Columns & Blogs

Alejo Durán, the first king of vallenato, and for many the greatest vallenato musician, not only left us the legacy of his great music, but also a lesson on dignity and ethics that we ought to remember in this time of so many indignities.

Around these days we commemorate the anniversary of two events that have had impacts on the world's course.

"The Constitutional Court wants all Colombians to eat lobster," says Alejandro Gaviria in Semana.

Not all conflicts have to reach the judicial system for resolution given the existence of highly effective mechanisms like direct agreements between parties without the intervention of a third party (be that a judge, conciliator, arbiter, etc.).

Just a few months from the 2015 Women's FIFA World Cup in Canada, we do not know if the national media will broadcast it.

Here's how to achieve both justice and reconciliation.

Chota’s death is not an isolated incident within Peru, but rather is yet one of many instances of violence in the history of violence perpetuated against local leaders who fight for the protection of their lands, forests and jungles.

In general terms, the study proves what many already knew intuitively: the darker the person’s skin tone, the worse his quality of life in Latin America.

Karl-Theodor Zu Guttembertg, German Minister of Defense and star politician of the center right, had to resign in March 2011 when it was revealed that he had copied parts of his doctoral thesis.

Now that the balance of powers has been discussed so widely, is it not worth it to promote a truly independent statistical public institution? (DANE is the Colombian government's bureaucracy charged with developing statistical reports, much like the U.S. CBO)

We need to "deradicalize" the debate about the environment.

The Santos adminsitration's good intentions in the Amazon have been undone by its own actions. As told by La Silla Vacía, in August 2012 ex-Minster of the Environment Frank Pearl, before leaving office, threw a lifesaver for the Amazon. Pearl released Resolution 1518 of 2012, which establishes that no one can drill any part of the Amazon classified as Forest Reserve (according to Law 2 of 1959) for mining activities, until the Ministry of the Environment zoned the territory. In other words, until it defined which areas of the Amazon territory classified as Forest Reserve-- the large majority (see Map 1)-- should be protected and which can house economic projects, among them mining.