Filmed mostly in Colombia, Maria Full of Grace is a dramatic movie about the illegal drug industry occurring between Colombia and the United States. The movie was released in 2004 and is approximately 90 minutes long. Maria Full of Grace effectively portrays the differences in lifestyle between the United States and South American countries with much smaller GDPs (Gross Domestic Products). Viewers will see the extremes that people will go through to get drugs through customs and make extremely large amounts of money.

In the beginning of the movie, we get a feel of what Maria's daily life is like in Colombia. She works in a flower shop, removing thorns from roses. Her boss walks the isles of his workers all day long asking for more production and asking if his workers are meeting their quotas. Maria returns home every day to a small home with approximately three rooms which she shares with her mother, two sisters, and baby niece. She also has a boyfriend named Juan who does not have much of a promising future and has a happy-go-lucky attitude. Juan and Maria walk the town often and stop to kiss or climb onto rooftops to gain some privacy.

The director portrays an active nightlife in the Colombian city where Maria lives. She and Juan often go out drinking and dancing at various parties or clubs with Maria's little sister Blanca. Juan usually drinks too much and does not pay much attention to Maria, leaving her to find guys for her female friends and for Maria to get hit on by other young men at the parties. She seems like a young woman who has morals and is wiser than most of her friends leading the viewer to think that she and Juan will not make it together. This is especially evident when a young, hip guy named Franklin approaches her and attracts her attention unlike most other guys. Franklin and Maria end up parting ways but will meet each other again.

Maria and Juan are obviously very attracted to one another, and while Maria is talking to Juan in private one afternoon, she tells him she is pregnant with his child. Juan reacts to this news in a very immature way, first becoming angry, then by asking Maria to marry him. He feels like it is his responsibility and the right thing to do at the moment. She does not say yes to him because she feels he is not being genuine and does not really want to get married. She leaves and returns to her job, where a bad situation becomes much worse. Her boss is constantly looking over her shoulder again causing her to become irritated and to quit her job. She returns home to argue with her mother and sisters who accuse her of being selfish since the family is in serious need of money.

A frustrated Maria leaves home to think about a new job and passes Franklin on his motorcycle. She gets on the motorcycle with him and they ride to the city together to have a drink and talk to one of his friends. It is clear at this point that Franklin is trying to sweep Maria off her feet and that she is really enjoying his relaxing company. The two end up going to a dive bar where a Mafia-looking man is sitting in the corner. Franklin approaches him and gets the man to agree to talk to Maria for a moment. The dirty looking man is heavily involved in cocaine trade and offers Maria a job. She lies about her age, saying she is eighteen when she is really only seventeen, and says she will gladly work for him. The man gives her several hundred dollars to show that his word is good and tells Maria to meet him at a local doctor's office in a few days. Maria is more relaxed at this point and returns home to donate some of the money to her needy family.

Maria Full of Grace really becomes interesting when Maria arrives to the doctor's office a few days later. She is led upstairs by secret passageway where the doctor and the drug lord are waiting for her. The doctor asks her to swallow a lubricating fluid and a pill that will slow down her digestion process. The drug lord, whose name is Javier, asks her to swallow a total of sixty two pellets coated in synthetic rubber and full of cocaine. She struggles while swallowing all of the pellets, but manages to get them all into her stomach and onto a plane to New York. Once in New York, she will fully digest the pellets and wash them off before handing them off to drug distributors.

On the plane to New York, she sees two other drug mules she knows, a woman named Lucy and her little sister, Blanca. Blanca is only sixteen years old, but knows that if she can make it through this trip that she has the chance to make over five thousand dollars. In a country like Colombia where people do not have the opportunity to make much money, five thousand dollars can change one's life. While Maria and Blanca have major stomach pains during the flight, Lucy becomes seriously ill. The plane lands in New York where the girls know they need to digest the pellets quickly, especially for Lucy who is in danger of dying from one of the pellets breaking open in her stomach.

However, Maria looks suspicious when walking through customs at the airport in New York. The police and customs agents pull her into an examination room to begin questioning her in Spanish. She denies that she has any form of drugs in her body, but cannot produce a believable story to the agents. Maria is forced to give a urine sample to rule out drugs in her system where the agents discover she is pregnant. The agents really want to do a CT scan on her stomach to look for capsules or pellets holding drugs, but quickly rule this out due to her pregnancy. Luckily, Maria is released from the customs office and meets up with Lucy and Blanca.

The three young females meet again in a hotel room where the drug distributors are staying. The men watch the three young women and wait patiently for them to digest the drug pellets and clean them off. Maria and Blanca produce the pellets quickly, but Lucy is still in serious danger. It turns out that a pellet has leaked open into her stomach where she received a lethal dose of cocaine. While she is in the bathroom, she passes out and dies under the shower's water stream. The young men send Lucy and Blanca out of the room briefly, and when they return to the room they are terrified. Lucy is gone, but there is blood all over the tub and a sense of death in the room.

At this point, Maria and Blanca grab their cocaine pellets and run out of the hotel. They find Lucy's sister in a random apartment building and manage to stay there for several weeks. Lucy's sister puts the two young women in touch with a local man who has a way of finding jobs for young Latina women without much prospect for finding a job. He finds out that the two women are drug mules and are holding mass amounts of cocaine in their purses, and also informs them that Lucy was in fact gutted and killed in the hotel so the young men could recover her drugs.

Maria and Blanca are terrified and know that if they do not do the right thing, that they too will be killed. Therefore, they contact the drug distributors and hand over the cocaine pellets. After accounting for all of the pellets, the young men do the fair thing and pay both of the girls the full amount of money owed to each. Maria feels guilty for taking advantage of Lucy's sister and grateful for being allowed to stay in the woman's apartment, so she gives a majority of her money to Lucy's sister. This money is intended to repay her debt to the woman, and more importantly, to pay for Lucy's funeral.

Now that Maria and Blanca have money to return home to Colombia with and have safely resolved the situation with their cocaine pellets, they must return to the airport and leave New York. They safely make it through customs this time and are ready to board the plane when the two young women have an argument. Blanca is still immature and does not realize that she can do better in life than being a drug mule. Maria has come to her senses after talking to Lucy's sister and realizes that life as a drug mule or life back in Colombia really is not a life at all. She now knows that there are more opportunities for her in the United States and especially in New York. While Blanca boards the plane and waits for Maria to board, Maria turns around without saying a word and vows never to leave the United States. This is a very dramatic point in the movie where Maria shows that she has learned her lessons in life and now wants to have a better life for her and her baby on the way.

Maria Full of Grace provides a chilling account of what life is like in Colombia, especially for a drug mule. It is also clear from watching this movie that there is an extremely large amount of money involved in the illegal drug industry. Research shows that a large amount of drug mules are captured in customs and on the United States borders, but the drug lords still manage to make billions of dollars every year. The mark up on their product is so large that they can afford to lose almost half of their product when drug mules are caught every day in the United States. Maria Full of Grace is not just a story of a poor family who look for better opportunities by being drug mules; it is an accurate account of the extremes people will go through to make money in poor areas. While many people make large amounts of money by producing and trafficking drugs in countries like Colombia, it is still illegal and extremely punishable in the United States. The risks are great and include imprisonment for life, or death. Due to the simple plot and drama involved in the movie, Maria Full of Grace is rated a 3.5 out of 5.

The wrath of Zeus shot in bolts through my back. My spine was becoming my worst enemy. My lower legs and feet were gone. I reached a tingling limb upwards from my steamy shroud to wipe moisture from my chin and cheeks. Where was it coming from, I wondered. Then I realized – it was my own tears. A faint green glow from luminous hands told me, only six more hours to go.

Test of Endurance

Throughout Latin America, from Mexico to Chile and Argentina, a close-up travelogue will almost unavoidably bring you to a bus ride painfully exceeding eight to nine hours. There are numerous routes exceeding 15 or even twenty hours of spine-pounding roadway grind from Panama through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and beyond. Even a seemingly shorter trip of a mere four to five hours can balloon into a test of endurance if the route encounters a traffic accident, landslide, fallen tree, creek overflow or vehicle breakdown. Your bus may even have breakdown or a flat tire. Be prepared.

Such travel treks need not be torture though. With a bit of planning and a few helpful items in your repertoire, you can brave the lengthiest routes in relative ease and comfort. Make your sojourn through the Sierra Nevadas, the Tierra del Fuego, across the Pampas or the Andes, a far more memorable and interesting one by heeding these tips.

What can you do to ease the drone of hundreds of kilometers passing beneath the wheels of even the most modern and luxurious buses?

Read

A time-tested standby, reading the miles away is a great way to pass those seemingly endless hours. Pick up local newspapers and magazines – they’re cheap, if you read Spanish. At rest stops, terminals and the occasional vendor boarding your bus are available sources. When you’ve finished all you have on hand, swap out some with a fellow passenger to get a bit more mileage – reading mileage that is. If you can, pick up several second-hand paperbacks (in English) at used book shops in places like Quito, Panama City, Lima, Buenos Aires or Mexico City. I carry a small cloth tote bag to stuff half a dozen tomes, newspapers and rags into. It’s kept me sane and informed.

Write

Extensive trav

el almost always affords you opportunity to log your travels. Keep a trip diary. Note details of other passengers, signs, sights and events during the trip. Record your thoughts, reflections and opinions. Why not draft an article or two in the process? Passages for travelogues, guidebooks and magazine fillers can flow easily from your pen while “on location”. Chats with interesting passengers and other “characters” you’ll meet during your trip will make great reading later and help fuel countless stories and anecdotes once you’re back home. It’s useful to carry a penlight or small flashlight for late-night reading during the trip too. It’ll have many uses.

Fill Your Life with News and Music

Be sure to carry either a small, portable AM / FM radio or an iPod, MP3 music player or memory stick with earphones during your travels. They’re compact, weigh next to nothing and require no “extra” equipment or attachments. You can keep up with the news and pick up stimulating tidbits from locally broadcast stations. Work on your Spanish (or Brazilian Portuguese) a bit too in the process. There will be lots of local banter, names, expressions, geography and a “palabrota” or two in the process to add more grist to your travel mill.

Don’t let your Latin American travel adventure become a nightmare. Use these tips and a bit of planning to smooth out the pains and boredom of a marathon bus trip. Turn possible migraines into pleasant memories. Be sure to read the companion article, “Surviving Marathon Bus Rides in Latin America: Useful Items” Now start packing your bags.

If you want to know where to learn Spanish or which is the the best country to learn Spanish, this article will be of interest to you. One thing that I have noticed about the Spanish here in Medellín, Colombia is that the Spanish here is very “puro” or pure.

When I compare the Spanish here in Medellín, Colombia with the Spanish that I used to hear my Puerto Rican and Dominican friends in New York speak it is very apparent that the Spanish here has not been heavily influenced by American English. But in many parts of the Spanish speaking world the Spanish has been “infiltrado” by American English.

Here are a some examples:

In New York I used to hear my Puerto Rican and Dominican friends say things like:

1. Ven acá (come here)

2. Ven aquí (come here)

3. Llamame pa’ tras (call me back)

In fact, I had a friend from Puerto Rico who spoke no English at all and she would often say the above Spanish phrases.

No one in Medellin would ever say “ven acá” or “ven aquí” for “come”

That’s because the word “here” is implied. In both proper English and correct Spanish you can not “come there” and you cannot “come over there,” so it is implied that you are talking about “here.” You can only “GO there” or “GO over there.”

So when you say “come” in English or “ven” in Spanish the words “here” or “acá” or “aquí” are implied. But as American English speakers we often say “come here” instead of just “come.”

So that’s why you will hear the “gente” of Puerto Rico and other places that have been influenced by American English say things such as “ven acá” or “ven aquí.”

When speaking over the phone, I have also heard my Puerto Rican friends in Nueva York say “llámame pa’ tras.” (literally, call me back)

When I say that phrase over the phone here in Medellín, Colombia, the “gente” here “se ríe mucho” —

(get a good laugh). That’s because “llámame pa’ tras” is a literal translation of the American phrase which is often said on the phone: “call me back.”

But in Spanish “llamame pa’ tras” actually translates to “call me in the part farthest from the front.” You can only imagine what the Colombian listener thought that I was trying to suggest over the phone.

To ask someone to “call you back” or to “return your call” the “gente” (people) of Medellín and other parts of Colombia say:

Me devuelve la llamada

(literally, you return my call)

The reason why I am sharing this with you is not to pick on the Spanish of Puerto Rico. Absolutely not. But to let you know that if you are looking for a place in the Spanish speaking world to travel to in order to continue learning Latin American Spanish, Colombia is a great place because the Spanish here is very “puro” or pure and with very little influence by American English.

I guess there is some benefit to the U.S. media constantly making FALSE reports that Colombia is nothing more than a country of “asesinatos” (killings),”robos” (robberies), “secuestros” (kidnappings) and other “crimen” (crime). The benefit is that it discourages a lot of gringos from coming to Colombia and influencing the Spanish here with American English.

Latin America is definitely the quintessential travel destination with limitless opportunities for adventure seekers looking to get away from the crowds. Backpacking South America and the other countries in the region can perhaps be the ideal way you can interact with the true spirit of the people and the impressive locations. Visitors experience a mix of nature and modernization which leaves a sense of awe and amazement. The destinations below offer attraction, fun plus a break from the South America tourist crowds.

Colombia

Colombia has long outlived its detrimental reputation. Perhaps among the least visited destinations in Latin America, Colombia provides plenty for every South America tourist to see and do. Through the entire country are numerous national parks that make a terrific way to explore the landscape while backpacking South America. The capital of Colombia, Bogotá, is full of museums and an extraordinary plaza that provides insight into the architectural advancement and evolution that has occurred over time. Buildings from the colonial times has long been preserved throughout the villages and towns dotting the countryside. Similar to many Latin American destinations, Colombia also possesses beautiful, picturesque beaches.

Paraguay

Another spot which ought to be visited is Paraguay. The nation offers diversity to visitors and features natural charm rarely found these days. Igazu Falls is an impressive waterfall that provides stunning, scenic views that are truly amazing. The botanical gardens are a hot destination in Paraguay since it offers a range of flora and is bursting with wildlife. People who really like nature can’t miss out on this location. The National Pantheon of Heroes is a gallery and provides a peek into the lives of powerful individuals who affected the course of Paraguay’s history.

Suriname

Brownsberg Nature Reserve is perhaps the best looking location in terms of nature reserve parks to visit while backpacking South America. The area is covered in rainforest and offers travelers a glance into nature’s work with no interference of human development. People that have an appreciation for nature must pay a visit to this unique reserve that’s isolated from any exploitation.

Saramaccastraat is the principal market region in Paramaribo that includes a huge variety of things that you can buy. It provides a taste of the Suriname culture and just how it has combined with colonial influence. Architecture from this time period is likewise very prominent throughout the city which works as a reminder of Suriname’s history. These types of architectural structures are appealing for sightseeing while taking a stroll in the city.

Latin America is an incredible place to travel to for so many reasons. First, there is the weather. If you have a case of the winter time blues as an American then this is a great place to take a trip to. Then there is the cuisine. Any foodie can get lost in Latin America. There are so many other great things about the region. Let’s go over some of the best places in Latin America to travel to.

First let’s start off with the United States’ neighbor to the south, Mexico. Many think Mexico gets a bad rap and is not a good place to travel to. Those people would be sadly mistaken. First off there are the amazing all-inclusive resorts in Riviera Maya. These are amazing to plan a romantic getaway to. The Mexicans take hospitality to the next level.

Then there is a good time to be had if you leave these resorts, just remember to be careful. If you stay in areas where there are mostly tourists around, this makes the chances for safety much more likely. There are excursions to go on where you can enjoy fun things like zip lining, repelling, snorkeling and caving. Normally you can book these trips from your resort and get lined up with reputable tour companies where you will be picked up from your resort.

Another great place in Latin America is Costa Rica. This is a great place to go vacation to for many of the same reasons. You will see a theme developing that people in Latin America take hospitality very seriously. On top of that, the food in Costa Rica is incredible. There is no way anyone will be let down when they enjoy Costa Rican cuisine. The people in Costa Rica are incredibly friendly and there is a certain vibe with the people here.

A less popular place in Latin America to travel to is Colombia. For many of the same reasons, this is a great place to visit. There is so much to experience in Colombia when it comes to sights to see in Colombia. Another thing to keep in mind when visiting Colombia is the coffee. There is nowhere in the world that has coffee as renowned as there is in Colombia.

These are just a few places to get started. Someone could take a trip or two a year to Latin America for their entire lives and they would never grow tired of going there. There is so much to see and so much to do.

Medellin is a beautiful and vibrant city, where you can enjoy a bustling nightlife, superb dining and spectacular scenery. It is the people of Medellin who make this one of the most welcoming and interesting places to visit, however, and by taking advantage of apartment rentals in Medellin it is possible to experience this hospitality at first hand. Apartment rentals in Medellin provide the visitor with a chance to live alongside the locals and to see the city as a resident rather than as a tourist. The city is very easy to navigate, thanks to the excellent metro, so it is possible to visit all of the best tourist attractions from your base in one of the many comfortable Medellin apartments for rent.

One of the best aspects of Medellin is its culture. As well as being a city crowded with spectacular artworks, it is a bustling metropolis with an exciting nightlife. There are endless restaurants and bars, and it is impossible to stay in the city long without seeing some of the locals dancing. Parque Lleras is one of the best places to experience the local nightlife. During the day, there are some excellent restaurants in the area, but once the sun goes down the tables are cleared to make way for dancing.

Although much of Medellin is very modern, there are still some beautiful old buildings in the city. The historic churches, including the Basilica de la Candelaria, are particularly worth a visit. Medellin also has some interesting museums and galleries, notably the Museo de Antioquia.

Public art is present all around Medellin. The Plazoleta de las Escultras is the best place to see some of these sculptures, but others are also dotted around the city, including some intriguing monuments designed by Rodrigo Arenas Betancur. For a taste of nature, it is possible to venture out of the city into the spectacular Rio Claro Valley, where it is possible to spot some of the local wildlife and to enjoy some of the region’s most magnificent scenery.

Introduction

The Colombian conflict is one of the world´s oldest of internal armed conflicts. The creation of the main guerrilla groups still active (FARC and ELN) dates from the years 1950 and 1960. The extension of this confrontation can be explained both by internal political developments (weakness of the territorial state presence, exclusive control of power by the two traditional parties) and external influences (diffusion of the revolution in the 1960s, drug trafficking in the 1970s). Since then, the country is developing under the influence of violence. Annually, over 20,000 victims among the civilian population prove the seriousness of the situation. Since the failure of several attempts of negotiations, violence has been increased, thus causing displacement of thousands of people. UNHCR estimates that Colombia is the country, after Sudan, with the highest number of IDPs (internally displaced people).

To understand reasons this extension of the armed conflict, it is essential to elucidate its causes and examine difficulties of its resolutions. Since 1980s, various negotiation attempts took place: their successive failures weigh on both the strategies of the government and guerrilla groups. With the election of Uribe in 2002, the situation was characterized by strategy of open armed confrontation. That prevents any prospect of a negotiated solution and the end of armed conflict seemed possible only by military way. But this didn’t mean the end of armed groups and violence. Since the election of President Santos (2010), the parties have started new negotiations and have confirmed their desire to end the conflict. Therefore the process and results of these negotiations appear to be blurred.

Historical background

The Colombian armed conflict has its roots in the period of La Violencia (1949-1953), a very bloody civil war between two major political parties: Conservatives, then in power, and Liberals. Violence debuted after the assassination of Liberal Party leader Jorge Elicer Gaitan in 1948. Following a brief period of military dictatorship, the Liberal and Conservative parties came together in 1957 and created a coalition called Frente Nacional. This agreement was intended to put an end to armed clashes, but mainly to prevent another conflicts by a power-sharing agreement. As part of this agreement, liberals and conservatives alternated the presidency and would share the positions of political leadership from the central to local government. The agreement was sustainable: it was established for four presidential terms (1958-1974) and continues thereafter in practices coalition government.

This agreement excluded small armed groups from other political trends that are neither liberal nor conservative. In remote regions, rural communities were organized during the Violencia´s Period in self-defense militias in the context of civil war. Influenced by communist ideas, from the defense of their land and establishment of collective structures of production means, they refused their demobilization at the end of the La Violencia period and rejected the power-sharing pact between liberals and conservatives. In the context of institutions reconstruction, these militias appeared to elites as an obstacle to national reconciliation process. Thus, the government undertook to attack them by force in 1964-1965. Despite the military offensive against them, they are not destroyed. Nor politically integrated into the regime or defeated militarily, they formally came together in organized protest movements that have undertaken the first activities of the Colombian guerrillas. The two most active important revolutionary movements, which were born in reaction to these events, are the FARC and ELN. The EPL group (Ejercicio Popular de Liberación), founded in 1967, was also influential, but demobilized in 1990.

In contrast to these groups, the paramilitaries “paracos” came in addition to the conflict. They are the answer conservative elites have made to defend their economic and political interests in a widespread violence context. It was legalized by Parliament with Decree 3398 of 1965 and Law 48 of 1968. These groups are formed by landowners allied to drug traffickers to fight against guerrillas and support the army in counterinsurgency efforts (cf.Jennifer S. Holmes, p.4). But their actions are no different from their enemies’ guerrillas; violence and terrorize the civilian population. They gained national unity in 1997, under the name of AUC- Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia-. This movement of the right defends the interests of large landowners and has as goal the removal of all communist-types aspirations. Several observers note a direct association between the military and the AUC, and military condone their camps and activities. Yet the paramilitaries, such as the FARC, fueled by income provides drug trafficking. In addition, the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR) sometime supported, according to their own interests, the main protagonists of the Colombian conflict. This international interference has greatly contributed to the degeneration of the conflict.

Other rebel groups, such as M19 (radical nationalist and populist) emerged (1973-1990) and enjoyed a great popularity due to spectacular actions: the theft of 5000 weapons and the occupation of the Embassy of the Dominican Republic (1980) as well as of the law court (1985).

The history and interests that drive the Colombian conflict help to explain the dynamics and transformations that characterize it. These events are developed in a global context where the Cold War was at its peak. Then these groups were more influenced by the diffusion of the victory of the guerrilla in Cuba and the experience of Che Guevara in Bolivia.

Ideologically the Colombian conflict has aimed at the land distribution and social equality. The guerrillas believe that the people are victims from landowners and the military. The FARC and some revolutionaries groups justify their violent on behalf of the Colombian population and they promote their ideals of social justice, equality and solidarity. So they can recruit candidates and save their image to the effect that they are still fighting on behalf of farmers and social justice. Thereafter, the guerrillas abandoned its project of social emancipation and changed in an essentially military action. However, the conflict has been transformed and today has its origins in the drug traffic and land control for the coca cultivation. Consequently, many are questioning its real desire to become a legitimate political party in the actual military and political context.

Negotiation failure and conflict’s complexity

The 1980s would dramatically change the situation, both in political and military point of view. The development of drug cartels have ability to destabilize the government becomes central actors. They can influence politicians by corruption, intimidation and violence: bombings against government buildings, assassination of political leaders and judges, destruction of a civilian aircraft in flight, etc.). For guerrillas, this is a godsend: access to such a source of income allows them to come out of marginality that characterized them. Some groups will accommodate the presence of cartels to share illegal weapons industries. Other groups are going to be directly involved in the drug traffic organization. The relationship between guerrillas and cartels are complex and variable according to the groups, regions and times. But the effect is very fast: the FARC emerged as the powerful group and “increased from an estimated 3,600 combatants in 1986 to 16,500 in 1996, while the ELN went from about 800 in 1986 to 4,500 in 2001” (Giselle Lopez, p.7).

Between 1982 and 1986, the President Belisario Betancur proposed a suspension of hostilities, but without disarmament, in order to realize a national dialogue which should involve the guerrilla’s leaders. In the context of armed truce, the FARC supported some social mobilizations, especially farmers, and constituted a political group (UP-Unión Patriótica) which presented candidates for the elections. The UP got 5% in the 1986 presidential elections, a few seats of deputies and senators, and especially local representatives in areas of the presence of the FARC. But in the context of violence, candidates and leaders of the UP are systematically targeted by paramilitary groups, on behalf of the fact that they are the direct representatives of the FARC.

The end of the 1980s knows a deterioration of the situation. The government then conducts an open war both against the drug cartels, guerrilla groups, and even paramilitary organizations. Guerrillas, meanwhile, continue their control of territorial actions and political influence, with complex relationships in different regions with drug traffickers. Finally, paramilitary organizations become truly autonomous actors: in some regions they serve as auxiliaries to the army, in others they become real enemies of it, establishing a regime of order through violence. And the Colombian crisis of the late 1980s is neither a revolutionary challenge nor conflict of drugs, but the addition of these two aspects.

Peace proposal by institutional reform (1990-1991)

In the violence context, convergence occurs in the late 1990s between different actors with idea to get out the country of the crisis, so the institutions have to be reformed and modernized. Sectors within the government, political parties, groups of intellectuals and student movement mobilized the demand of institutions reform. According to them, the internal crisis can only be solved by changing the rules of the political game that allows renewing the old bipartisan framework, to better represent other options and bring citizens closer to power. The more dynamic group in this process was the M-19, which was characterized by the middle class. Its leaders would be able to integrate into the dynamics of the Constituent Assembly. They accept a quick negotiation that allows them to demobilize and become a political movement, Alianza Democrática M-19, just before the elections to the Constituent Assembly. Getting 27% of votes in the election for the Constituent Assembly, this movement appears to be one of the main actors of the institutions reform. Its candidate becomes one of three co-presidents of the Constituent Assembly, with representatives of Liberal and Conservative Parties.

The Constituent Assembly composition reflects the combination of alliances, contrary to the usual organization of Colombian politics from Liberal and Conservative Parties. The new text maintains political and social rights and acknowledges the political existence of minorities as well as modernizes the functioning of institutions. However, this initiative was short-lived, because the most important groups of guerrillas, FARC and ELN, remain outside of the processes. During the work of the Constituent Assembly, the military clashes continue. Negotiations with the FARC resumed in late 1991 and 1992, but without success.

The hope that the new constitution represents a solution to the Colombian crisis lasts a short time. The two main parties rapidly regain the control of political life. Moreover, the idea of political integration of former guerrillas as way of solution to the armed comfits is seriously called into question. After the Constituent Assembly, the Alianza Democrática M-19 experienced a series of electoral defeats, so that it ceases to exist since 1994. This movement is undermined by internal divisions and has many difficulties to provide a political agenda.

The political reintegration failure of some guerrillas led to the continuation of the conflict and the civilian population is the first victim. The conflict also takes a relatively new face: IDPs of the violence. Hundreds of thousands of Colombians fled the armed groups to find a precarious refuge in different cities, especially in their peripheries. The phenomenon is so massive that the government request in 1997 UNHCR to intervene and support the displaced.

The new negotiations continue between the government and guerrilla (1998-2001). President Andrés Pastrana, would grant the demilitarization of a vast area (40,000 km2) to begin negotiations with the FARC, with support from the international community (especially European countries). Under this agreement, the fighting would continue outside this area. According to some critics, President Pastrana gave the feeling of more concessions to the guerrillas that he got the progress on the path of appeasement. Again, negotiations bogged down for months without substantial progress. In February 2002, this negotiation is definitely over. Like all presidential terms since 1982, the Pastrana´s presidency begins with a limited period of armed conflict and ends with the widespread continuing clashes. And in turn, it indicates a failure of new negotiation to escape the armed conflict.

New conflict management (2002-2010)

The election at the presidency of Alvaro Uribe (2002) marks a rupture in the treatment of armed conflict. The new government took more drastic measures than its predecessors in order to regain control of the country. During his campaign, unlike his predecessors, Uribe announced its intention to make an open war against the drug cartels and guerrillas, to not seek negotiation or political agreement. Under “democratic security”, he includes the fight against armed groups as part of the institutional strengthening. But how?

Uribe has implemented a series of special measures, including the recruitment of thousands of peasants as soldiers and informers. But such a measure has created a climate of distrust in communities and dividing people. This strategy does not help to create sense of confidence in the population. In addition, the relationship between the paramilitaries and the government undermines the legitimacy of this.

Under Uribe’s government, the Colombian society is subject to a military power rather than local government. The military replaces the municipal authority and has full authority over the people movement, the imposition of the curfew and the prohibition on the right to protest. In addition to this, there is a weak judicial system that does not guarantee the application and enforcement of the order according to the fundamental rules of law.

Since the President Uribe interrupts any negotiations with the FARC and ELN, the new strategy of the government is based on the direct confrontation. “Plan Colombia”, launched in September 1999, is part of this policy. The plan is funded by the international community to strengthen the military and institutional capacity of the Colombian government in its fight against drug trafficking. So the plan converted into military aid especially from the USA. But according to the critics, the sustained interest of the USA in Colombia has been tied to research oil in order to reduce its dependence on the Gulf countries. With only 20% of its exploited oil resources, Colombia offers a unique opportunity.

Between 2000 and 2005 the assistance from USA to Colombia is estimated at about $ 4 billion, making Colombia the third recipient of U.S. aid in the world. This assistance allows the acquisition of modern equipment by the Colombian army. These funds also allowed the creation of additional battalions. It also means the permanent presence of the U.S. military in the country for the training of Colombian elite units’ army and for intelligence work as well as the military aerial surveillance. This aid is an opportunity for army reform: “Between 1998 and 2002, the armed forces in Colombia grew by 60% to 132,000. (… ). By the end of Uribe’s second term in August 2010, the Colombian military reached 283,000” (June S. Beittel: 2013, p.11).

The foreign military presence has a negative impact on the conflict. It allows guerrilla movements to stress the motivations of the USA are appropriated to Colombian oil on the detriment of Colombian population. This claim is reinforced by the fact that U.S. forces are closely located to the oil infrastructure. The United States are financially and politically supporting the Government of Colombia against “narco-terrorism”, but they also pursue their own interest.

The poverty and inequality in the society helps to maintain the FARC position, which accuse the government of working against the poor people. This has contributed to the perception that the government favors a rich minority at the expense of poor majority and working in connivance with the USA to meet their oil interests in exchange for weapons.

The USA and Colombian army strategy also is questionable. In order to tackle the drugs problem, thousands of hectares have been fumigated. This program raises concerns, because fumigation is highly chemical and destroys the legal agriculture, while having a serious impact on the environment and the health of local populations. But this program has had no success. Moreover, coca production has increased since the beginning of fumigation. This is explained by the fact that coca production can easily be relocated and may extend into areas less accessible by the army. This is also explained by the transfer of the coca production from other countries in the region. However, conflicts involving the easily exploitable natural resources such as diamonds, oil or drugs, are more difficult to solve than any other, because the promoters have the interest to continue the fight (Cf. Karen Ballentine:2003, p.48).

Demobilization of AUC: a blurred case

Negotiation of government with the guerrillas was not possible, but conversely it was with paramilitaries. However, paramilitaries have greatly benefited from drug trafficking to increase. Their tactic consists of controlling the strategic areas of the production and the export of drugs through violence and the use of terror (massacres and displacement of the civilian population, systematic elimination of any political or social contestation).

The Uribe´s government proposed a negotiation, which involved the demobilization and reintegration assistance of AUC members as well as a sentence reduction. Several Colombian and international non-governmental organizations have criticized the juridical gap in this process and the impunity that the government has offered this group, which was responsible for over 50% of cases of human rights violations in Colombia. This negotiation process had no legal framework itself that would have a significant impact on the judicial process of AUC criminals. Because of that, some communities are taking the law into its hands, using violence, and thus the violence cycle is renewed.

The demobilization agreement, signed formally in February 2006 led to the end of paramilitary organizations. The demobilized AUC had three choices: After receiving the sentence reduction, they are either integrated into the battalion of the Army or reintegrated within cooperatives and private vigilance to protect private companies or properties. Finally, and this is the third choice, some of them are joining the urban criminal groups linked to paramilitaries.

It is important to note that members of the AUC have controlled the majority of cities because of their non-formal mandate to secure urban areas, helping the police and military to regain control of the country from the hands of the guerrillas. Moreover, the AUC demobilization was in no way a guarantee that the other groups would follow this process. On the contrary, the violence is persisting in the regions of these demobilized combatants and groups are reconstituted in order to control the drug trafficking. The free areas that were left by the AUC are quickly taken over by these paramilitary or other guerrilla groups. In this context, the paramilitary demobilization is only apparent: numbers of their members are still active and maintain strategies for territorial control through violence.

Guerrilla’s Weakening?

The most obvious sign of balance of power in favor of military forces is weakening the FARC. But the effects of the army reinforcement were not immediate. Until 2003, the FARC are obtaining military success by attacking army bases or abduction of many politicians, ministers, governors, deputies, soldiers and police, considered as political hostages, held for a possible prisoner exchange. The prolongation of the conflict is gradually inducing a change in the power balance. Since 2001, the FARC is being in the longest period of armed confrontation, without truce or partial agreement. The army is focusing its actions on the regions of presence of members of the FARC Secretariat and multiplying the success. Therefore, the number of offensive actions, taken by the FARC, has decreased, compared to previous years. Access to funding sources (drug trafficking, kidnapping) is much more difficult. Since 2007, dozens of regional leaders were arrested or killed and the group is decreased considerably. Different liberations of hostages are also reflecting its internal difficulties.

The death of different historical leaders such as Manuel Marulanda, Tirofijo in May 2008, reinforces the impression that the FARC weakening is real. Marulanda was the head of the organization since its foundation. FARC is certainly weakened, but not destroyed. Regional groups persist and maintain real action capabilities. In addition, this weakening does not mean the reducing levels of violence.

The lack of a formal framework for political negotiation obligates Alvaro Uribe to undertake the total destruction of armed groups. But politically, it is a bad strategy. These groups will be more difficult to demobilize without a common national political structure. Otherwise, local emancipations of these groups will continue to exercise the political and social control through violence.

Current negotiations

From his government beginning (2010), President Santos is trying to make contact with the guerrillas. This is the fourth round of negotiations in three decades between the both parties. Since early 2012, Timoshenko – the new commander of the FARC- confirmed the guerrilla willingness to continue secret talks with the government. The first dialogue phase began in February 2012 and ended in August 2012 in Havana (Cuba), with the signing of the General Agreement to end the conflict and build stable and durable peace. The point discussions of the negotiations are: complete agricultural development policy; guarantees for the participation of the political opposition; the end of the conflict; the solution of the problem of illegal trafficking drugs; right of the victims; and the implementation of the final negotiated agreement. The second phase began in Oslo (Norway) in October 2012. The third phase consists of the simultaneous implementation of all agreements, during which the government will guarantee verification mechanisms and promote process participation of civil society.

Unfortunately the peace talks were suspended after the abduction of the Colombian Army General (Ruben Alzate) in November 2014 by the guerrillas, who claim a bilateral cease-fire. Since 2012, the guerrillas undertook not to remove civilians against ransom, while reserving the right to capture the police or military as prisoners of war. Two years after the start of discussions, these events seem to put at risk the peace negotiations.

The points-discussions mentioned in the negotiation are important for the solving of Colombian conflict. But in this negotiation process, there are only the government and the FARC. The ELN expressed its intention to enter into the negotiation process, but there are still no official statements about it. Besides guerrillas, where are the paramilitaries in this case? These groups or bands are also major actors in the crisis. In addition to this, peace in Colombia involves social and political issues. It is not just a matter of government and the armed groups, but also of the whole society. In this sense the different key sectors or organizations of civil society are under-represented in the negotiation process. This can be a failure element in the process of negotiation for the peace and the end of violence, because all concerned parties are not involved in the process.

The Colombian conflict cannot and should not be analyzed under its current form. It is the result of a long history of violent appropriation of land – and some parts of the rich territory in resource- by the dominant sectors of the country. It also results in an unfair distribution of wealth. This process, supported by an emerging class that has benefited from an alliance of interests between powerful local and regional authorities and the army and drug traffickers, gave birth to a narco-paramilitary phenomenon. At the same time, by violence or by more subtle institutional mechanisms, this process led to the exclusion of popular organizations from the main centers of power. This makes the resolution of different politics issues impossible, which keep armed conflict going. These conflicts involve communities of different regions of the country and are continually increasing the statistics of victims and displaced populations. Consequently, “there are several complex factors that have contributed to the Colombian civil war. These factors represent not only the root causes of the conflict but also forces that have allowed for the continuation of the war and the escalations of violence that characterize its evolution” (Giselle Lopez, p. 7).

The Colombian conflict has multiple components, such as social, economic and political, etc. These must be disabled to create conditions for sustainable peace. The direct armed confrontations against the guerrillas confirm the government’s claim to deny the political dimension of armed groups and resolve the political conflict by war. The continuation of justifying the war against armed groups under the pretext that it would be a war of democracy against the narco-terrorist is a clear paradox example. However, for some politicians war is, in principle, the easy way for resolving a conflict. When the internal situation is confused and aggravated, a declaration of war becomes the most effective way to clarify the record. But the conflict between the government and armed groups are known for their increasingly frequent violations of humanitarian and human rights.

In a country that has known war for over fifty years, peace attempts also require a long negotiation. In most cases, these attempts have been designed to establish a cease-fire between the armed actors. Beyond the announcement effects, they don’t have lasting consequences on peace. On contrary, they have generally led to a reorganization of the conflict, making its management a structural characteristic of Colombian politics. More specifically, the discourse on peace allows regulating the armed conflict, sometimes intensifying it, but never terminating it.

The resolution of the Colombian armed conflict requires political work and dialogue, where all parties (the government, the armed groups and the civil society) can talk together, communicate their wishes, negotiate and give up to resolve disagreements. In addition, all parties must recognize each other. In the negotiation process, any group should not be excluded. All groups involved in the conflict must be represented. This is the weakness of current negotiation process that includes only the FARC and the government. In many cases, the government seeks to negotiate exclusively with some groups, such as was the case with the M19 and Paramilitary groups. A correct mechanic must be created to integrate all groups into the process, because the FARC is not the only group involved in the conflict. Many other major groups, such as the FLN, do not participate in the actual negotiation process. In addition, separate negotiations between the government and groups do not seem an effective and sustainable solution. It has been so in previous negotiations: all concerned parties have never been at the same time around the table of negotiation. In the negotiation process there was always exclusions of some actors of the crises. In this case, a successful exit from the crisis is not too obvious.

Conclusion

Violence in Colombia is not quite a civil war, but is increasingly against civilians. Some analysts argue that political motivated guerrillas (FARC, FLN) are still legitimate. Others believe that drug trafficking would have altered their ideological pretensions and have transformed into pure economic interests. In this context, in which some actors have interest to maintain the current level of violence, any peace initiative remains difficult. In addition, considering the antagonistic perceptions of the causes of conflict and, especially, financial motivations of each other, any resolution must first and foremost take into account the root, which caused the conflict, namely the income provided by the traffic drugs. In addition, we must also consider the link between armed groups, members of the government and international networks. According to the interpretation of the economic and political conflicts advanced by T.Addison and Murshed, violence is an alternative to peaceful production as a form of economic activity (Cf.:1998, p. 666). This theory claims that conflicts exist and persist because they are financially profitable. In this sense, the perpetuation of violence is a rational decision that allows realizing more profit than in time of peace (Cf. Crocker A Chester:2001, p.143). According to this theory, in Colombia, the primary objective is therefore not ideological, but economic. Without violence, the lucrative drug traffic could not take place. Production of the drug is easy and inexpensive, and additionally extremely profitable.

According to this theory, the parties are rational and their decisions, either they feel favorable to peace or war, are related to the defense of their own interests. The persistence of conflict is based on the fact that violence is the objective of the parties. If they want to resolve the conflict, the dialogue would inevitably seek to change this dynamic. They would try to make peace “profitable”, or at least also profitable as war, inviting the parties to the negotiating table. Such solutions necessarily imply a change in the balance of power, but how is it possible to break the impasse? On the one hand, the government forces fail to eliminate the rebels, on the other; the rebels are not able to gain power. Added to this, there is another fundamental challenge: how to restore trust between the different parties, after many failures of previous peace attempts?

References

Feldmann Andreas, Measuring the Colombian “Success” story, Revista de Ciencia Política, Pontificia UC Chile, vol. 32, no3, 2012.

Giselle Lopez, The Colombian Civil War. Potential for Justice in a Culture of Violence: Policy Briefing, Vol.2-No.1.

Karen Ballentine, Jake Sherman, The Political Economy of Armed Conflict. Beyong Greed and Grievance, Lynne Rienner Publisher, USA, 2003.

Kevin Howlett, UN: ´Colombia`s urban rich poor gap worsening: http://www.colombia-politics.com/urban-inequality-un/

Mauricio García Durán, Vera Grabe Loewenherz, M-19’s Journey from Armed Struggle to Democratic Politics: Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management, no.1, Berlin, 2008.

Virginia M. Bouvier, New Hopes for Negotiated Solutions in Colombia, United States Institute of Peace, sept. 2007.

Ana M. Arjona and Stathis Kalyvas, Preliminary Results of a Survey of Demobilized Combatants in Colombia. 11.May 2006.

Juan-Carlos Guerrero, Une mise en perspective historique du conflit armé colombien, in: Visages d’Amérique Latine, no.3, juin 2006.

Penaranda, Ricardo y Javier Guerrero, De las armas a la política, Universidad Nacional, 1999.

PIZARRO Eduardo, El proyecto de seguridad democrática de Álvaro Uribe, Nueva Sociedad, 186, juillet 2003.

June S. Beittel, Peace Talks in Colombia, Analyst in Latin American Affairs, Congressional Research Service, March1 7-5700, 2013.

Alejandro Reyes, Guerrerros y Campesinos: el despojo de la tierra en Colombia, Norma, 2009.

Addison, Tony & Murshed, Mansoob, On the Economic Causes of Contemporary Civil Wars, Oxf. Econ. Paper, (1998) 50 (4).

In order to understand what aguapanela is, we must know a little about the panela. Panela is considered nourishment, it is basically sacarose and also contains glucose, proteins and minerals such as calcium and iron and vitamins.

Since colonial days panela’s importance has been growing. It started to be made in the northern South American countries when the sugar cane industry started. And since then many uses for this ingredient have been found.

Panela is the sugar cane juice, cooked at very high temperatures, making thus very thick molasses that is put to dry out until it gets to be solid. Once solid, it is cut into squares, In some cases, it is scraped and the new product is called raspadura or rapadura, and that new product is used mostly in different desserts or other dishes.

In Colombia (and also in Venezuela and Ecuador) the panelas are used in the preparation of a special drink, the aguapanela. Colombians are especially devout to it, and it is often present in their breakfast, or at any other meal. It is used to recover from bad colds adding lemon juice, in winter it is drank warm, in summer it is drank very cold. It is also drank by people who do sports, as it hydrates, refreshes and also adds calories for their sport practices.

Among the poor people, it is a highly nourishing drink that can be used at tea time, such as for breakfast whether with milk or not, since it can also be dissolved in the milk and thus a great breakfast can be made with it. It’s a great ingredient in the Colombian cuisine.

Even though it is mostly used by people who live in the countryside, and up to this day they count with the aguapanela to feed their children, it is one of the most popular drinks in all social classes in Colombia, and is drank at all times, in such a way that you can always find a teapot full of aguapanela in almost all houses.

Many other countries enjoy it too, and also with different additions, they get different drinks. Either oranges can be added, or different fruits. And one of the most exquisite ways to use it is by using it to dissolve chocolate balls and prepare the Santaferenian Chocolate. Another use of the aguapanela is making coffee with hot aguapanela. So we can say that there are hundreds of ways of using, drinking, and enjoying the delicious Aguapanela.

Known as El Libertador (The Liberator) and the “George Washington of South America”, Simon Bolivar was a great general and statesman in South America.

He led revolutions against Spanish rule in the Viceroyalty of New Granada (an area that included present-day Colombia, Panama, Ecuador and Venezuela).

To do this, he won military victories against Spanish forces in Bolivia, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. These victories led to the end of Spanish colonialism and the beginning of national independence in each of those countries.

Born into an aristocratic family in 1783, he was inspired by Enlightenment thinkers such as Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau and vowed to liberate his country, Venezuela.

He captured Venezuela but his victory was only short-lived as the Spanish counter-attacked and captured control of the country, forcing Bolivar to flee.

While in exile, Bolivar wrote La Carta de Jamaica (“The Letter from Jamaica”) in which he outlined his vision for South America: constitutional republics with upper and lower houses (modeled on the government of the United Kingdom) and, ominously, a president chosen for life.

After returning to Venezuela, he engaged the Spanish forces in the Battle of Boyaca (1819) and the Battle of Carabobo (1821), culminating in a final victory for Bolivar and the revolutionary patriots over the Spanish.

At the end of 1822, Ecuador was liberated by Bolivar’s forces and this was followed in 1824 by the liberation of Peru.

Bolivar was now president of Gran Colombia (an area that comprised present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama) — a country already recognized by the United States — and dictator of Peru.

In 1825, Bolivar’s forces, under Antonio Jose de Sucre, liberated Upper Peru. This country was renamed Bolivia, in honor of Simon Bolivar.

Bolivar had hoped to form a union of the new South American nations, from Chile and Argentina to Mexico; but in fact nationalist sentiments quickly came to prevail over pan-continental ideals and, by the year 1830, Gran Colombia had split into three different countries — Colombia (including Panama), Venezuela, and Ecuador.

At the end of his life Bolivar experienced great opposition and was almost assassinated. He died on December 17, 1830.

Despite his weaknesses, being a conservative who was not adverse to dictatorship, Simon Bolivar’s presence is still felt everywhere in Latin America — with streets, places, monuments, statues, banknotes, coins, stamps, and even a country bearing his name. He is remembered throughout the continent to this day as the hero who brought national independence.

Many couples with pregnancy troubles travel to Colombia for in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments, when their domestic assisted reproductive technology centers are either too costly, or cannot provide the appropriate infertility treatments. Colombian fertility clinics accept patients from Aruba & Curacao, and the greater Dutch Antilles (Bonaire, Saba & Saint Eustatius) to help them find a solution for their desire to have a family.

Infertility treatment experts in Aruba & Curacao have been referring patients to fertility clinics in Bogotá, Colombia for many years. Many families in Aruba & Curacao are grateful to IVF centers in Colombia like Reprotec Fertility Center for providing them with an opportunity for the life they had been dreaming of. In vitro fertilization (IVF), intrauterine insemination, egg donation, & cryopreservation, are just a few of the approaches to infertility that allow patients to travel abroad from Aruba & Curacao, amongst other Caribbean countries. The variety of treatment options, and medical expertise are why Colombia has been so successful with the field of infertility medicine.

There are very limited options for infertility treatments in Curacao, and Aruba does not have a formalized IVF fertility center. Furthermore, Medical infrastructure in the Netherlands Antilles (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Saba & Saint Eustatius) has been defined as sub-standard when compared with developed market medical systems. Infertility treatments in particular are not adequate when considering the variety of treatment options and dynamics available in Bogota, Colombia. The quality, variety and affordability that patients from Aruba & Curacao receive in Colombia, provides them access to greater technological availability, as well as medical experience in the field of fertility medicine.

Infertility Treatments Abroad

Patients from the Dutch Antilles (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Saba & Saint Eustatius) can easily take economical commuter flights to Bogotá, in order to follow fertility treatment regiments. Discounts on flights, hotels, transportation, and even medical provision are found with packages that a fertility center can offer through medical travel companies, such as Medical Tourism Solutions.