. Sorry is sounds good, but if legal, the number of those addicted would go way up. There are no easy answers.
Chavez is a supporter of these thugs. If he wanted them to release her they would do it right nows. His military enforces one of FARC's safe zones and they need it. If he turned on them they would die out (or be reduced to a small street gang), with nowhere to hide.
Chavez is simply another in a long line of power happy communists.
This is because the Columbian Cartel owns the country. There are 2 vastly abundant things in Columbia and that's their amazing coffee beans as well as the not so amazing illegal growing of marijuana and drug trafficking. I've known quite a few Columbians that have legally come to America and they as ordinary Columbian citizens are very nice people-- they're just owned by the Cartel, and that's a problem. As for Chavez, what a criminal! I have a feeling a few of the members of FARC that are involved are also terrorists/ mafia-related men with the power to kill without shedding a tear. Columbia IS NOT the only country gripped by terror.
Fun doesnt need a reason thats what makes it fun!
If people do turn away because of the lack of 'serious' post then tough luck to them. Everyone has to lighten up occasionally and your 'light' posts are just as entertaining as the more serious ones. If people genuinely enjoy your writing then they'll stick around. Enjoy your day off and hope those roses smell sweet
That war and Peru's civil war need to end. I wish the US would get more involved in making peace in South America and Africa.
Hi,
Thanks so much for all of your support during the contest! Please cast your final vote for me by going to
http://www.xanga.com/amandasbiggestfan
and posting a vote comment. Thanks again, I couldn't have done it without you. :D
Mlle. P