|
Tank Posturing in South America (pg. 3)
|
View this Thread in Original format
| Magnetonium |
Holly you got the same line Panasonic camera as I do, except mine is 8 MP. Very nice photos, too! I'm building up my website, but I havent travelled much so mine are quite compared to your tropic spectacular photos. |
|
|
| tathi |
thanks, i love photography!
anyway finished, probably too late because the crisis has lost its news appeal now there is peace ( i hate my work taking up all my free time) but its good to get some journalistic practice wbecause its where i see myself in a few years ;)
its quite different to what i wrote before, if you guys could give me advice that would be great!
--
Now that tensions between Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador have eased and trade routes reopened, each of the three leaders support amongst their people has been bolstered because of their ability to reassert their sovereignty and national identity on the international stage.
The conflict has consolidated President Rafael Correas’ support amongst the Ecuadorian people in the small Andean nations’ volatile political landscape which has seen a civilian or military government take control democratically or by force on average every two years since the countries independence. With an election looming Correa is on track to secure a second term. All three previous democratically elected presidents failed to finish theirs.
The president of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe, whose fathers' assassination by the FARC Guerillas became a motivating force to focus on his political career, now enjoys unparalleled support amongst middle and upper class Colombians for his iron fist against the FARC Guerilla group. Attacks by the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) have dropped almost 50% to their lowest level in almost 20 years during his term in office.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who is already serving his second term has said he will step down in 2013 after a recent referendum that would waive the two term limit and allow the populist president to seek reelection indefinitely was defeated 49% to 51%. The leftist president used the attack to stir up anti American sentiment within his country claiming it was part of a plan by the United States to divide the three “brother” countries.
It was as little as two hundred years ago that these three nations, Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador existed as one “Gran Colombia” which was formed by Simon Bolivar, the legendary figure who united Latin America against Spanish Imperialism. Bolivar's dream of a unified Latin America was short lived as Gran Colombia was sundered soon after his death due to internal conflict.
Today, Hugo Chavez who lead the "Bolivarian Revolution" and once elected renamed his country to the "Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela", sees himself as the uniting force in Latin America against US imperialism.
While Ecuador's president Rafael Correa considers himself a personal friend of Hugo Chavez he has repeatedly insisted he is not part of the Bolivarian movement. He stressed Ecuador's interest in remaining uninvolved in Colombia's internal conflict and unlike Chavez condemns the FARC which began as an ideological movement with Bolivarian inspiration.
Colombia's violation of Ecuador's territory took relations between the three countries to the brink of war. According to an unnamed Colombian military source, an international call made by Hugo Chavez to inform Raul Reyes that the release of three hostages held by the FARC for almost 7 years had been successfully completed, was intercepted by authorities and used to track the rebel leader.
President Correa said that Colombia has "trampled international law" and that it should not remain unpunished. He felt that he had been "betrayed" by Uribe who "knew" that Ecuador was negotiating the release of 12 FARC hostages including the French-Colombian Ingrid Betancourt.
Correa called to sanction Colombia against the harmful precedent that "a country can bomb the territory of another country under the pretext of its fight against terrorism¨ a precedent which caused Hugo Chavez to mobilize 9,000 troops along its porous border with Colombia, the main exit point for Cocaine smuggled out of the country where FARC Guerillas enjoy a non-aggression pact with the Venezuelan military.
Colombia’s Alvaro Uribe claimed that documents seized during the raid implicated both Venezuela and Ecuador in supporting FARC activities and threatened to bring Chavez to the International Criminal Court for crimes of funding terrorism and genocide. Both Correa and Chavez vehemently deny these claims calling Uribe a liar and a hypocrite.
Colombia has the largest internal refugee crisis in the world. The Civil War has forced more than three million people from their homes in the countryside to the slums surrounding mega-cities like Bogota or further into the unforgiving jungle where the harsh, humid conditions and lack of roads or infrastructure make it impossible for the poor farmers to cultivate anything other than the resilient Coca plant.
Of the billions of dollars of US Foreign Aid sent to Colombia, the vast majority is used to arm the Colombian military. A tiny percentage of this aid is used to assist farmers in the development of alternative crops to the coca plant, and the people who need this aid the most, marginalized farmers in FARC controlled territories will not receive a cent.
The FARC originally began as a Marxist movement for social justice in a country with one of the greatest divides between rich and poor in the world. The group funds its operations through the extortion and kidnappings of wealthy landowners and the lucrative cocaine trade. It is known to recruit underage boys and girls claiming children over the age of 11 are fit to fight
To combat the insurgency the Colombian army began to arm and train civilian self defense groups funded by large landowners and cattle ranchers. These groups became todays Paramilitaries which have become even more ruthless than the FARC guerillas in their quest for control of the countries Cocaine production.
Colombia's largest paramilitary force, the United Self-Defense Forces have earned the nickname "The Head Cutters" because their victims are normally tortured, mutilated, and finally decapitated. The Paramilitaries attack those that are suspected of being guerilla "sympathisers" which include peasants, peace advocates, human rights workers, and leaders of labor unions.
While the Colombian government gives the appearance that all ties have been cut with the Paramilitaries there have been many cases of collusion between the two groups. It was under Alvaro Uribes reign as governor of Antioquia province that paramilitary groups were granted immunity from prosecution with which they used to execute, “disappear” and displace thousands of people from the province.
During Alvaro Uribes election campaign, the majority of journalists kept quiet with regards to his connections with the drug mafia, an exception was “Noticias Uno” whose producer Ignacio Gómez received death threats for airing a current affairs series alleging links between Uribe and the Medellin Drug Cartel. Gómez currently lives in exile.
On election day there were widespread calls of electoral fraud. Uribe the “paramilitary” candidate received most of the votes in Mapiripán province which has a long history of brutal Paramilitary massacres. Javier Giraldo of the Colombian human rights group “Justice and Peace” said “There were paramilitaries in the voting booths. They destroyed a lot of ballots.”
The march 1st bombing of the FARC base in Ecuadorian territory was said to be the biggest blow to the rebel group since its inception. Under Uribe the Colombian army along with their ideological allies the rogue right wing Paramilitaries have forced the FARC further into the Amazon pushing them past Colombian borders into the deep jungles of Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, and Brazil.
It must be commended that these three proud nations that were once one were able to solve their differences through diplomacy and not war. However the peace is shaky at best as FARC rebels no doubt regroup outside of Colombian borders to continue the civil war that has ripped the country apart and threatened to engulf the entire region in war. |
|
|
| tathi |
here are some pics i took in Colombia and Ecuador ;)
and my favorite:
 |
|
|
| guerra-monstru |
| wow you are such a great photographer:rolleyes: |
|
|
| LazFX |
love this .... you have a good eye. :) |
|
|
| LazFX |
| quote: | Originally posted by guerra-monstru
wow you are such a great photographer:rolleyes: |
:rolleyes: |
|
|
| tathi |
| quote: | Originally posted by guerra-monstru
wow you are such a great photographer:rolleyes: |
porque te gustan tanto ya pusé mucho mas aqui jaja |
|
|
| guerra-monstru |
| quote: | Originally posted by LazFX
:rolleyes: |
:rolleyes:
| quote: | | porque te gustan tanto ya pusé mucho mas aqui jaja |
pues como te dijo laz tienes bien ojo. |
|
|
| Q5echo |
| quote: | Originally posted by LazFX
|
i just want to buy her some new shoes. i buy shoes it seems like every 3 months for my little girl and she looks so much like her. |
|
|
| Q5echo |
| quote: | Originally posted by guerra-monstru
wow you are such a great photographer:rolleyes: |
youre a jackass. |
|
|
| guerra-monstru |
| quote: | Originally posted by Q5echo
youre a jackass. |
way to come into the part late, but welcome! |
|
|
|
|
