Amparo and Silvio Chaguendo were two indigenous brothers, inhabitants of the Tacueyo shelter. In May 2008 they decided to travel to La Cominera county looking for job. But unfortunately it was the place where they found their death.

‘The community met in a moment and asked support from the indigenous guard. We wait that more people arrive from the other counties and we closed the place. The soldiers denied that they killed the youth but we shouted to their faces what we saw.’

This is only one of the testimonies of so many events that happen in a small place of Colombia, in the north of Cauca. It happened in La Cominera county, located in the municipality of Corinto, where its inhabitants are surrounded of pain, fear, anxiety and the bitter test of war.

Although it is already two years of this tragic war, the community still not to recover from the caused damages. It feels powerless before what it lived, but it feels also that if it let itself brought by hates, it would be another excuse for the murderers to finish the people.

It is not easy for a community to see how its own population became cannon folder. It is not easy to listen the pain of a father of family looking for his son for more than eight years. But it is even more distressing to know that he had to resign in the search for his loved one, because he got the announcement that his son was murdered and thrown to the Cauca River. The father does not understand the reasons of the murderers to finish the life of his son: ‘I thought him only how to work the land. My son was my companion, where I stepped, he came. Once he left the town, but he never returned.‘ These were the words of pain that he expressed.

La Cominera is inhabited by an indigenous community, mestizos and farmers. It is also a region inhabited by the guerrillas that very often fight the zone with the army. The argument of the guerrilla over its stay on the territory is to protect the people from the army. The excuse of the army in order to stay in the place is to fight the guerrillas and the drug dealers. But no one of them do as they say. Both of them kill the people they say to protect.

To reach this community you need to run 18 kilometers (11 miles) from the Corinto’s downtown. Along the road it is possible to contemplate the huge extensions of sugar cane plantations of the municipality. At the same time, the million of litters of water that wet the permanent horticulture. In the distance it is possible to observe also the smoke of the industries settled in the zone. The inter-municipal road is guarded by several checkpoints of the public force.

The fights became more regular in the zone. Unfortunately it became a part of the daily life of the inhabitants of the region. When it is not the battles that kill the people, they murder and disappear in a systematic way innocent community leaders or they terrorize through threatening leaflets.

Every disappeared, every murdered and every wounded is presented to the mass media as they were isolated cases. It is a part of the strategy of war that is around all the Colombian territory. The war served as a excuse to commit the more murders and it is the mean to still the territories, the culture and the way of life of many communities.

In this way is that the 4 % of the Colombian owners control the 61% of the land. Now, the new government of Colombia say that it will give back the lands that were stolen to their legal owners. We are worry if it would be true. Does it mean that they are going to give back the land to thousands of farmer families, indigenous, Afro-Colombians that were displaced in order to give their lands to the multinational in the name of the Trusty Investment? Or maybe it is that they are going to destine State resources to buy and silence some while they abandon the majorities that fled in order to protect their lives.

This is the sad reality. Greed disguised as investment, the violence posing as security. The terror subjecting the population and wanting to dull the voices that in the middle of the adversity want to show the dignity of the oppressed. But in the middle of the aggression there is the hope to find spaces to arise. The women give us an example fighting against the war and calling the country to stop the militarization. It is the example that we have to follow. We know that behind the barbarism and the cruelty, the clamor of the life flowers.

By the Association of Indigenous Authorities of Cauca ACIN

Original in Spanish ‘La violencia disfrazada de seguridad.’

‘There is a Hollywood in Los Angeles (US) and a Bollywood in Bombay (India.) Why could not dream that in five years more we have a ‘Paisollywood’ in Colombia?’ said Arango to El Colombiano newspaper.

‘Paisa’ refers to the Colombians who live in the coffee regions of Antioquia, Caldas, Quindío, Risaralda, north of Valle del Cauca and west of Tolima, most in the Andean region. Medellín, the biggest Paisa city, has become one of the most active Colombian city in film production in the last decade and initiatives like Contento Pictures has helped to develop the idea that the region is ready for a talented film growing industry in the South American nation.

Contento Productions brought also the Colombian-American Hollywood actor John Leguizamo in July.

The initiative has the support of the local Antioquean government that says in its website:

‘Consolidating the film industru in our region is the purpose of a public and private alliance thanks to the support of the Government of Antioquia (…) and it began with the visit this week of four prominent personalities of the production and direction of the North American cinematography.’

Roy Lee, is well known for his production of Asian films for American audience, especially in movies like The Ring, The Grudge and The Departed with his co-own company Vertigo Entertainment settled in Beverly Hills with Doug Davison. Bill Choi and Stuart Manashil are Hollywood representative agents and Sebastian Aloi is an entrepreneur of the film industry in US.

The Paisa film entrepreneurs hope to set the first steps to put Medellín and Antioquia in the world context of cinematography and the use of the rich Andean views as locations for international movies.

‘It will consolidate an industry that will be dedicated to the formation of talents, the export of creative values and the development of other activities around the cinematography to generate a high productivity and make a center of development for the region,’ said the official website of the local government.

It means of course the investment in an industry that is practically new in Colombia with a very low level of national film production, though with a great human resource and the undoubtedly beauty of the Colombian geography.

Lee said to El Colombiano:

‘It is cheaper to produce here than in other countries and we find the original Colombian touch that is practically unknown,’ he said.

He even said that it is possible to shoot stories that happen in Scotland when he new the Oriente Antioqueño (Easter Antioquia).

File from Seul Digital Forum

At about 4 AM

Red alert means that there is an eruptive probability. Evacuation of about 8 thousand persons living in risky areas has been slow according to the authorities, however, the earthquakes have made that some families move to the temporary shelters like Fontibón. The shelters have capacity to welcome about 9 thousand persons. 400 policemen are going around the risky areas to motivate the population to move to the shelters before it is too late. The city of Pasto is considered out of risk, but the villages near the mountain like Florida and Nariño, are ordered for immediate evacuation, but the communities have been slow in follow instructions.

Galeras activity

The Galeras Volcano, a 14,029 ft-above-the-sea-level mountain near the southern Colombian city of Pasto, presented its last eruption on January 2, 2010 at 7:43 AM. The eruption was considered of minor impact and presented a column of ashes of 10 kilometers. There were other eruptions in 2008 and 2009.

Families of the risky areas, most of them farmers, are reluctant to abandon their properties, said local newspaper Diario del Sur.

Satellite picture by NASA.

Updated on August 25, 2010

In a security council hold in Medellín after the terrorist events in the 13th commune early this month, some authorities complained that criminals are often arrested and after released. Moreover, it is not understood why gangs use heavy weapons.

As for the Cali’s case, major Ospina said to the press that urban violence has increased in many other cities of Colombia and it is necessary the implementation of the Democratic Security to fight gangs and reduce murders. He said that it is necessary a national effort to take out killers from the streets. He criticized the weak laws that are allowing anybody to have gangs and he asked for a stricter control not only from police but especially from tribunals not to allow criminals go free.  ’It creates only more impunity,’ he said. According to major Ospina, in Cali there is an average of four murders per day.

Major Alonso Salazar begins offensive against gangs in Medellín

By his part, major Alonso Salzar of Medellín began a military and police offensive against the gangs that have terrorized the most marginalized barrios of the city during the last months. He announced to the press that it is intended to neutralize the criminal organizations in different sectors of the city and there are already more than 80 warrants against recognized criminal leaders.

An authentic gang war has punished the city this year with an alarming increase in murders and terrorist attacks against infrastructures and civil population in sectors like the 13th Commune (east of Medellín), Manrique (west) and the northern communes. The violence has terrible consequences in the communities with displacement, school dropout, close businesses and undiscriminated violence.

Updated on 08.24.2010

The government of Uribe was especially suspicious of any dialog intentions with the guerrilla after the failure of dialog peace with the government of Pastrana. Uribe did emphasis a military solution and concluded very often that any Farc’s peace proposal was an attempt to gain time in order to recover. Especially during the last days of his government, Uribe manifested that any dialog proposal of the Farc was actually a fake proposal.

President Santos has been more prudent in condemning peace processes, but he has estated that such processes must come after the armed groups released unilaterally the hostages and suspend any terrorist action in Colombia.  At the same time, Santos disapproved any initiative of peace that is made without authorization of the government. It was especially addressed to Senator Piedad Córdoba, who is leading a group of persons to mediate in possible dialog processes.

It is the first time that Farc addressed UNASUR, a new organization of South American nations, with the hope to have the opportunity to expose their own vision of the Colombian conflict. It is unlikely to be accepted by the Colombian government, even more in a time when UNASUR is taking position in its intention to have a strong influence in the region without the role of the United States.

Updated on 08.24.2010

The best point was that the Venezuelan minister of foreign affairs, Nicolás Maduro, announced the payment to the Colombian exporters in a starting budget of 200 million dollars. It gives back the soul to the suffered commerce with Venezuela. By his part, president Chávez spoke about good faith and good will to work together. He announced to the press that he spoke about everything with the Colombian chancellor, María Ángela Holguín.

Maduro and Holguín discussed about commerce, development of the borders, security, food and energy production, communications and other bi-national projects. President Chávez mentioned the plans for a train, tourism, social work in the borders and programs to fight poverty in the common regions. The interest of Venezuela to have access to the Pacific Ocean through Colombia was another point underlined by Chávez in Caracas.

It is definitely a new time for the Colombian-Venezuelan relations. Evidently, more reasons to join than fight, without forgetting the real compromises of this new political chapter. Reality can be more rude than good diplomacy. Success of diplomacy comes only when real processes are placed in practice by both part.

In US he will face charges as conspiracy to kill US nationals and conspiracy to provide material support to a proscribed terrorist group (like Farc guerrilla.)

In a US-Thai operation with the support of Interpol, Bout was arrested in March 2008. Secret agents posed as weapon buyers for Colombian Farc guerrilla and he promised to them 700-800 surface-to-air missiles, 5,000 AK-47s, millions of rounds of ammunition, C4 explosive, land mines and unmanned aerial drones. Although this, the Thai court did not granted his extradition to US because it considered that Farc was not a terrorist but ideological organization.

How an ideological organization buys too heave weapons and escape to be considered a terrorist organizations is very strain for the Thai court logic. We do not forget that the Thai military supported for a good time the Khmer Rouge guerrillas of Pol Pot under the same considerations.

Russia is against it, of course. How hypocritical can be diplomacy.