Posted by: Paula Delgado-Kling | May 24, 2012

China builds ties with South America, and U.S. calls China a significant cyber threat

During U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s recent trip to Colombia, Brazil and Chile, the topic of how best to manage cyber attacks took center-stage. China is steadily gaining as a top trading partner and economic developer in South America, but it is also China who was called out as a significant cyber threat. The U.S. believes the Chinese are systematically stealing American high-tech data for their own economic gain.

China is currently Colombia’s second largest trading partner, closely behind the U.S. Colombia’s top exports to China are oil and coal, and President Santos recently travelled to China to build further trade and investment relations.

Related:

China’s top military officer visiting U.S. military installations.

With Aid and Migrants, China Expands Its Presence in a South American Nation.

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Posted in Economy, Geopolitical Issues | Tags: , , , , , ,

Posted by: Paula Delgado-Kling | May 22, 2012

Retired military men dare speak of coup d’etat against Santos: Alarming!

Alarming are the recent emails of two retired members of the Colombian Armed Forces, Army General Eduardo Santos Quiñones and Army Major Jorge Galvis Noyes, who commented about removing President Santos from office.

Retired Brigadier General Jaime Ruiz Barrera, president of the Colombian Association of Retired Officers, known as Acore, explained there is no risk of a coup d’etat. However, there is great discontentment amongst members of the Armed Forces.

In a letter, General Barrera wrote, “ …It has to do basically with many necessities that have gone undefined in the areas of salaries, health, and judicial security.” He highlighted one of the most complicated issues is the thousands of uniformed men who cannot go to combat because they are under investigation.

The discontentment is growing and affecting the troop’s morale. More so because President Santos made electoral promises to the Armed Forces.

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Posted in Politics, The War on Drugs, The War on Terror | Tags: , , , , , ,

Posted by: Paula Delgado-Kling | May 17, 2012

The death of his bodyguards causes former minister “a broken heart.”

Last Tuesday’s bomb attack against former Interior Minister Fernando Londoño left two of his bodyguards dead. From the moment Londoño heard the news, he said he’s had a “broken heart.”

During his radio program, Londoño spoke from the hospital and expressed his close relationship with his bodyguards. He said that they were “work colleagues, friends, and confidantes. .. They were wonderful man, very capable, and they faced their destiny with joy and great generosity. … We shared that special relationship among those who know that every day we are sentenced to death and they want to give their lives to impede it.”

One of Londoño’s bodyguards who did survive the attack was 43-year-old Jesús Torguino. He has been a bodyguard for 23 years, and had been with Londoño for the last year. After witnessing the death of his two colleagues, he grabbed his bleeding boss with his left hand and held a pointed gun with his right hand, and in this manner, walked his boss several blocks to the hospital.

Intercepted phone calls have led investigators to believe the attack was from the FARC. However, there is a hypothesis that the bacrim (bandas criminales comprised of former paramilitaries) and the FARC may have united against their common enemy, the government.

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Posted in Justice, The War on Terror | Tags: , , , , ,

Posted by: Paula Delgado-Kling | May 15, 2012

Nearly extinct poisonous frog gets reserve

The skin of the golden poison dart frogs is deadly. The toxin on the frogs’ skin is so powerful that once ingested it prevents human nerves from transmitting impulses. The victim’s muscles go into spasm, followed by heart failure and death. Even handling the frog for a few minutes can numb your hands.

The Chocó Emberá Indians brush their darts across the frogs’ backs to poison them, and the darts can remain deadly for more than two years.

The dart frogs’ existence is threatened by gold mining. Illegal miners pour cyanide into streams, and the cyanide kills everything in the waterway, including the frogs.

The frogs have been listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Their natural habitat is the Chocó forest along the Pacific coast of western Colombia, and now, a 124-acre nature reserve has been created to provide sanctuary to the frogs. The reserve is owned and managed by Fundación ProAves, a conservation organization.

The reserve was funded in part by the World Land Trust, American Bird Conservancy and Global Wildlife Conservation. It is part of a larger project called the Chocó-Andean Rainforest Corridor, which will connect multiple highly threatened habitats, from the Pacific coast to the peaks of the western Andes.

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Posted in Environment | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by: Paula Delgado-Kling | May 10, 2012

American and Colombian Armed Forces learning from one another

The Colombian Armed Forces are learning from their American counterparts how to share intelligence, sustain and support troops on a long-term basis, and identify and counter improvised explosive devises, reported Time magazine. The FARC’s hit-and-run tactics, which number about 8,000, are very similar to what the Taliban is doing now.

In turn, the Americans are learning from the Colombians the value of patience in a counterinsurgency battle. Colombians have been battling guerrillas for nearly four decades.

Americans are also learning the key to success is the ability of the U.S. and NATO to train the Afghan forces so that they can take over security of their own country. The Colombian forces are largely viewed as legitimate throughout Colombia.

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Posted in The War on Terror | Tags: , , ,

Posted by: Paula Delgado-Kling | May 8, 2012

Canada’s child soldier is now 25. Terrorist or victimized child soldier?

Omar Khadr is a Canadian citizen, born in Scarborough, Ontario.

Omar and his family were part of al-Qaida and were reportedly close to bin Laden. In July 2002, when Omar was fifteen years old, he hurled a hand grenade that killed U.S. Sgt. Chris Speer during a firefight in Afghanistan, near the Pakistani border. He has been in American custody ever since, and has spent significant time in a cell at Guantanamo.

A U.S. military commission jury wanted to give him 40 years behind bars. In 2010, as part of a plea bargain, Omar pled guilty to five charges of war crimes, including murder, spying and terrorism, and received an eight-year sentence with eligibility to return to Canada to serve some of it.

He is likely to return to Canada soon, and could soon be out on parole.

He is now twenty-five years old. Is he the remorseless terrorist the prosecution painted him to be, or is he a victimized child soldier?

His mother, Maha el-Samna, has said she’d rather raise her children to fight than live in Canada, where they could become homosexuals or addicted to drugs.

Related:

Canadians debate Omar Kadr’s homecoming

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Posted in Children's Rights, Justice, The War on Terror | Tags: , , , , , ,

Posted by: Paula Delgado-Kling | May 2, 2012

To hear Liberia’s former child soldiers is like hearing Colombia’s

This article about Liberia’s child soldiers — now grown up — should be read by every Colombian. Colombia’s children are living the same fate; one could substitute the word “Liberia” for “Colombia.”

These are some of the voices of Liberia as told to journalist Finlay Young of the U.K.’s Independent newspaper:

“The scent of gunpowder, eyes stinging from smoke, your friend crying… it was terrible. I missed my mother at that moment. But then we captured some Nigerian peacekeepers, took them to our HQ. Then I felt so proud. People called me a big man.”

“People in big cars, they wrinkle their noses, like ‘You fought for Taylor, you’re crippled, you deserve it’. … We just didn’t have the money to run away to America like they did.”

“There were many boy soldiers. But I was gifted. They were taking drugs, marijuana. My head was clear, always clear. I was only in the Small Boys Unit for two months before they saw my capabilities.”

“It was 6 April, 1996 that I joined the war, on Broad Street, Monrovia. I was carrying a load on my head, walking with my friend. One general said, ‘Hey you, put your load down, from now on you are my woman.’ … I did it because I saw the other people there getting so many things. You could get more food, clothing, anything you want at all. On the frontline you took your salary.”

“In war-time, there’s no real love. … I was raped before I knew about those things. He forced me to be his wife. He had about 30.”

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Posted in Children's Rights, Human Rights | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: Paula Delgado-Kling | April 26, 2012

Challenges of former hostages to resume their lives

It is extremely challenging for former hostages to successfully resume the lives they lived before captivity.

Most suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, including insomnia, anxiety, depression, irritability, and hypersensitivity.

They have very low self-esteem, have trouble remembering, and are unable to get regular sleep.

Most divorce, and most face financial trouble.

Some abuse heavy alcohol and partake in sexual escapades.

The FARC recently released ten members of the armed forces they held hostage in jungle prison camps for more than a decade.

Related:

Ex-hostage on life after captivity

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Posted in Human Rights, The War on Drugs, The War on Terror | Tags: ,

Posted by: Paula Delgado-Kling | April 24, 2012

Sofia Vergara hosted Saturday Night Live

Barranquilla-born, Emmy-nominated actress Sofia Vergara hosted Saturday Night Live last weekend. Watch the full episode here.

Good Job, Sofia!

Entertainment Weekly said, “Sofia Vergara’s first outing as host of ‘Saturday Night Live’ was solid and consistently funny.”

E! News said, “Vergara didn’t stray too far from her roots, playing mostly South American characters, but there were a few skits that the Colombian bombshell was in that stood out above the rest.”

The Huffington Post said Sofia was better than expected

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Posted in Entertainment | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: Paula Delgado-Kling | April 19, 2012

Alleged former Liberian warlord deported from U.S. on grounds he recruited child soldiers

An alleged former Liberian warlord, George Boley, who is accused of committing human rights abuses and recruiting child soldiers during Liberia’s civil war in the 1990s, has been deported back to Liberia from the U.S.

It is believed that he headed the Liberia Peace Council rebel movement, and Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Committee recommended that Boley, along with other former warlords, be prosecuted.

A U.S. judge said evidence that Boley had been involved in killings and recruited children was grounds for his deportation.

U.S. immigration officials said it was the first time the use of child soldiers had been used as a grounds for removal from the U.S.

(Thumbs up!) — This case sends a strong message to the world about respecting children’s rights.

However, since his return to Liberia, there has been no action to prosecute him. Boley denied the allegations.

Boley came to the U.S. almost four decades ago to attend the College at Brockport, near Rochester, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He then received his doctorate at the University of Akron. He has worked as a Rochester School District administrator.

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Posted in Children's Rights, Human Rights, Justice | Tags: , , , , , , ,

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