Coca Cola in Colombia

Coca Cola tried to make ammends in Colombia in celebrating its 125th anniversary by giving away free bottles of coca cola and popcorn on a notoriously traffic congested highway in Bogota, Colombia. Some years back, the multi national was involved in a scandal due to the murders of union leaders in the Coca Cola plants in Colombia. Here in the U.S. there were boycotts on college campuses and heavy anti- Coca Cola sentiment. The workers in these plants, not solely limited to Colombia but to India, Mexico and Turkey as well, were being threatened by paramilitaries to quit their unions and consequently their jobs as well forcing them to flee to other places in fear of their lives. The workers had been making an average of over $300 a month but the new hires were paid about $150 a month. Eltiempo.com, the national Colombian online newspaper posted this video: Coca Cola Drive in

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia aka FARC



Lucero Palmera; Guerilla of the FARC and wife of Simon Trinidad (The first high ranking member of the FARC to have ever been caught)

Lucero declared dead after years of patronage to the FARC



The drug war in Colombia continues to be a prominent issue due to the internal conflicts found in the most rural areas of Colombia where the FARC rounds followers and loyalists. This is reflected in almost every aspect of Colombian life. Some newspapers have daily columns dedicated to updates on the guerrilla efforts and progress or lack thereof. Even the FARC utilize the media to proliferate the region. I found this interview done by a Swiss correspondent in Colombia for a french online newspaper. The woman in the picture above is ‘Lucero’ (this is her alias). She is the voice for the broadcast program named "Voz de la resistencia de las FARC" {Voice of the resistance of the FARC}. Her voice was recognized all over Colombia by FARC sympathizers as well as opponents.


Upon reading so much on Colombian media and press I see now that the Drug wars and the guerilla warfare has become a part of the dichotomy in this country in regards to those who support the guerillas and those who oppose them. Most perspectives are ojective when published on distinguished newspapers.


I myself am at a loss for which side I support, specially after reading this article. The efforts of these revolutionaries is truly noble but the means by which they acquire funds and support is obviously unfavorable. Politics suck.

Torriential rain in Colombia

Displacement due to the heavy rains

  This past winter Colombia, among other Latin American countries such as Costa Rica and Venezuela, suffered massive amounts of rain. Floods and landslides everywhere led to disastrous results in and around the capital Bogota and the outskirts. This is bad for the entire country. There have been road blocks, crops being destroyed, among them coffee of which Colombia is the leading exporter in Arabica beans.  The rains have led to the deaths of hundreds of people and the displacement of thousands. Overall not one life in Colombia has been left unaffected by the rains for the damage that has been made is going to hit the economy very hard. According to Colombia Reports: "...84,000 hectares planted with bananas had been lost and would have to be replanted, at an estimated cost of $10 million." President Manuel Santos was recorded at a meeting of the Association of Banana Grower in Colombia saying: "We are doing everything possible to confront the revaluation of the peso compared to the dollar and the effects of the winter rains."
In the upcoming months we will all be feeling the effects of  La niña when buying bananas or coffee.

Media Conglomeration in Colombia



What are the main impacts of media conglomeration?

To name a few: lack of competition thus poorer quality outcome, mass produced media which means that the news look the same everywhere which is unproductive for every place has a distinct demographic which means different needs. News becomes sensationalistic for that is the news that draws viewers but fails to inform thus not coming through with their goal of providing a public service to the masses.

     Colombia's primary conglomerate is the Santo Domingo Group, a conglomerate owned by the second wealthiest man in Colombia, an oligarchy coming from decades of wealthy men. Julio Santo Domingo inherited the company and the following are his most lucrative companies:

• Caracol TV (Colombian television channel)
• Caracol TV International
• Caracol Radio (sold to PRISA in 2001)
• Cromos (magazine)
• El Espectador (newspaper)
• SABMiller (15% stake
• Avianca (sold in 2004 to German Efromovich)

I’ve watched many programs that have been issued by Caracol and they’re very typical of Latin America focusing on scandals and flashy stories. Many of the novelas address and even glamorize the drug lords lifestyle- decadence in every aspect: in their prostitutes, in their mansions, in their vehicles and clothing.

A drug lord and his prostitute as interpreted by the novela "Sin senos no hay paraiso"

This image is from a famous and very controversial novela based on the book: "Sin tetas no hay paraiso" by Gustavo Bolivar Moreno. The translation of the title is: "Without breasts there is no paradise". The book, as well as the show, reveal that cosmetic surgery is desirable by women in order for them to feel more desired, appealing, beautiful hence worthy of landing themselves a wealthy man to take care of them. Drug lords usually have a harem of women they look after to be entertained by at their disposal and this trade is unfortunately more and more popular in poverty-stricken areas where becoming a female companion to a drug lord is the most feasable option for these women.

The trend lately has been to portray this dangerous but alluring life stlye in recent shows and seeing as how news of the guerrilla's are an everyday occurrence, companies like Santo Domingo Group are profiting from it. This has even made way into Mexico and the United States where this very show had extreme popularity going as far as importing the actors from Colombia to the states for events, etc.

Although Mexico suffers from massive drug cartels infiltrating provinces and wreaking havoc on rural peasants, the United States does not see such a dramatic level of Drug culture. It is much less hostile here in terms of cartels and drug lords. This goes back to the conglomerations creating a perspective that is not necessarily the same everywhere.

Manifestations in Colombia

  

Recently we have witnessed great amounts of protesting and rallying in the Middle East but these demonstrations are not exclusive to North Africa. In Colombia there have also been rallies similar to those riots in Egypt and Libya in that they have good intentions and are peaceful. Like recent activity in the Middle East, the manifestations in Colombia have emerged in the more populous cities and have been led by the youth. These demonstrations however are not rallying for a change but rather a plea for constant in regards to ownership of national Universities. 
This clip was posted on the largest online newspaper in Colombia, El Tiempo,
Violence due to demonstrations in Libya


In Colombia there were also protests being done by the youth but for slightly different reasons to those adolescents of the middle east. The protesters in Colombia were students primarily but also professors and staff of the National University of Colombia. They were protesting amicably the law proposed to privatize the national university which would lead to higher costs and thus the extradition decline of low income students.

University students protest the new law proposal to privatize the national University

Media in Colombia

Puppet Media

The following are listed on BBC and I found a lot of online newspapers for Colombia as well, two of wihich were English Online Newspapers.

The press

• El Tiempo - Liberal Party daily, national circulation
• El Espacio - evening daily
• El Nuevo Siglo - Conservative Party daily
• El Colombiano - Medellin-based daily
• Vanguardia Liberal - daily
• El Espectador - daily
• La Republica - business daily
• Semana - weekly

Television

• Senal Colombia - state-run
• Cadena Uno
• Telecaribe
• RCN TV - operated by Radio Cadena Nacional
• Caracol TV - private commercial network

Radio
Hundreds of stations are registered with the Ministry of Communications. Among the main networks are:

• Radio Nacional de Colombia - state-run
• Cadena Super - including Radio Super and Super Stereo FM
• Caracol - runs several networks, including flagship station Caracol Colombia
• Radio Cadena Nacional (RCN Radio) -

In Colombia, according to Reporters without Borders, Colombia was ranked at 146 for the year 2010 in the Press Freedom Index. The year prior it was in the 126th spot but unfortunately it dropped last year. Curiously, from what we've been hearing about the change of president, Colombia has become safer since President Santos took office. How is it then that the media's liberties have dropped and risks have increased? And is it the alleged FARC that are reigning terror on journalists? Actually no. It is the paramilitaries, code name: Black Eagles. When President Alvaro Uribe took office in 2002 his number one goal was to destabilize the FARC and by doing so he would enlist paramilitaries to fight the revolutionaries. Unfortunately too much violence ends up destroying the mindset and culture of a people. The paramilitaries who were initially supposed to combat the FARC have taken arms and are now forming outside of government control. This goes to prove that fighting violence with violence only leads to more violence.

Colombia

Colombia is the fourth largest country in South America and one of the most populated countries on the continent. It is located at the Northern portion of South America and its surrounded by both the Caribbean and the pacific ocean.

A common reference to Colombia is its amazing coffee and it's heavy production and exportation of cocaine. Both these notions are somewhat true to an extent but we must not judge an entire population on stereotypes.

Some of Colombia's claims to fame are:

The acclaimed author and Nobel laureate: Gabriel García Márquez who won the Nobel peace prize in literature for his novel Cien años de soledad or 100 years of solitude.
The new fitness craze: Zumba which is a workout based on dancing to latin american music was created by a Colombian man in his native country later trademarking it in Miami.  You can check out more on Zumba here:   http://www.zumba.com/us/about/  

The American show, "Ugly Betty" is based on the original Colombian novela Betty la fea

Sofia Vergara from Modern family

 

Shakira

Other famous faces who hail from Colombia: Shakira, Sofía Vergara from Modern Family, Grammy award winning artist and political activist Juanes, John Leguizamo in Ice age and Moulin Rouge. The list goes on.

Media in Colombia

Journalism in Colombia is prominent but a dangerous occupation. Only truly passionate journalists pursue to work in this field, openly knowing that by making this decision their life is in danger. Colombia has been plagued by a vicious rebel force known as: The Farc  among other guerrilla forces.It is a left wing revolutionary movement that specializes in kidnaps and drug dealing. According to BBC, more than 120 journalists were killed in the 1990's; many for reporting on drug trafficking and guerilla activity. 

Most Colombians refer to the television for information but along with that they have the press who are owned by large groups both private and state owned.