What happened in Cauca?

Colombian friends took to Facebook this week following a stand-off between soldiers and people from the indigenous Nasa community in the Department of Cauca with an unusual intensity for a country often numbed to so much violence.

Why such a reaction? I can't begin to explain. The more I learn about Colombia the more clouded and undefinable the layers of conflict in this beautiful country seem to me. Here are some resources that hopefully provide context to the ongoing battle between the military and the FARC, and the immense toll such violence takes on the innocent people caught in the middle.

Latin American Working Group's Colombian Campaign. Noticias 24's coverage with video of President Santos' statement. A write-up from Foreign Policy. Images from the BBC. The fairly in-depth AP story with a focus on political fallout.

Luto en Colombia por El Joe

Colombian music legend & one of my all time favorites passed away in Barranquilla this morning. Coincidentally, Joe's life as been the subject of a top-rated novela that is currently showing on Colombian television. His name was in the air during our visit to Colombia that just ended this past Sunday. The end appeared near due to word of his health complications. A sad day for Colombia and all who love music.

TransMilenio, To Thee I Sing

I can now die a happy man, for I've ridden TransMilenio, Bogota's bus rapid transit system. Not the first, but probably the best, TM covers over 80 km and makes Bogatanos swell with pride. In fact, our friend Carolina had two 10-trip passes ready for us when we arrived last week. Its fleet also appears on a clear majority of tourist t-shirts and postcards.

The system is so central to this city's future and urban development that the current mayor was sacked and suspended for 3 months due to alleged corruption involving bids for new lines. Nevertheless, TM can get you from the Norte to El Centro in half the time that a taxi would take and the system costs a fraction of what Medellin laid down for its subway system.

Sácalo!

Wow, I know he's a pretty unpopular guy but who knew a Colombian judge could just take the mayor of Bogotá, Samuel Moreno, out of office for 3 months while he looks into a growing corruption scandal? Doesn't the city council have some autonomy on such issues?

The scandal relates to the awarding of contracts for the city's once highly regarded Transmilenio bus rapid transit system, whose service has deteriorated under Moreno. In fact, the misdeed the mayor is accused of is awarding millions in contracts for more lines for the taxed system which remain unbuilt.

While the order, which Moreno says he'll comply with, states that the caretaker mayor must come from Moreno's own party, President Santos has appointed his own Education secretary to the role in the meantime. Strange dealings.

To get The Economist's take on Samuel Moreno read here.

Clave! El Joe de Cartagena

One of the great cantantes and arguably Colombia's greatest salsa star, Joe Arroyo. On a side note, I'll be traveling to Colombia in July following a judicial externship in Argentina. 

Narco-corridos in Colombia

The outlaw Mexican genre has been popular but shunned by most mainstream outlets in Colombia for 30 years.

El Regreso

Ed. Note: I've been away from the blog for the last two months. A combination of work, and wedding preparations mostly. I will also be starting law school in the fall as a student in Southwestern's evening program.

There is certainly much to marvel at across the Americas these days and I plan to continue writing up posts with a mix of my analysis and background experiences as well as other's reporting. So stay tuned for the latest on a host of elections (Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Peru), criminal justice, conflict, book reviews, and of course the occasional music drop. To demonstrate my good faith to stay in the fight, here is el orgullo de Naucalpan, Cafe Tacuba:

Musica para animarse

It's been a difficult couple of months across the Americas. Chile confronts bouts of social breakdown that it believed its economic progress had inoculated it from, Cuban dissidents suffer stepped up repression, and Bogota endured a major transit strike. It's a really good time for some music. All week long, Armar una Bronca will feature music from across the region. Hope you enjoy.

First up is Beken from Haiti.

As Haitians tries to imagine a way forward, one of its most beloved troubadours recently picked up his guitar for the first time since the earthquake. “Beken usually sold best after a hurricane,” an admirer said, referring to the singer. “But since the earthquake, demand for his music is the strongest in years, the customers love the way he sings about suffering.”

His music can be heard here, courtesy of the NYT.

El fin de Uribismo o solo de Uribe?

The Constitutional Court of Colombia has ruled that Alvaro Uribe cannot vie for a third presidential term. Let's back up for a moment. In 2005, Uribe pushed through changes to the constitution in order to run for a second term. Although this second term was marked by wiretapping, bribery, and paramilitary scandals, violence decreased and his popularity remained high.

Now Uribe, one of the strongest US allies in the hemisphere, has said he will accept the decision of the court and start grooming a successor for the May 30 vote (and a June run-off). He favors Juan Manuel Santos, the ultimate insider, who stepped down as defense minister last May. His family looms large in Colombian politics and he helped found Uribe's political party which has held a working coalition together throughout his two terms.

This is a positive development for Colombian democracy, whoever the next president is. For better or worse, Colombia need to extend security to its entire population through stronger institutions not the will and political might of one man.

A promising sign from Colombia

DAS, Colombia's Administrative Security Department, and perhaps the largest intelligence agency in Latin America is to be scrapped.

Alas, Uribe is sounding more and more like Chavez and Morales blaming the DAS scandal and accusations of his involvement on secret criminal elements bent on the destruction of Colombia. Maybe it was the swine flu. Will this still growing scandal weaken his plan for a third term?

Just what has Colombia done to earn such a close partnership with the US?

There are many questions about Colombia's place in the US orbit these days. This seemingly democratic country, and strong US ally, has one of the poorest human rights records in the Americas and yet they have continuously lucked out on being at the right place at the right time on the war on drugs . What have they done, in fact, to earn a free trade agreement? And just what does an Administrative Security Department do apart from conducting political killings, selling intelligence to the highest bidder, and indiscriminate wiretapping in a country where such a practice is illegal? 

Lastly one would like to know, what more must a country whose president has scrubbed the constitution for a second time in order to run for president and whose own government is complicit in the deaths of scores of trade unionists and human rights activists do get on the bad side of the Obama administration? Apparently a lot more:

Ian C. Kelly, a State Department spokesman, said last week that the accusations of illegal wiretapping were “troubling and unacceptable.” But in the same statement, he said Colombia’s human rights record was satisfactory enough to meet standards allowing Mr. Uribe’s government to receive all of the military assistance included in the $545 million in American aid that Colombia was set to receive this year.

Constitutional Amendments to Extend the Presidency, Not Just for Latin America's Lefties!

US ally and Colombian president, Alvaro Uribe has pushed legislation through both houses of congress that will allow him to ask the country for a third term in office. This is the second time the constitution has been changed to allow Uribe to seek another four years in office. 

Andres Oppenheimer cites, as bad omens, two examples of Latin America leaders who pushed for third terms only to see their countries endure economic and rule of law crisis: Carlos Menem of Argentina and Alberto Fujimori of Peru. Both have been under various forms of detention since leaving office and Fujimori will most likely die in the prison where he now sits.

Uribe's sky-high popularity will not last and he could very well see his effectiveness blunted during a third term if Colombians come to grips that their president is a mere mortal, unable to finish off the FARC, the paramilitaries, make peace with Venezuela and achieve a trade pact with the US all while improving the standard of living for Colombia's poor.

Confirming the Obvious: Venezuela Aids Colombia's FARC

Simon Romero of the NYT has had a look at recently uncovered communications between FARC commanders in Colombia and top government officials in Venezuela that detail a high volume of communications between the two. From the article:

Mr. Chávez has disputed claims of his government’s collaboration with the rebels since Colombian forces raided a FARC encampment in Ecuador last year. During the raid, Colombian commandos obtained the computers of a FARC commander with encrypted e-mail messages that described a history of close ties between Mr. Chávez’s government and the rebel group, which has long crossed over into Venezuelan territory for refuge.

The newest communications, circulated among the seven members of the FARC’s secretariat, suggest that little has changed with Venezuela’s assistance since the raid. The New York Times obtained a copy of the computer material from an intelligence agency that is analyzing it.

One message from Iván Márquez, a rebel commander thought to operate largely from Venezuelan territory, describes the FARC’s plan to buy surface-to-air missiles, sniper rifles and radios in Venezuela last year.

This comes on the heels of the discovery of Venezuelan bought Swedish rocket launchers in the hands of the FARC. My hunch is that the "World's Most Interesting Man" is involved in some fashion.

What seems to be par for the course is Chavez' desire to further dig his country in by upsetting a major trading partner. From the WSJ (disclaimer: not its editorial page):

Venezuela depends on Colombia for basic goods such as dairy, meat, clothing and, more strategically, imports 300 million cubic feet of natural gas a day, twice as much as originally agreed upon.

Petroleos de Venezuela SA, the state-owned oil firm, needs natural gas for its oil reservoirs to increase pressure and boost production, and as raw material for its petrochemical industry.

The trade deficit between these countries is obscenely unbalanced, Colombia exports about $500 million worth of desperately needed goods a month while Venezuela sends only a fraction of that to its neighbor.