Political Tension Escalate Between Colombia and Venezuela

BOGOTA, Colombia –Colombia said it is preparing to defend against a possible foreign military attack amid growing tension with neighboring Venezuela ,while Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Saturday Colombia would regret any actions that hurt his country .
Without specifically accusing Venezuela, Colombia Defense Minister Gabriel Silva was quoted as saying on Sunday that his country was preparing a strategy to ward off any attack.
Colombia, a close ally the US, and Venezuela ,whose leader Chavez is one of the most strident critics of the US in Latin America , are locked in a growing political and trade dispute .Chavez ,an out spoken socialist ,accuses the US of planning to invade Venezuela with the help of Colombia ,a charge of the US denies .
The two Andean countries almost went to war in 1987 in a dispute over a maritime border in the Caribbean Gulf.
Chavez ordered tanks to the Colombia border in 2008 after Colombia raided a rebel base over the frontier inside Ecuador .Chavez ally President Rafael Correa condemned the raid as an aggression .Tensions eased after a summit week later.
“In Colombia, we have concentrated on the internal threat .But the risk is growing because what has been clearly and directly presented is an eventual action against Colombia from outside.”Silva said.
Colombia for decades has struggled to subdue Marxist rebels profiting from the cocaine trade inside the country.
“Colombia was not used to thinking about this eventuality in its foreign policy and defense strategy. Unfortunately now we have to put this variable on the map. There is a risk of a foreign aggression,” Silva said.
Colombia last week activated seven new army battalion, including two in an area along the Venezuelan frontier.
Chavez on Nov 8 told Venezuelan troops to be ready for a possible war with Colombia and restricted Colombian imports to protest an agreement allowing US troops more access to Colombian bases, an accord he says threatens his 0PEC nation.
“We are not preparing any aggression against Colonia or against anybody,”Chavez said.
But he said his country would be prepared for any attack. He called Colombia’s government a declared enemy of Venezuela.
“Believe me, bourgeois of Colombia; if you hurt Venezuela you’ll regret it. We are not unarmed. We do not have our arms crossed, “Chavez said.Chavez last week accused the Netherlands of aggressive behavior for allowing the US military access to airfields in the self-governed Dutch Antilles and Aruba. On Sunday, Chavez said the US as spying on his government with unmanned drones that fly from Colombia as well as the islands of f Venezuelan’s Caribbean coast. He called the incursions by the unmanned plane “acts of war “ and ordered his air force to shoot them down if they are seen again.

Colombia has received billions of dollars in aid from Washington to fight leftist guerrillas and drug traffickers. President Alvaro Uribe says the recent base deal is merely an extension of existing military cooperation between the countries for operations limited to inside Colombia. But the accord worried Latin American governments concerned over the US presence.

Ciudad Don Bosco, a safe place for street children in Medellín

Posted by Albeiro Rodas on 12/18/09

Surely worst than the long Colombian conflict, it is the reality of its street children in the biggest cities. The Gamín (street boy in Colombian idioms), became almost a traditional character. Even if some people and groups complain of the lack of more definitive projects to end the problem of unprotected children in the Colombian streets, it is possible to find a good list of institutions, private and officials, doing something. The problem stands in the same conflict. Only the growing number of displaced farm families, fleeing from war-zones and taking refuse in the cities, is a definitive source of children on the streets with all its consequences.

As Christmas is time associated with childhood, it is a good time to dedicate our blog to the reality of the poorest children of Colombia: the gamines.

One of those organizations doing something concrete in Medellín is Ciudad Don Bosco (Don Bosco City) a work of the Salesian Congregation. It is a real city for street boys, located in one of the most marginalized barrios of the Aburrá Valley, Robledo Aures (Medellín’s Northwest).

Abused children, street boys, child workers and victims of violence, find in the educative system of Don Bosco a safe place to stay and grow. The process starts in Medellín downtown with the Patio del gamin (Street boy yard), a centenary building of a poor area known as El Hueco (The Hold) – between the Cisneros Metro Station and Calle Colombia. Street children join the programs if they want after they are encourage to do so by the teams of educators that walk the streets looking for them. Several children are sent to the institution by the official Bienestar Familiar.

The second step is in Aures, where there is the main complex of Ciudad Don Bosco, in a real impressive view of Medellín. The institution was founded 40 years ago and have received support from national and international organizations to be able to attend as much children and teenagers from poverty and abandonment as possible. It has also a place in Amagá, a coal mines town at the south of Medellín where children are at risk of labor exploitation and school abandonment. Don Bosco is bringing the children out of the mines to guarantee their studies and formation.

It is a good time to join a good cause in Colombia. Peace comes from justice and concrete actions. Supporting projects like Ciudad Don Bosco is a good way to guarantee that Colombian children will gain a good future. You can find instructions for donations in its official page here.

You can visit the center as well. Send an email or call to 264 21 22. It would be a great place to visit if you are in Medellín.