From Colombia

After the release of six more hostages kidnapped by FARC, the fate of the ones who remain captive is uncertain due to the Colombian government states that it will not release guerrilla members in exchange. They are a group of 16 people, formed by military, police and civil hostages. For FARC the hostages are either military or political prisoners, the same as the guerrilla members who are detained in the country's prisons. Along these lines, the revolutionary force expects to exchange its prisoners with the ones from the government. In the other hand, for the Colombian government the idea is not valid. That is why   the releases by FARC have been unilateral. Regardless of that, the ones who are in the middle of the storm and who get mostly affected by all this are the hostages themselves, the same as, in my opinion, the soldiers, policemen and "private" guerrillas who are the ones who face the enemy and risk their freedom and lives....

'Colombia, the only risk is wanting to stay' is tha name of a campain designed to promote this country as a tourist destination for the rest of the world. It metions 'risk' refering to the security matter, that is one of the first that come up when Colombia is the topic. The question is: could a country be safe when it is known as one of the most violent in the world, faces one of the longer armed conflict in the western hemisphere and whose crime and kidnapping rates increase and the higest rate of death is killing? Beleive it or not, the answer is yes. And I tell you why: Although the left-winged Revolucionary Armed Forces of Colombia FARC has been fighting governments for more than four dacades, its atacking power lowered in the last eight years thanks to the former president Alvaro Uribe's Democatic Security policy. The new government, whose president is Juan Manuel Santos, in two months in the power has hit FARC hardly. Even though FARC is still alive, it is re...

Mono jojoy, aka Jorge Briceño, whose real name was Victor Julio Suarez, the FARC's military chief pulled down by the Colombia Armed Forces, was the second top leader of the left-winged guerrilla but the one who led its military operations. He was nicknamed Mono Jojoy after a species of worm from the Amazon, called mojojoy, which is very skilled at scaping. In Spanish mono means 'monkey', in Spain 'pretty' and in Colombia 'blond'. Mono Jojoy joined FARC in 1975 and soon he beceme a cuadrilla (a sort of brigade) leader because of his ideals, radical stances and methods which got him several arrest warrants for rebellion, kidnapping, narcotraffick, extortion, terrorism and murder among others. He was implicated in the bombing of Club El Nogal in Bogota in 2003 that killed 36 people and injures more than 100, he was accused for participating in the kidnapping of Ingrid Betancour and the assessination of the journalist Diana Turbay, he was charged for recruting c...

General Mendieta is a Colombia National Police commissioned officer who was recently rescued from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia FARC after eleven years of kidnapping. He was took prisoner in 1998 in the city of Mitu, in the Colombian Amazon, when he was practicing as the commander of city police bureau, in the rank of litenuant colonel. During his captivity he was promoted by the Colombian Government to the the ranks of colonel, Brigade General and Major General. Mendieta was rescued with three more Armed Forces of Colombia members by Colombia Army through 'The Chameleon Operation'. Until that day General Mendieta was the police and military force kidnapped the with the highest rank in the world. Two facts involves me with this. The first one is that I produced a journalism report on it as a prelude of General Mendieta's rescue. It was by the way of his last promotion which was particular due to the general's obvious absence. Then, I attended the ceremony ...

During a meeting with children and youngster who were once in gangs and drug trouble, the American rock band Aerosmith received a plate that appoints them as Guest of Honour of Bogota, Colombia's capital city, from the mayor hours before a concert the band performed in this city. In exchange for the plate Aerosmith gave the mayor a baseball cap of the band which he put on inmediately. Aerosmith arrived in Bogota two days before the concert to, according to its vocal leader Steven Tyler, get to know the city and its young people, so the band members could talk to them. Aditionally, Tyler said that they were pleased to be in Bogota and could not wait for the concert. In the meeting one of the kids asked Steven Tyler if he was a professional musician, what he answered that one never ends learning that art because everybody can teach something new. The band members encouraged the children to explore the music's wolrd because "every one has his rythm". I was invited to the...

Antanas Mockus is a Colombian politician who is currently running for president and who is considered an electoral phenomenon because of the great rally he is performing in these days what positions him on the top of the electoral surveys above the candidate of current president Alvaro Uribe's party, Juan Manuel Santos, who is second. But what besides makes Mockus a political phenomenon, almost a political freak, is that he is a particular character due to the wierd ways he acts and his genuine policies. Aurelijus Rutenis Antanas Mockus Šivickas is not a Spanish language name although he was born in Bogota, his parents emigrated from Lithuania and he attended primary and secondary school also in Bogota. He has a Bachelor degree in Phylosophy and Mathematics, and a PhD from French universities and a Master degree from the National University of Colombia. He has been twice mayor of Bogota, the capital of Colombia, and has run twice for the precidency of Colombia. He belongs to a new...