What others say about Colombia

Medellín (CP). It was September 2, 2006 and a letter from a lady, Hilda Blazon of Guatemala to El Periódico Newspaper of her country, became very popular in Colombia. She wrote “¡Ojalá colombianizados!“, something like “Hopefully like Colombians!” as an answer to the political tradition in Guatemala - and in many other Latin American countries - to use the Spanish expression “Colombianización” (“become like Colombia” or “Colombianization”) to express that the political situation in a country is becoming chaotic in many ways. The following is our translation to English of that always actual comment that underlines the importance of our country >>Read more...

Maradona to fix teeth in Colombia. From Xinhuanet. Argentine soccer star of the 1980s, Diego Maradona, will under go a so-called "smile design" treatment in Colombia, Marlon Becerra, one of the nation's most famous dentist told media on Tuesday (...)

SA can learn from the way Colombia perked up. (...) Things are not always as they seem and Colombia has - in recent years - changed for the better. Crime levels are down, guerrilla and paramilitary groups are either being demobilised or driving from bustling urban centres, and Bogota is not longer "the kidnap capital of the world" (...)

The United States and Colombia: Building Peace and Prosperity in our Hemisphere. By Reuben Jeffrey III. Uniapravi. There is not doubt that the potential of Colombia is great, and we´ve seen so much of that potential (...) But no resource has greater promise to this country than all of you, the Colombian people. From the local merchants in Medellin who stoopd up to the cartels, to the farmers who´ve turned away from drug crops and gone into legitimate businesses. And, coming from the outside, I can say that Colombia is known to the world for many things, including its art (...)

Medical tourism to Latin American is on the cusp of booming. By A. Oppenheimer for the Daily Press - I have long been convinced that medical tourism will be one of Latin America´s biggest industries in the 21st century. On a visit to Panama City recently, I got a glimpse of the coming boom. It´s not just that 100 million Americans will reach retirement age over the next 30 years, and growing numbers of them won´t be able to afford ever-rising U.S. health-care costs. Americans already are traveling to Panama, Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Argentina and Chile, among other countries, for heart operations, cosmetic, surgery or dental work at half price, and with more personalized attention (...)

Colombia Welcomes the World. World Championship Blog, reports on the 2007 World Speed Skating Championships in Cali, Colombia. Pictures here.

The U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement: Don't Let Progress Fall Victim to D.C. Politics. By James M. Roberts, The Heritage Foundation. The U.S.–Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement serves both U.S. and Latin American interests and will create new economic opportunities for citizens in both countries. It will also strengthen U.S. national security and provide, through economic growth, additional resources for the Colombian government to fight terrorists and cocaine traffickers. Congress should immediately ratify all four trade agreements as originally negotiated and restore full funding to Plan Colombia. The Bush Administration and the U.S. business community should use the TPA agreements to begin a new era of economic engagement with Latin America.

Hurricane Dean churns through Caribbean. By Guy Ellis, Yahoo News. Hurricane Dean barreled across the eastern Caribbean Satuday and yook aim at Hispaniola, Jamaica and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, with forecasters saying it could turn into a mosnter category 5 storm within 72 hours.

Peru earthquake. The United Nations said that about 450 persons died and about 1,500 persons wounded in different cities of the country. The first countries to join Peru with support in its tragedy were Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Panama, Argentina, Brazil and Spain.

Zogby: Majority of Americans understand little about Latin American neighbors. (...) As the U.S. struggles with a sagging public image in many Latin American countries, American adults show a stunning ignorance about the region, a new Zogby Interactive poll shows (...) Asked which countries in the region are least friendly to the U.S., Venezuela and Cuba predictably topped the list. But Americans listed Colombia - which has been the U.S.'s closest ally in the past decades-as a distant third (...)

Earthquake hits Lima and the south of Peru. Alerts in the South American Pacific. (C.P. Sihanoukville) Lima, one of the biggest capitals of South America, was hit by a 7.9 earthquake this Wednesday, according with official reports. About 135 persons are reported dead and more than 1,300 injured. The Pacific Tsunami Alert Center of Hawaii gave the alert to the Pacific costs of Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú and Chile, but it was soon stoped when the danger was over. In Colombia the authorities evacuated the southern city port of Tumaco.

Impressive weekend for young Colombians. By Jeff Brooke. The past few days have been remarkable for Colombian golf. Last Friday, 15-year old Laura Blanco of Bogota became the first international winner of Canada's National Junior Girl's Championship. On Sunday, 17-year-old Maria José Uribe of Bucaramanga captured the prestigiuos U.S. Women's Amateur tittle to become the first Colombian to win an event organized by the United States Golf Association (...)

Uribe wins U.S. Women's Amateur. Editor's Note of Cybergolf. Uribe, a native of Colombia who will be a freshman this year at UCLA, went head-to-head with the junior at Duke, the NCAA champion this year. The match went back and forth most of the day, with neither player gaining a sizable advantage nor mementum (...)

Bogota shows how we can reinvent Toronto - We only have to want to. By R. Ouellette, Reading Toronto - The former mayor of Bogota, Colombia explains how the once crime-ridden city is now a model for effective transit and urban design. How'd they do it? City planners recognized that the great battle over public space in cities is between two main forces: the needs of people and the needs of cars (...)

A Drug-Runners' Stronghold Finds a New Life, by Grace Bastidas for the New York Times. The former home of the drug lord Pablo Escobar, Medellín was once considered the most dangerous place on earth. Now bullet-riddled neighborhoods are coming to life with art museums and well-designed parks. (...) With its beautiful colonial architecture and year-round spring-like weather, Medell, Colombia, has awakened from its drug nightmare (...)

Laura Blanco of Bogota, Colombia,

wins junior golf title

LONDON, August 11, 2007, Ont. (CNS) Laura Blanco, 15, of Bogota, Colombia, became the first international player to win the Royale Canadian junior women's golf title after outlasting the field in the final round Friday at SunningdaleGolf and Country Club. Blanco started the day four strokes back of 15-year old Christine Wong of Richmond, B.C., but overtook the lead after Wong double-bogeyed the15th and 16th holes. Blanco finished at 4-over 292. Wong was second, one stroke back. A trio of players finished third at 7-over: Jessica Wallace

of Langley, B.C., Sue Kim of Langley, B.C., and Nicole Vandermade of Brantford, Ont.

Painful extraction, by Mark Curtis in The Guardian, August 3. A British mining firm linked to abuses around the world is banking huge profits at Africa's expense

Colombia: Public Holiday Haven, by Joshua Goodman in Associated Press. Looking to get more time off? Move to Colombia, which leads the world in public holidays with 18 each year.

Alberto Villamizar dies at 62; foe of Colombian drug cartel, by Douglas Martin, International Herald Tribune. Alberto Villamizar, a Colombian politician and diplomat who fought the Medellín cocaine cartel, dramatically won the release of his wife and sister when it kidnapped them, and then led his nation's battle against a wave of abductions, died on Thursday in Bogotá. He was 62. The cause was complications of heart surgery, said Juan Manuel Galán, a family friend, as quoted by The Associated Press.

Bogotá, the Gate and Hall of South America. During the most part of the 19th Century and the first part of the 20th Century, it was called by many "The South American Athenes" to underline its importance for culture, education and intelectual movements. Maybe that name still working since it was elected by UNESCO as the World Capital of the Book in 2007. Nowadays it can be called also the "Gate and the Hall" of the big Continent of South America: A city 2640 meters up more near to the stars.

What Developing Nations Can Teach Us About Personal Finance by Terry M. in Get Rich Slowly Blog. "(...) My favorite country to visit in the world is Colombia. It has the most beautiful and most awesome natural beauty I have ever seen anywhere on this planet, and has the truly nicest, most generous, and most kind-hearted people in the world (...)

A Festival of Vallenato in Mexico: In the context of the event "Colombia Cultura 2007" in Monterrey, Mexico, there will be also the First Vallenato Festival in that country between September 3 and 9. Inscriptions to participate are opened without any discrimination.

---------------------------------------------------------------

On the Net