Colombia

January 7, 2014
There is a crisis in the "national state" formations in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, increasing due to the declining hegemonic power of U.S. imperialism. Within this complex panorama of the deepening crisis of the national state, we might ask: what about Colombia after 50 years of civil war? 
December 26, 2013
As we approach the end of the year, Red Hot Burning Peace takes the opportunity to report on some overlooked stories from the last couple of months and tie up some loose ends, covering President Santos' apology to the comunidad de Paz de San Jose de Apartado, Drummond's fine, Petro's ongoing battle for reinstatement, and the current FARC ceasefire.
December 24, 2013
Bogotá has been rocked by indignados protesting the past two weeks due to a possibly unconstitutional removal of the city's Mayor Gustavo Petro. The Procurador Alejandro Ordoñez was behind the move, banning him from holding public office for 15 years. But the institutional force behind Ordoñez, and the consequences the removal will have in the new year, remain to be seen.  
December 13, 2013
The modification and certification of seeds has put Colombian campesinos up against giant multinationals, creeping international "protection" laws, the U.S. Free Trade Agreement, and their own government. On December 3, Colombian farmers returned to the streets.
December 7, 2013
Manuela Picq

Indigeneity is not exactly where one looks for world politics. Yet it is probably one of the hip sites of global governance today. Indigenous peoples are engaging in international relations with a vibrancy that belies any perception of their politics as isolated or passive. 

December 6, 2013
The Colombian media is in the midst of a nostalgia fest, sparked by the twentieth anniversary of Pablo Escobar's death. The jefe of the Medellín Cartel, estimated fifteenth richest man in the world, some time Liberal party congressman, some time grave robber, Escobar has been the subject of a number of best selling books in both Colombia and the United States.
November 30, 2013
The Atlantic Concession Railway links the coal mines of Cesar to the ports of Santa Marta. The traditional ways of life and artisenal industries of communities at both ends of the track have been destroyed by environmental damage, leading to their forced displacement. 
November 22, 2013
The legend of El Dorado stems from a Spaniard, Juan Rodriguez Freyle, watching a High Priest of the Muisca getting covered in gold dust and jumping in Lake Guatavita, near Bogotá, in a religious ceremony that makes the Pope's big hat and incense burning look fairly underwhelming. Naturally, the Spanish decided that they themselves were far better placed to use all the gold responsibly, and set about destroying the complex societies that had flourished in Colombia prior.
November 21, 2013
Joshua Pringle

At talks in Havana two weeks ago, the Colombian government and the FARC rebels came to a basic agreement on FARC's future political participation. The significance of FARC’s agreement for Colombia's poor—the people that FARC claims to represent—is unclear. As of last year, Colombia had the highest number of internally displaced people in the world, estimated between 4.9 million and 5.5 million.

November 15, 2013
Once the signature program of the U.S. drug war in Latin America, aerial fumigation of coca leaf crops is finally in deep trouble. Fumigation’s crisis comes in a moment when coca growers, like other farmers throughout Colombia, face an economic crisis that led to a month-long national agricultural strike in August.

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