Rumsfeld's Visit

[thundernco]

... in response to Re: narcos in Cali, posted by CaliAdvisor on Aug 22, 2003

Advisor, y

You're on point, the North Valley & Coastal Cartels as well as other small players have picked up significant market share. However, the Cali Cartel is still around, not dead, although in a very dimished and injured capacity.  

http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/js122.htm

-TNC

[CaliAdvisor]

... in response to Re: narcos in Cali, posted by CaliAdvisor on Aug 22, 2003

Don't mean to contradict you though Cancunhound. Obviously there are still a lot of tracetos working in Cali.

[JSlo]

... in response to Re: Re: narcos in Cali, posted by CaliAdvisor on Aug 22, 2003

Normally I stay on the sidelines and let the mud slinging take its course. However, this time you've stumbled upon a nerve of mine. You dare to question someone with experience in the fight against drugs because you READ a BOOK! Best laugh I've had this week. You my friend (to quote a famous personality)are de ja vu, ALL OVER AGAIN! Those spots and stripes are beginning to reappear. Repeat quickly after me: eye sofa king we todd did. Welcome Back.  
JSlo

[Pete E]

... in response to Rumsfeld's Visit, posted by CaliAdvisor on Aug 21, 2003

Yes you are right,we are contributing to both sides ,one by official policy and the other by illicit trade we have not been able to control.Does that make it a wash or mean we should do nothing? I don't think so.
Colombia needs our help.We are giving it to an extent.They are our number 3 reciever of forign aid.They finaly seem to have developed the will to do something about the rebels.Long ovedue in my opinion in a country where 30,000 or so rebels are really screwing up thier way of life and economic prospects.
I think you will see more US involvement here.If we had not been distracted by worse situations in the middle east we would be doing more right now I think.Colombia is an important country to the US and very important to alot of us here individually.

Pete

[cancunhound]

... in response to Rumsfeld's Visit, posted by CaliAdvisor on Aug 21, 2003

"These message boards are intended as an area in which people can post questions and stories about international dating"

Politics is a little off subject unless you're dating one of these guys.  This board has enough useless info on it as it is  - no need to further contibute to it.

[Pete E]

... in response to Message board FAQ's, posted by cancunhound on Aug 21, 2003

Since Colombia is the main country of interest here and we have lots of guys married to and engaged to Colombianas and guys living in Colombia and thinking of doing so political and economic conditions within Colombia are relevent if not the main focus of discusion.Colombia is in a bad way that they may have a chance of working their way out of.Those of us intimately involved with Colombia and Colombianas are quite interested in the outcome.Things could get quite volitile and we would be affected.I personally think it is the number one country of concern of to the United States in the western hemisphere.They are the country we give the third most foriegn aid to.
That being said hopefully this will not digress in to political arguments because that would be disruptive to the main intent of the board.It should be mostly imformational.

Pete

[Traveller]

... in response to Message board FAQ's, posted by cancunhound on Aug 21, 2003

No, I disagree with that. The more information about this place the better. Heck, I forgot SecDef was down here.
Remember, Colombia isn't only about finding a woman, it's a complicated country and the more you know, the better off you might be.
I throw unrelated stuff on here now and again and it's basically accepted because I am here 24/7. But, I don't know nearly everything. It's good someone else posts information about Colombia even though it's not strictly about finding the girl of your dreams.
You have all heard Cali es Cali. Well, on the same token, Colombia is Colombia.
Speaking of Cali es Cali, CaliesCali.Com is featuring Xiomara, my receptionist, this week. She is San Andres taking photos for CaliBuenaNota.Com.

[zack]

... in response to Re: Message board FAQ's, posted by Traveller on Aug 21, 2003

What is caliescali.com anyway? Since the website is in Spanish, I couldn't tell exactly what it's purpose is.

xiomara is stunning. Must be rough having a receptionist
like that.

Zack

[Michael B]

... in response to Re: Re: Message board FAQ's, posted by zack on Aug 22, 2003

It's sponsored by the local newspapers and/or chamber of commerce. It's similar to 'What's happening in Louisville this week'. It has a bikini girls section, a social page, legitimate news, a 'friends looking for friends' (where I met my fiancee) section, night club and resturant review section  and a few other sections. Do you have access to a "Louisville Now" of "Frankfort Today" site? That's what it is, except in Spanish. BTW, when I was a little kid, I did first grade at Nickolasville, KY, how close are you to that place?

[zack]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Message board FAQ's, posted by Michael B on Aug 22, 2003

I live in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which is about a two to three hour drive to Nickolasville. I grew up in the Chicago
area.

Zack

[Michael B]

... in response to Re: Message board FAQ's, posted by Traveller on Aug 21, 2003

Then you probably don't mind going to work. Say, what does your filing clerk look like? I always tell guys to look at Caliescali.com (I think I was the first one here to find it and I told everybody else). I met my fiancee in the busca amigos section of Caliescali

[roadken]

... in response to That's your receptionist?, posted by Michael B on Aug 21, 2003

Michael,how do you find the section with the available women at Caliescali?My spanish is poor is it's all "greek" to me.

[Michael B]

... in response to Re: Michael, posted by roadken on Aug 22, 2003

Well, I don't think it would do you any good if you can't read Spanish, it is not a commercial 'address seller' or 'take a tour' site, EVERYTHING is in Spanish, even (especialy) the ladies' profiles---they're not thinking 'the agency will translate this into English for me', they're thinking that only local people are going to be looking there (not that they aren't happy to get an email from a gringo, they just aren't expecting it). Now for the guys who can read and write Spanish, there are some excellent ladies on it and the response rate is pretty good. Many will even contact you first after seeing your profile. If you want to take a stab at it, click 'Registrate' on the opening page, and after you have registered, click 'busca amigos' and a screen where you select the stuff you are looking for (like age, where they live, etc) will come up.

[cancunhound]

... in response to Re: Message board FAQ's, posted by Traveller on Aug 21, 2003

Actually I don't mind it either but political discussions are going to get nasty - but hey if Patrick's intent was to include it I'm on board.  We have another non-commercial group over a yahoo (ColombiaExperts) where we tear into that stuff.  Most of your posts tend to tie into the dating scene in one way or the other BTW.  But if you'd like more news - the Colombian govt. is now claiming they will have regained full control of the republic by November (hell judging what Uribe's done so far who knows?).

Traveller, curious about Xiomara (yes hard not to notice her this week), did they pay her for that CaliesCali gig - or was it kind of an honor thing that any model would jump on to gain exposure?  Just curious how much they get paid if anything at all on that site.  Now this question is related to women so it is clearly "in topic"!

[DallasSteve2]

... in response to Xiomara, posted by cancunhound on Aug 21, 2003

cancunhound wrote:

"the Colombian govt. is now claiming they will have regained full control of the republic by November"

I'd like to believe that, but I doubt it.

Here's what I've read:

1 - Kidnapping and guerilla attacks are down this year.  Some rebels are defecting (a few hundred).  That's all good news.

2 - Some say the rebels are retreating to the jungle instead fighting hardliner Uribe.  Under Colombian law he can only serve one 4-year term.  They figure they can wait 4 years and then start up the same old cycle.  They've got the cash to wait it out.  The Colombian army can't make any real dent in the rebels if they are holed up in the mountains/jungles.

3 - The rebels were estimated to have about 16,000 members in their army.  It's been growing by 1,000 or so per year recently.  So what if they loose a few hundred soldiers.  They will still be the same frightening force they were before.

4 - The FARC have been fighting the Colombian government for almost 40 years now.  I wish the Colombian army could defeat them, but as long as the US maintains its drug war against cocaine the FARC will continue to earn billions from the US drug market.  The only way to dry up the FARC is to cut off their income which means legalizing drugs.  Our country won't do that so the cycle will continue.

I've wondered if the government could solve the problem by cutting a secret deal with the leaders of the FARC.  Offer them each a few million dollars and passage out of the country.  It would be cheaper than what they're spending on the war.  But it probably wouldn't work because those guys are living like kings on the drug money, plus they've got hot and cold running beautiful, young Colombian women.  Sounds like a program to me.

Steve