So much for Peace Talks

[Zon]

Our little paradise remains a glass that is only half full ... Seems to be getting "hotter"

• 
  Colombia halts mining multinationals in indigenous territory
• 
  ELN release five hostages in north Colombia
• 
  46 cases of child recruitment in Colombia in 2013: Ombudsman
• 
  FARC blows up oil pipeline in southwestern Colombia
• 
  FARC attack kills at least 7 soldiers in southern Colombia
• 
  Eastern Colombia locked into neo-paramilitary war
• 
  Colombia suspends military operations to make way for hostage release mission

[htown]

It's just a way of getting the foreign corporations and foreign governments to pour more money into assisting colombia's military and "anti-insurgency" programs like plan colombia.


Santos will have to make a phone call to washington to request another 6 billion to make it safe for the banks and corporations to continue looting colombia's resources.  Basically just another form of extortion.

[mudd]

i know a girl who works for a mining company in Colombia  they are in deep [snip], she says drug dealers/narcos/ paramilitary have moved into illegal gold mining in Colombia and have taken out a hugh chunk of their business and have laid off about 40 people in her company. govt cant seem to be able to crack down on the illegal business,

[buencamino]

One of the biggest looters of Colombia's resources is Canada which has most of the mining permits. As far as guerrilla activity there has been a major up tick in ELN attacks which is no doubt an attempt to be individualized from the FARC so as to be specifically included in the peace talks.

[benjio]

It's just a way of getting the foreign corporations and foreign governments to pour more money into assisting colombia's military and "anti-insurgency" programs like plan colombia.


Santos will have to make a phone call to washington to request another 6 billion to make it safe for the banks and corporations to continue looting colombia's resources.  Basically just another form of extortion.

Couldn't have said it better myself. $HIT....I could post links to news stories about multiple shootings within a couple of days in Houston and it would give you the impression the city is like the Wild West. The media puts a spin on stories and subject matter to serve their ulterior motives more often than just telling the story as it is. This is especially prevalent in Latin America.

[Zon]

Yes, but ...


I wanted to believe in straight lines, and I see now that there are none.  I was with the hopeful impression that post Uribe days would bring something better and time would continue to create a more and more stable, mature and transparent country / democracy in Colombia.  I hoped that there would be an exponential improvement on all sides.  (there are underlying reasons for such hope).  But ... it remains an optimistic guess that flies in the face of current facts and long established patterns.

[V_Man]

Personally I think the key is employment and providing a clear path to prosperity for ALL Colombians.
For example something like 52% of all the land is owned by 1.5% of the population. This is one of key things that ultimately provides a powerbase for FARC and ELN. We all know it is more complex than that, but this is an example of something that prevents everyone having a clear path to prosperity.


Through taxes and levies it is possible to make the ownership of lots of land a poor financial strategy for the wealthy. Millions of small land owners is a vastly better future for everyone in the long run.