Paralized Quibdó
The title of this op-ed does not come from the latest news about the strike in Chocó. I borrow it from a column published in El Espectador in 1954. The author, a 27 year old journalist with aspirations to become a writer, was sent to Quibdó to cover another protest against the central government. But what Gabriel García Márquez wrote at the time could be published today without changing one single comma.
Read MoreTackling the VAT Problem from a Human Rights Perspective
If we keep ignoring taxes, we will continue to remain outside the most important public policy discussion of our times.
Read MoreJail benefits?
A strong objection to the peace process is that some guerrilla members will not be sent to jail. But we cannot forget that the benefits of jail time are doubtful.
Read MoreParent’s property?
Children are not the property of the government or of the State, said the Inspector General during a confrontation with the Minister of Education. And he is right.
Read MorePaper bullets
Why vote in favor a plebiscite that would allow the FARC to participate in politics? Because the end goal of democracy is to replace violence with elections. As Bobbio said, democracy is the only system in which citizens can get rid of their rulers without spilling blood.
Read MoreUnreformable criminals or teenagers in complex realities?
It is programs in which adolescents are treated as subjects of rights that welcome solutions to the rise of youth violence, not the heavy-handed response of criminal responsibility.
Read MoreWhy vote YES?
I agree with Francisco Gutiérrez’s warning about the excessive confidence displayed by the YES supporters regarding the peace plebiscite.
Read MoreReforesting the Earth: Brazil’s Message to the World
Brazil’s message during the inaguration of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games was powerful: we have to reforest the Earth. In the parade, each athlete received a seed that will be sown in the Deodoro olympic park.
Read MorePoor education
We are witnessing the greatest demonstration of national bullying against lesbians, gays, bisexuals, trans and intersex people that we can recall in recent years.
Read MoreChoosing Hope
In a disturbed world, the peace process in Colombia awakens hope. Throughout recent history, Colombians have been exporters of bad news rather than hope. It seems that, with the peace process, this is changing.
Read MoreMonitoring Criminal Sanctions imposed on Teenagers: Formulating a Methodolgy
In this document we describe the watch group monitoring criminal sanctions imposed on teenagers under the Criminal Responsibility System for Teenagers (SRPA in Spanish).
Read More#TheDayWeFightBack
The ease with which we are able scan voices and data generates abuses that affect other equally valid objectives: intimacy, freedom of expression, integrity and life.
Read MoreCosigo, the Amazon and Prior Consultations
“To see a world in a grain of sand” wrote William Blake. And in a grain of gold – of the mine that Cosigo Resources is planning to build in the natural park Yaigoié – Apaporis- we can see the future of mining and the environment in Colombia.
Read MoreCancer, Biotechnology Medicines and the Debate about Market Competition
Cancer rates are growing.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization (WHO), released it’s World Report on Cancer for 2014 last Monday, February 3, 2014.
Read MoreAnd Who Gave the Order?
Some abuses may be the work of derailed agents. But other abuses can only be explained if these agents were acting on orders of someone more powerful.
Read MoreLet’s Talk about Education
The most important questions and the best answers. A better country in the short or long term, one way or another, will come from reforming education in Colombia
Read MoreInequality
Mockingly, people used to say that middle class Latin Americans dreamed of being like the Americans from the United States, while the upper class dreamed of being like the Europeans.
Read MoreShould They Put Up with It?
Should the neighbors of a police station, who suffer damage to their property or their person from guerrilla attacks directed against the police station, tough it out and assume the cost of these injuries on their own? Or, should the state compensate them so they can rebuild their lives?
Read MorePrison laws and Drugs: Any changes?
A few days ago, the new Prison Law came into force with the goal of reducing the structural problems of the prison system.
Read MoreEcuador is Mistakenly following Venezuela’s Lead at the OAS
Despite the Ecuadorian foreign ministry’s optimistic pronouncement last month that the countries of the region were close to reaching a consensus about moving the headquarters of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), their peer States seem to feel differently.
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