Posts Tagged ‘South America’
Justice or Impunity in colombia
Without an independent justice system there is no rule of law. Without respect for the judiciary by the ruler is in question the rule of law. Without compliance with judicial decisions by other public authorities undermines the rule of law.
Court decisions they can appeal and for that are the courts. But to question the judicial independence using the popularity of the ruling only further weakens the languid democratic institutions.
The conviction of the Third Criminal Court of Bogota Specialized against Colonel (r) Luis Alfonso Plazas Vega for the forced disappearance of eleven Colombian citizens is a landmark ruling that struck impunity and military interests that lie behind it.
Plazas was not convicted for the retaking of the Palace of Justice. Plazas Vega was convicted of forced disappearance, for their part in the disappearance of defenseless citizens in the days of the takeover of the Palace of Justice.
Activation of the solidarity of the body of the military and the ruling bloc is a call to impunity.
Squares have the right to appeal the ruling of the court and the government, along with the military, are obliged to respect the course of justice.
The hysteria of the government and the military is a reflection of their fear for the advancement of justice in this and other cases. Pending a ruling involving the general Arias Cabrales and a group of officers and NCOs, also for the case of the Palace of Justice. And the case is progressing rapidly and pikes of false positives.
Colombia needs more justice and less impunity. Colombia needs to strengthen democracy, not weaken, putting political power in the service of impunity.
Tags: About columbia, Colombia, Colombia City, South America, Travel to Colombia, Traveling to Colombia
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Jun 6th, 2010
Plan Your Next Vacations to Colombia
In this tough time when our economies have been severely affected you should have the option to save money while you can keep your traditions to take a vacation along your family. One of the most amazing options you can evaluate is travel to Colombia during your next vacations to South America. Colombia is one of the great touristic attractions of this part of the world having amazing beaches, great mountains, beautiful and modern hotels as well as beautiful women.
People in Colombia are very kind and I am completely sure that for your next vacations you could choose one of the amazing and affordable vacation’s packages that include hotel during 8 nights, flight tickets and transportation services. Traveling to Colombia during your next vacation is going to help you to relax a lot and enjoy of the Colombian lifestyle where everything is party, music and beach.
One of my best recommendations about that is you make a good plan so that you can get the most out of traveling to Colombia. A financial plan is very relevant before take a good decision. That’s why it is important that you make a good research in Internet about those vacation plans to Colombia and which are the things those plans are offering to you that are planning to travel alone, or perhaps with your girlfriend, friends or family.
One the other hand, you must know that Colombia is one of the best places of South America to practice all kind of water sports and if you love that, you can evaluate those hotels that are in the Pacific of Colombia that have included in the packages this kind of tourism. Planning your next vacations to Colombia is an amazing experience that you will never forget. Make a good plan, based on a good research and travel to Colombia in your next vacations.
Colombia Tourism
For many years serious internal armed conflict deterred tourists from visiting Colombia, with official travel advisories warning against travel to the country. However in recent years numbers have risen sharply, thanks to improvements in security resulting from President Álvaro Uribe’s “democratic security” strategy, which has included significant increases in military strength and police presence throughout the country and pushed rebel groups further away from the major cities, highways and tourist sites likely to attract international visitors.
Foreign tourist visits were predicted to have risen from 0.5 million in 2003 to 1.3 million in 2007, while Lonely Planet picked Colombia as one of their top ten world destinations for 2006. The improvements in the country’s security were recognised in November 2008 with a revision of the travel advice on Colombia issued by the British Foreign Office.
Popular tourist attractions include the historic Candelaria district of central Bogotá, the walled city and beaches of Cartagena, the colonial towns of Santa Fe de Antioquia, Popayan, Villa de Leyva and Santa Cruz de Mompox, and the Las Lajas Cathedral and the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá.
Tourists are also drawn to Colombia’s numerous festivals, including Medellín’s Festival of the Flowers, the Barranquilla Carnival, the Carnival of Blacks and Whites in Pasto and the Ibero-American Theater Festival in Bogotá. Meanwhile, because of the improved security, Caribbean cruise ships now stop at Cartagena and Santa Marta.
The great variety in geography, flora and fauna across Colombia has also resulted in the development of an ecotourist industry, concentrated in the country’s national parks. Popular ecotourist destinations include: along the Caribbean coast, the Tayrona National Natural Park in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range and Cabo de la Vela on the tip of the Guajira Peninsula; the Nevado del Ruiz volcano, the Cocora valley and the Tatacoa Desert in the central Andean region; Amacayacu National Park in the Amazon River basin; and the Pacific islands of Malpelo and Gorgona. Colombia is home to seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Tags: Cabo de la Vela, Colombia, Colombia Tourism, Colombia Travel, Colombian Lifestyle, ecotourist destinations, Pacific of Colombia, People in Colombia, President Álvaro Uribe, South America, Tatacoa Desert, Travel to Colombia, Traveling to Colombia, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, World Heritage Sites
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Mar 14th, 2010
Traveling to San Augustin in Colombia
During a trip as I stuck around South America during late 2008 and first half of 2009 if you want to backpack and spend the least, normally your favorite mode of transportation will eventually be the bus. There are people who claim to have an innate love and passion for the long haul in this transport but most said that after zillions long bus-I ended up ducking around 50 in 200 days, cast and accounts-one gets on the following inertia and because it is a much cheaper option than the alternative carrier.
Some routes will endure better than others, which depends primarily on the quality of the bus itself. Cruz del Sur in Peru and Arrow Bus in Argentina for example make the topic is tolerable, with your little movies, your service on board and others.
But there are others who despaired at the time and now I remember me and smiled. This is what has the time and perspective. Right now I rise from my desk and I teleported to curro that van that was falling apart as we tried to carry Popayan San Agustin in southwestern Colombia. Come on, but without thinking.
We left at 8:30 in the morning with sleep caretos everywhere and wondering if it would have been wrong about arrival time. They said 15.30. Come vaaaa! 7 hours for 130 miles. I thought that these people even more exaggerated than the Buenos Aires!. But no.
The van was fucked. People living in villages tucked into the jungle, among countless banana plantations, mango, coffee and military posts, returned home after doing what they should do in the city. Every bit was a group of soldiers-very very young-who followed the van with his eyes but we came to stop more than once to perform a routine check.
This part of the country was controlled by the FARC not too long ago and had gotten Uribe mandate safer roads but there was caution in these sections.
The vegetation on both sides of the road was very thick and hardly could be seen beyond the barrier of banana trees, ferns and other plants that lined as forming a wall. As you may imagine, the road was not paved and the driver had to go dodging holes and larger stones, but the battered suspension hardly stand the slightest rattle. Those who ate everything we were going inside.
I sat in the back because I was the last and bouncing on the seat for several hours. What’s worse is that the distance between the roof and my head was small and had to be covering me with his arm and legs in tension all the time to protect myself from the blows to bounce. As the driver, to encourage the roost, we put some movies on DVD. Unbelievably, we saw 4 in 2 hours. With potholes the DVD and the movie jumped ahead. Predator, Arnold, lasted 15 minutes … the whole movie.
But we lost a lot because the repertoire was all Arnold and Sylvester Stallone. Peliculon, come on.
Along the way, as is usual in most of South America (except Argentina and Chile, as I recall) got people to sell the van for some food. I bought a tray of strawberries as fists were tremendous. Sandwich had failed and that was the only way to eat because we did not spend for any restaurant or anything. In fact, after spending the villages in the first third of course, hardly saw any more.
Shortly before arriving in St. Augustine returned to the asphalt. Our asses we thanked him and soon enough we stopped at an intersection, got our bags were completely covered by sand and dust and got in a van of a Colombian who was waiting there to take us to the accommodation of a friend’s home. In tiredness we had let ourselves be fooled by the man. The truth is we did well because the house of John was a good place to spend my days in St. Augustine.
Tags: Argentina, Buenos Aires, Colombia, San Agustin in southwestern Colombia, South America, Transport
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Dec 31st, 2009
Explore the Aquarium in Colombia
He is considered the largest in South America, and covers an area of 1,300 square meters. Located in the Colombian city of Medellin, in the complex Explore Park, the aquarium opened its doors in November 2007 with a significant number about 400 of the most representative of the local ecosystem.
The tour begins in a basement, where they are willing twelve o’clock freshwater aquarium specimens Amazon and other regions, including those living in the Magdalena River, main waterway of the geography of Colombia and Medellin River which flows through the namesake city. The great attraction is to stroll through the different seabed, for example, the sector of the flooded forest, a large space that represents the Amazon jungle, covered with water, which is traversed by an acrylic tunnel through it.
At a second level, which accessed by elevator, they split the sections where they swim rays, electric fish and jellyfish. The property features 16 stages in the freshwater area located in nine other saltwater. Aquarium Explorer, you can visit from Tuesday to Friday from 8:30 to 18. Input from $ 3.
Tags: Colombian city of Medellin, Explore Park, Magdalena River, South America, The aquarium
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Nov 14th, 2009
Transportation To Colombia
Thanks to its location at the northern tip of South America, Colombia is served by many flights, relatively cheap, from Europe and North America. Most travelers arrive at the international airport of Bogota, but airports Cartagena and San Andres also accommodate flights from abroad.
Colombia is accessible by road from Venezuela and Ecuador. Travelers wishing to cross the border through dangerous Arauca-El Amparo de Apure and Puerto Carreno, Paez Puerta to enter Venezuela have an interest in learning about the security at their embassy. In March 1995, troops were massed on either side of the border following attacks against Colombian guerrilla positions in the Venezuelan army.
The more adventurous can enter Colombia from Panama via the Darien Gap, this dangerous section of jungle which the Pan American Cup. It is a journey of two weeks, made at the company of a guide, and which requires a high degree of organization, of courage and luck. The guerrillas are active in the regions and kidnappings are not rare: it is not the kind of trip to be undertaken lightly.
You can also enter Colombia through a port on the Pacific coast or the Caribbean coast. Maritime traffic is more important on the Caribbean Sea: Many boats serving the United States, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean islands and Venezuela. Barranquilla, Cartagena, Santa Marta and Turbo are the main ports of the Caribbean coast, while the Pacific coast’s main port of Buenaventura.
Colombia was the first country in South America to adopt in 1919 its own airline, SCADTA, today Avianca. Its network of domestic flights is now the densest of Latin America. Policy cielos abiertos (open skies), established by the Government in 1991, allowed the introduction of several new airlines and aircraft of all types, large jets gear most doubtful. The domestic airfares are relatively high (Avianca and SAM airlines are the most expensive), but some newly established companies offering promotional fares extremely advantageous. Remember to reconfirm your reservations at least 72 hours in advance and expect to numerous contingencies regarding schedules. The tax on domestic flights is 5 USD.
Primary mode of transportation to travel within the country, buses have the advantage of being economic, efficient and offer a very extensive network. However, with the exception of trunk roads are in a catastrophic state. In cities, buses are slow and crowded, better opt for taxis are cheap and accept long commutes.
Besides the bus, there are also chivas (an old wooden bus, traveling mostly on small roads) and collectivos (taxis used for fixed routes).
There is no rail network and travel by its own means (by car or motorbike) is a solution to expensive and dangerous.
Maritime traffic, especially along the Pacific coast, no road dessert is irregular and only rudimentary.
Tags: Boats, Buses, Colombia, Flights, South America, Taxis, Transportation To Travel, Travelers
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Nov 7th, 2009
Colombia: Great South America Destination
Colombia is one of the largest countries in South America and is the main touristic destination in the Andean region. If you are attempting to visit this impressive country it is good that you read official websites as well as magazines dedicated to describe the richness of this destination so that you can get the most out from it and make a better plan.
Make a good plan for visiting Colombia is the best thing you can do before pay for tickets, hotel reservations and renting a car. Move there in your next holydays could be the best decision you can do.
There are also several ships –cruises plans- that you can consider because with the global financial crisis we are facing there are several opportunities to find up to 70% off in cruises to Colombia.
Colombia is a country with an interesting development process and there you can find great hotels, beautiful beaches, pretty women as well as very kind people. I personally think Colombia is the perfect destinations for all kind of people planning have an unforgettable vacation. As matter as fact, in Colombia you can have different kind of tourisms such as mountain, ecologist tourism, water sports and more.
Tags: Business in Colombia, Colombia Travel, South America, South America Destination
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Aug 27th, 2009