I HAVE NOT READ “THE WITCH”, OF CASTRO Caicedo, nor have I seen the TV series based on his book, but I know Fredonia, the town in Antioquia where the events occurred and I also know the story of Jaime Builes, the protagonist of the story.

THE WORLD DID NOT END THE PAST 21st of May, as claimed by the pastor Harold Camping. Many were glad that this prediction did not happen, not because they thought it might be true, but because it was an opportunity to refute the evangelical pastor. “One apocalyptic charlatan less”, a friend told me on May 22, convinced that in future those faithful of Camping would stop going to go to his church.

REGARDING THE corruption scandal in the health system, Alejandro Gaviria, in his column last week, called attention on the futility of moral complaints: rants on the pervasiveness of “quickwitted” or on our moral impairment are useless, he says.

TO HAVE A BAD MAYOR REMOVED from office and replaced by another one, what else would one like. The problem with this is that it isn’t easy to find an appropriate mechanism to achieve this purpose.

I’ve never been convinced by the arguments of those who defend the benefits of privatization and the dismantling of the state.

DURING THESE DAYS of winter tragedy I wonder why we Colombians give so little importance to environmental issues and why in this country the ideas of the Green parties do not thrive.

MONIQUE PERRIAUX IS A FRENCH FRIEND I have known for over twenty years. She was born and lives in Grenoble, but spent six years of her life in Colombia (between 1998 and 2006) from which she keeps many memories and an adopted son named Sebastian. Last week I met Monique and we walked through the mountains and talked about life, friends, and Colombia.

When I was little, in the previous days of Easter (as these that have just gone) something extraordinary happened within families: older men went to church to confess their sins.