Sutamarchán, Colombia
People take part in the 10th annual Tomato Fight festival, known as Tomatina, in Boyacá. This year’s festival is the first to be held since the lifting of the Covid-19 restrictions
Photograph: Juan Barreto
Showing posts with label Colombia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Colombia. Show all posts
Friday, June 30, 2023
Monday, May 10, 2021
Michael Jacobs's top 10 Colombian stories
Michael Jacobs's top 10 Colombian stories
The author recommends books to better understand a country whose traumatic history is balanced by life-affirming exuberance
Michael JacobsWed 5 Dec 2012 13.01 GMT
Alife-long passion for the Hispanic world first led me to Colombia, together with a fascination with the early explorers of the New World, from the conquistadors to the German scientist Alexander von Humboldt. The latter conveyed for me a sense of wonder and awe I would later find in the writings of Gabriel García Márquez, whose novels encouraged my belief in travel literature as a poetic transformation of reality.
Top 10 books about Colombia
Top 10 books about Colombia
There is more to this rich and varied country than Gabriel García Márquez, coffee and its violent past. Novelist Julianne Pachico shares her favourite books about her childhood home
Wednesday 5 May 2011
G
rowing up in Colombia in the 1990s, I rarely saw any tourists. That has changed dramatically in the past decade, especially following a historic peace deal with the Farc in 2016. My novel The Anthill examines the transformation of Medellín from a war-torn city wracked by violence into a trendy, rapidly gentrifying destination for digital nomads, bitcoin investors and self-righteous religious groups. But the past is never easily shed.
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
As coronavirus spreads, some Venezuelans opt to return home
As coronavirus spreads, some Venezuelans opt to return home
April 6, 2020
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — As Colombia continues with a nationwide lockdown to control the new coronavirus, some of the millions of Venezuelans who have gone abroad in recent years are deciding they are better off back in their homeland.
According to Colombian authorities, nearly 600 Venezuelans returned to their country over the weekend through a humanitarian corridor.
Many, like Jesus Ocaña, said they have not been able to find work in a country where businesses remain shuttered and people have been ordered to stay inside because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The 21-year-old was heading back to Venezuela by foot Monday from Bogota — a journey he expected to take him about 15 days.
“We all left Venezuela with a dream of getting ahead,” Ocaña said. “But we’ve been left without jobs and any way of sustaining ourselves.”
The returning migrants represent a small number of the total who live in Colombia. An estimated 1.8 million Venezuela reside in the neighboring Andean nation. According to the United Nations, over 4.5 million Venezuelans have fled in recent years, deciding to abandon a nation suffering a deep economic contraction and humanitarian crisis.
Migration officials say tens of thousands of Venezuelans arrived in January and February, but at lower levels than typically seen. Meanwhile, a higher number fled to other countries, mostly through flights from the Bogota airport.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has said he will welcome back any compatriots returning by land. The border with Colombia is officially closed and diplomatic relations severed, but a humanitarian corridor was created. He said Sunday at least 1,500 have returned thus far and that he expects about 15,000 total to come back.
The head of state said the Venezuelans will be “rigorously” tested for coronavirus symptoms and required to quarantine for 14 days as a precaution.
“We’re going to receive them with love,” Maduro said.
Nonetheless, some Venezuela have posted videos on social media saying soldiers detained them at a bus terminal in the border town of San Antonio. One video showed dozens sprawled out on blankets on the ground. The migrants include pregnant women, children and the elderly and complained of little to not access to food and water.
Saturday, September 8, 2018
Alberto Salcedo Ramos / Popular Culture, the Colombian Chronicle, and North American Journalism
Colombian journalist Alberto Salcedo Ramos on the campus of the University of Oklahoma.
Alberto Salcedo Ramos: Popular Culture, the Colombian Chronicle, and North American Journalism
A Conversation with Luvia Estrella Morales Rodríguez
May 2018
Alberto Salcedo Ramos is intelligent, observant, and anchored in literature, as is demonstrated by this interview, which took place in Kaufman Hall, the designated building for learning modern languages, literatures, and linguistics at the University of Oklahoma. The conversation began in a spontaneous way during the beginning of the Tierra Tinta Conference where Salcedo Ramos participated as keynote speaker. The questions are centered on his book El oro y la oscuridad: La vida gloriosa y trágica de Kid Pambelé [Gold and darkness: The glorious and tragic life of Kid Pambelé] (2005), which earned the chronicler Le Prix du Livre du Réel (2017), in France, awarded by Les Éditions Marchialy. It should be mentioned that the book in question served as the inspiration and basis for the television program Kid Pambelé (2017) by Channel RCN in Colombia. During the interview, the chronicler reveals his acute knowledge of popular culture, he tells about his methodology for writing chronicles, and he gives us the opportunity to get to know him as a man of letters.
Thursday, April 12, 2018
Totó la Momposina Returns to London
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| Totó la Momposina Photo by Josh Pulman |
Totó la Momposina Returns to London
Totó la Momposina makes a rare London appearance with a new show inspired by her last album Tambolero. Now in her 70s, Totó has become a legend worldwide for her work with traditional music from the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Investigating and preserving the music of her homeland when it was unfashionable to do so, she has inspired several generations whilst constantly developing her own musical traditions.
Totó has collaborated with many artists, from Celina Gonzalez and Remmy Ongala to Calle 13 and Lila Downs. Her music has been sampled and remixed by countless DJs and producers from Timbaland to Michel Cleis – indeed the trance-like grooves of her Tambores and the majesty of her voice continue to be irresistible.
Totó’s story is also that of modern Colombia – from displaced economic migration to the horrors of civil war, from the joy of music and dance to the celebration of peace and a cultural identity. Her new show features members of her family, tambores (drums), flutes and voices and also features projections showing the history of the music and dance in performance.
“She’s got the magic and she knows how to use it, percolating her percussion-centered ensemble into a froth that thickens time into an eternal ecstatic present” The Beat
“Living, breathing power music, born on an island in the Madalena River of African, Caribbean and native South American roots.” CMJ New World Music
“A small human thunderstorm … with galvanising voice.” Froots
“A majestic, powerful and versatile singer.” The Guardian
“Haunting and open-handed.” The Times
“Totó La Momposina is a charismatic Latin musical matriarch whose magnificent voice and traditional percussion-based street music are astonishingly raw and powerful.” Time Out
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
J Balvin review / Colombian megastar continues domination on his own terms
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| J Balvin |
J Balvin review – Colombian megastar continues domination on his own terms
Brixton Academy, London
The vocalist behind Mi Gente and a host of crossover Latin remixes does a London victory lap – and his caramel tones show him to be a lover not a fighter
Caroline Sullivan
Monday 29 January 2018
S
o happy that J Balvin songs are gaining popularity in Russia,” a fan in Moscow declared on Instagram last week. Her comment was promptly regrammed by Balvin for the benefit of La Familia – his 20 million followers – as if they needed any more evidence that the Colombian reggaeton superstar is galloping across international musical borders. José Álvaro Osorio Balvin to his intimates, the 32-year-old has benefited from a confluence of factors. Latin music spiked in popularity worldwide last year thanks to Luis Fonsi’s Despacito and Balvin’s own single Mi Gente, which in turn positioned Balvin – who happens to be photogenic and personable – as the man to make reggaeton a properly global concern.
He is qualified to do it. Balvin reworks the genre’s tropes, cutting back on the machismo and baring his emotions, and has fun with his presentation while he’s at it. His interest in fashion won him an ambassadorial role at New York fashion week last winter; tonight sees him in a sequined tracksuit that would have done Elton John proud in 1975.
Balvin’s pivotal move, though, is linguistic. He speaks fluent English but refuses to sing in it, insisting – with growing success – that the rest of the world make the effort to understand him, rather than vice versa. Non-Latin artists are meeting him more than halfway, with Beyoncé and Pharrell Williams having sung in Spanish when guesting on his singles. Tonight, English is used sparingly, mostly between songs. “My name is J Balvin, from Medellín, Colombia!” is about the extent of it, and the large Colombian contingent are delighted.
This is a sharp-edged arena-show-to-be, with a scaled-down version of the smoke, sirens and other fillips he’ll undoubtedly employ with a freer hand once he moves into big venues. He opens with an oozy Safari; the recorded version features Pharrell, but his absence here allows us to be covered in the caramel of Balvin’s Latin trap. His 2015 remix of Justin Bieber’s Sorry is rejigged as blaring Hispanic EDM, and MC Fioti’s Bum Bum Tam Tam – remixed with Balvin, Future and Stefflon Don – is made over into a tense duel with Brazil’s Fioti, the only guest who could make it to south London.
Syrup and caramel... J Balvin. Photograph: Burak Cingi/Redferns
By the time he slots in a cracking dembow-rap version of another big-name collaboration, the French Montana track Unforgettable, it’s clear Balvin is showing off. That’s understandable, though. If Brixton Academy is a victory lap, why not load the set with your famous friends – or at least their songs? They also delineate between Balvin the nascent A-lister and the other Balvin – the guy who strolls across the stage, analysing his romantic relationships to a degree that would embarrass his more laddish friends. In Ay Vamos, for instance, he’s riven with frustration: “We’re polar opposites, that’s why we like each other!”
His syrupy and languid voice and his easy delivery distinguish him from reggaeton’s typical brashness. There’s little of Daddy Yankee or, heaven forbid, Pitbull about him. Balvin is essentially a lover, not a fighter. It would be excellent if he manages to achieve what he calls “his dream” of global fame without extinguishing what makes him interesting.
Thursday, September 7, 2017
Pablo Escobar / A never-ending source of entertainment
Pablo Escobar: a never-ending source of entertainment
The world’s most famous drug lord may be dead but his on-screen appeal is very much alive
English version by Heather Galloway
4 SEP 2017 - 02:16 COT
With the release of the third season of Narcos on September 1, former Colombian cartel king Pablo Escobar is dead, leaving behind a legacy of corpses, mourning families and millions of dirty dollars. At the end of the second season, he was killed in a shootout in the city of Medellín, but no matter. After a life of excess and crime, Escobar survives as an obscure and enduring legend in the parallel universe that is the entertainment industry, inspiring a long list of authors, movie-makers and show-runners.
Aside from the third season of Narcos – produced by Netflix – this month also sees the release of Loving Pablo, the new movie by Fernando León de Aranoa starring Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz.
Friday, October 3, 2014
El niño gato / The White Ravens
EL NIÑO GATO
THE WHITE RAVENS
"I am delighted to let you know that the Ed. SM book El niño gato by Triunfo Arciniegas and Dipacho is a White Raven 2014 and part of the newly designed White Ravens Catalogue of the International Youth Library."
Jochen Weber
Munich, Germany
Triunfo Arciniegas / El niño gato / Dipacho
Triunfo Arciniegas / El niño gato / María del Rosario Laverde
Dipacho / El niño gato / Procesos creativos
Triunfo Arciniegas / El año de gracia de 2013
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Colombians wary as former Escobar hitman gets ready to walk free from prison
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| Jhon Jairo Velásquez Vásquez, better known as “Popeye,” in 2013. / CARLOS ORTEGA (AFP) |
Colombians wary as former Escobar hitman gets ready to walk free from prison
“Popeye” has served 23 years after killing hundreds under reign of Medellín cartel chief
Jhon Jairo Velásquez Vásquez, the sole survivor of a group of hitmen who fought the Colombian state alongside drug lord Pablo Escobar, is about to walk free after 23 years in prison.
Popeye, as he is better known in the underworld, was 29 when he was sent to jail. Now 52, he is spending his last hours at Cómbita penitentiary, two hours away from Bogotá, where he has served the last 12 years of his conviction. The gang member benefited from term reductions through work and study schemes, and is reported to have paid $4,500 for access to parole.
His release, scheduled for Tuesday afternoon local time, comes amid heavy security measures. Popeye has confessed to scores of murders during Escobar’s reign of violence. While behind bars, he cooperated with authorities to help clear up some of the most painful events of the 1980s and 1990s.
Colombians are not indifferent to the release of a man who once headed the group of hired killers at the service of the world’s most powerful drug kingpin. Popeye has coldly admitted that he ordered 3,000 people killed when his boss, the head of the Medellín cartel, was fighting the government to avoid extradition.
That particular war cost the lives of hundreds of police officers, journalists, judges, lawyers and politicians. Last week marked the 25th anniversary of the assassination of presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán.
Top hitman for drug lord Pablo Escobar released after 23 years in prison
Top hitman for drug lord Pablo Escobar released after 23 years in prison
“Popeye,” who killed over 300 for the Medellín cartel, is freed after serving three-fifths of his sentence
By Elizabeth Reyes L.
Translation: Dyane Jean François
Bogotá, 27 de agosto de 2014
“Popeye” holding up a book about cartel chief Pablo Escobar. / AP
Jhon Jairo “Popeye” Velásquez Vásquez, Pablo Escobar’s chief assassin, has been released from prison after serving 23 years. Four days prior to his release, a Colombian judge expedited the proceedings for his probation status. At 9pm on Tuesday night, the 52-year-old convict stepped out into the streets in the company of Public Defender officials, shielded by a motorcade of armor-plated vehicles. Popeye had sent a handwritten request to officials that morning to ask for protection.
The former convict has admitted to killing more than 300 people and ordering the death of over 3,000 others during a period of heavy cartel violence from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. Yet the former assassin – who entered the criminal underworld at the height of the cartel’s reign, when he was just 18 – is afraid of freedom. He knows there is a price on his head and that he has made a lot of enemies given the crimes he committed, and the fact that he was a key witness in several trials – including the one related to liberal presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento’s murder in 1989. Alberto Santofimio Botero, a fellow politician, was convicted for his part in the murder.
Popeye’s release was scheduled for Monday, but was delayed until Tuesday night so that officials could make sure he did not have any pending charges. Meanwhile, victims were trying to understand how a drug trafficker who terrorized the nation two decades ago could be leaving prison after serving just three-fifths of his sentence.
The operation for Popeye’s release became the mystery of the day. As time passed, photojournalists crowded in front of the gates of the maximum security prison with their cameras ready to capture his departure. The facility is in Cómbita, two hours outside of Bogotá.
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Jon Lee Anderson / The Power of Gabriel García Márquez
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| Gabriel García Márquez Poster by T.A. |
Everyone from Clinton to Castro listens to him. But can he help rescue Colombia from left-wing guerrillas and right-wing death squads? |
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September 27, 1999
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WHEN Gabriel García Márquez leaves his apartment in Bogotá, he travels in a customized metallic-gray 1992 Lancia Thema Turbo, a midsize sedan with bulletproof windows and a bombproof chassis. It is driven by Don Chepe, a stocky former guerrilla fighter who has worked for García Márquez for more than twenty years. Several secret-service agents, some times as many as six, follow them in an other vehicle. A nondescript bombproof sedan with a big engine is a reassuring car to have in a country where nearly two hundred people are kidnapped every month, and more than two thousand are murdered. In mid-August, Jaime Garzón, a popular political satirist, was assassinated as he drove to work. A man got off a motorcycle and shot him in the head while he was waiting at a red light. Garzón, like García Márquez, had acted as an intermediary between leftist guerrillas and the government, and he had received death threats from members of right-wing paramilitary organizations who don't want people negotiating with their enemies. |
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