Update on Colombian politics

I had limited internet access during the time Colombia was making the international news. I did write something about it, but now it’s out of date cos since then everyone has hugged and made up.

The only comment I really want to make, is what great tele it made on Friday, when the Rio Summit was being broadcast live. Uribe was going over the supposed links Ecuador had with FARC. He stopped. Ecuadorian President Correa had just left the room, and Uribe said he didn’t want to carry on until he came back. The bottom of the screen flashes up “Correa walks out during Uribe’s speech”. Someone from Correa’s team explains he just popped to the toilet. The Chairman suggests a break. Cut to the newsroom. They explain the news “Uribe is waiting for Correa to get back from the bathroom.” Brilliant.

Remember the anti-FARC march on February 4th? Well as a response, a march against paramilitary violence happened on March 6th. A student activist had told me he didn’t agree with the plan because it could never be as big as the Feb 4th march with all the government and media support it got. Well, I’ve been amazed by how much press attention it did get. Sure President Uribe has said it’s pro-FARC and should be avoided. But the press has generally been positive and it’s lead to an unprecedented opening up of a topic which is normally so rarely reported.

As I was travelling to Regidor, I met a couple of victims on their 24 hour journey to Bogotá (One had a brother killed, the other’s father was shot in front of him and his other six brothers and sisters when he was 10). Their journey was funded, but it would be unaffordable to most. In paramilitary areas, I imagine people would not feel completely safe demonstrating, but plenty did. It wasn’t quite as big as February 4th, or in as many places here or around the world. But there were demos in a few capital cities, and although it had to compete with the Venezuela/Ecuador conflict in the news, it still had a pretty long feature.