Showing posts with label Colombia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Colombia. Show all posts

03 June 2025

Noboa Inaugurated and Ecuador's Future in the Age of Trump

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/24/ecuadors-daniel-noboa-sworn-in-for-full-term-promising-a-crackdown-on-gangs

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/12/ecuador-president-blackwater-alliance

Ecuador had been part of the so-called Pink Tide of Latin American nations that had turned turned to Left-wing governments during the George Bush era. The term of Rafael Correa (2007-2017) came to symbolize this era for Ecuador. After Correa departed office, his party continued holding power but the shift was underway. By 2021 a conservative (and pro-Washington) president was in power but his tenure was marked by controversy, corruption, and ultimately collapse.

01 September 2023

24 June 2023

The Violence in Colombia Ignored by Western Media

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/17/ex-paramilitary-leader-testifies-about-assassinations-in-colombia

When Western and even Christian media cover the situation in Colombia they invariably focus on the terror and violence perpetrated by the Leftist guerilla groups – such as the FARC. This is true enough but they consistently misrepresent the story. There are cycles of violence and terror and the reason many among the rural poor gravitate toward the Left is due to the violence of Right-wing paramilitary groups which are often unofficial arms of the state and in other cases are effectively private armies funded and backed by Western corporations. And it must be remembered that groups like the CIA are always in the background pulling strings and attempting to manage the situation.

28 June 2022

Two Defeats for the Empire in Latin America

First there was the failed summit in Los Angeles. This was the Ninth such meeting for the Organization of American States (OAS) which has long been a tool for US imperialism in the region. More than once it has given cover to US policies and machinations.

06 April 2020

Covid-19 and Project Venezuela


The US seems to have shifted its posture with regard to Venezuela's Juan Guaido. Though touted by Trump and given a profile boost by his invitation to the State of the Union in February of 2020, the truth is he has failed to oust Nicolas Maduro and his campaign has effectively lost its momentum.

28 July 2019

The Chemical and Radioactive Legacy of the US War Machine


It's right that the United States is pledging more aid but of course this must be understood in light of Vietnam's position vis-à-vis China. Washington has a new ally in Hanoi, one it could have had back in the days following World War II but that wasn't meant to be.

13 July 2019

VOM and Colombian Half-Truths


The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) can at times be excellent and their reports moving. They are to be commended for their understanding of suffering and persecution as not being incidental or occasional aspects of the Christian life, but rather essential components of our calling.
There are times when I listen to their podcast, watch videos or read their materials and I want to empty my bank account in order to help them.
And then there are the other times when their predilection for Charismatic theology comes to the fore and I reconsider. It's really a continuation of my first encounter with Richard Wurmbrand's work Tortured for Christ which I first read in the 1990's. On the one hand it was deeply moving but on the other hand the theology was such a disastrous mess it was hard to know what to think.

29 December 2016

The Labyrinth of Drugs and Weapons Smuggling: The Balkans, Latin America and the Strategy of Tension

https://theintercept.com/2016/11/30/did-the-dea-nab-an-international-weapons-dealer-or-a-cia-asset-hung-out-to-dry/?comments=1#comments

Due to the inconclusive nature of the story I'm not sure why The Intercept chose to publish it. Perhaps it's for the same reasons that I'm passing it on. It provides an opportunity to expose readers to the confusing mess and double-dealing that's going on in government agencies and in the back alleys. I think we all know these things go on, but sometimes it's helpful to read something like this that fleshes it out a bit.

06 August 2015

27 March 2015

The Wasting of Colombia: Profiting from the War on Drugs While Destroying Integrity and Civilization

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js_2OkN1w8I

I was spending some time on the Drug War with my kids and made use of this video. I found it provided a good overview but it's really just the beginning. The War on Drugs has largely proved catastrophic for not just American society, but for many in Latin America as well. They've been plunged into violence, civil war and in some cases a reversion to feudalism under the sometimes celebrated drug lords and in other cases the aristocratic landowners.