Wednesday, January 21, 2004

Why the interest in Colombian affairs? I went down there during the late eighties on a church mission, primarilly to the Carribean coast. I loved the people and the country, though the circumstances under which I laboured in the country turned my time there less than elysian.

I have many dear friends there, though I have long since lost contact with most. I left the country quite suddenly, during a time of danger perceived by the leaders of my missionary service. I was not able to gather all of my things and contacts, and I haven't been able to retie many of the loose ends.

I follow things in Colombia with interest, not only because of my personal affection for the country, but because America has many interests and ties with the governement of Colombia. The politics of the country are hugely complicated, with narcotraficantes, powerful legitimate and illigetimate business interests, far-left geurilla factions, rightist militias and common people stuck in the very dangerous, shifting ground inbetween.

Like many South American countries, Colombia enjoys a large base of natural resources and climates favorable to many activities and tastes. I have faith that someday the people of Colombia will enjoy prosperity without terror and foreign intervention that they are capable of and very much deserve., but there will have to be huge changes and different circumstances before that happens.

If you understand spanish, here is one of the big papers in Bogota, the capitol of Colombia. If you don't speak the Lengua Favorecida, here is babelfish so you can see how funny things sound when translated directly by a translatorbot.

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