Richard McColl's Blog, page 11
November 28, 2016
Anti Uribe Graffiti
Looking through my files and photographs from almost ten years of wanderings of life here in Colombia, I came across a number of pieces of Anti Uribe graffiti. Here are a few for you to enjoy. I have not been out exploring recently, but I am sure there are more pieces of graffiti in the […]
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November 21, 2016
Colombia’s Peace 2.0
Yes, it’s peace agreement signing time again in Colombia. If you have been overwhelmed by the presidential elections in the US then you’ll be forgiven for having missed the issues at stake here for Colombia’s Peace 2.0. Background to Colombia’s Peace 2.0 Having hammered out a peace agreement which was negotiated from November 2012 until […]
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October 10, 2016
Disarray and Uncertainty in Colombia after Peace Deal Rejected
Top-level negotiations take centre-stage but the real victims remain in the countryside As Colombia stumbles from tumultuous fanfare on the international stage to national political disarray in the space of two weeks, the population is left mulling what could have been against an uncomfortable backdrop of uncertainty, polarization and an attitude of radical Pyrrhonism towards […]
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September 30, 2016
The Dead Do Vote in Colombia
It was a Sunday when I discovered that I had been declared dead. The dead have been known to vote in Colombia to ensure victory at the urns, but alas, by being very much alive I was excluded from this ghoulish political game. In the months leading up to the national elections in Bogotá I […]
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September 23, 2016
Bogota Stereotype No.7: the Dog Owner
Don’t think for one minute that I am coming at this one from out of leftfield, I too am a dog owner in this city, and the following photo is my dog, Monty the Weimaraner, a six-year old grey bundle of love and chaos. Believe me, when I say that I am reporting from the […]
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September 7, 2016
A Journey to unknown Colombia for the FARC’s X Conference
While all eyes may be on the vote on October 2 when the registered voting public in Colombia will – hopefully – turn out for Si or No on the peace agreements, it’s key to remember that the Government requires only 13 percent of the total (some 4,5 million votes) to achieve their goal of […]
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August 31, 2016
The Barrio: A neighbourhood under pressure
This barrio, Juan XXIII, is but one block from my home in Bogotá. It cannot be more than five or six blocks in size and is facing an uneasy and uncertain future as developers and real estate speculators look down vulture-like at the next plot of land upon which to build a mega-project of apartments […]
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August 28, 2016
Bogotá Stereotype No.6: The Bogotano Plan Playa
Having just enjoyed or perhaps better said, participated in a truly Cachaco experience of the Plan Playa in Santa Marta, it almost feels that my targeting this Bogotá Stereotype No.6 is akin to shooting fish in a barrel. I suppose since I was in the company of my Colombian family and we fancied a day out […]
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August 7, 2016
A Conversation with the Chatarrero
We stopped him in his van, walking as we were down to the neighbourhood bakery. Can you be at our address in 40 minutes? What have you got to sell? Plenty, I said, and a heavy iron object too. He seemed interested and promised to stop by. The Chatarrero would arrive an hour late, all […]
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August 5, 2016
The Sentry
You could see that he was bored. It was clear that anything was going to be more interesting than what he was currently doing. So, I struck up a conversation with the Military Policeman at that moment on sentry duty three buildings down from the residence of the Colombian Minister of Defense in Rosales. He […]
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