Colombia Calling - Living And Working In Colombia

For decades, coca eradication and substitution, to purportedly stop the cocaine trade at its source, were Colombia’s only policy responses to a plant that had always been part of its culture. These policies failed to reduce long-term coca cultivation, while harming the most vulnerable communities in the country and escalating the Americas’ longest civil war. The 2016 peace agreement marked the first significant shift towards a new approach, one that prioritized human rights and public health in the issue of coca. This week, David Restrepo of David Restrepo the Centro de Estudios sobre Seguridad y Drogas explains the history of this prohibition in Colombia and a great deal more. The Colombia News Brief is reported by journalist Emily Hart. Support the Colombia Calling podcast: www.patreon.com/colombiacalling

What inspires a practicing lawyer from St Louis, Missouri to give it all up to move to Cali, Colombia to teach English as a foreign language. Well, this is what Todd Cooley did and we hear about his experiences as a black American in Colombia. Hear a new episode that takes in race, identity and place and a great conversation about it all. The Colombia News Brief is reported by journalist Emily Hart. Please support us on www.patreon.com/colombiacalling

Our guest this week is Natalia Pardo, Assistant Professor in the Department of Geosciences at the Universidad de los Andes. Natalia is a geologist at the National University of Colombia (Bogotá), with a Master’s of Science degree with an emphasis in volcanology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and a doctorate in physical volcanology from Massey University, New Zealand. Pardo’s research focuses on the study of volcano geology, the physicochemical processes that trigger explosive volcanic eruptions. Her aim is to study, investigate and bridge the gap between academia and the local communities to be able to explain the reality of volcanic activity in their regions. Tune in for a fascinating conversation on the topic, the history of volcanic eruptions in Colombia, the story of the Dona Juana Volcano and more. The Colombia News Brief is reported by journalist Emily Hart. Please consider supporting the Colombia Calling podcast: www.patreon.com/colombiacalling

Andrea Gonzalez Duarte Van Der Leeuw was born in Bogotá, adopted as a baby and raised in the Netherlands. After finishing her degree in social work at Hanze University in the Netherlands, Andrea traveled the world then moved to Medellin, Colombia a few years later. Upon her return to Colombia, she saw a striking difference in women’s role in society. The women she saw were working, creating, providing, and fighting - and then there is such a huge gap between the sexes? This does not fit into our modern times and she started the foundation, Mi Barrio Mi Sueno, knowing right away that she wanted to work for equality, especially for women and children, because they have a right to equal and fair opportunities and treatment, like everybody else. Andrea feels very strongly about this subject because this inequality is the reason behind her adoption. Now she is committed to changing the unequal conditions and working together for a fairer world. The Colombia News Brief is reported this week by journalist Grace

This week we speak to Camila Gonzalez Rosas, Director and Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at Los Andes University in Bogotá and Researcher at the the Centre for Investigations into Microbiology and tropical parasitology and we discuss tropical diseases in Colombia. Nothing is off the table from chagas, malaria, dengue, leishmaniasis, zika, chikungunya and Covid-19....we cover it all. What are the possibilities of another Zika outbreak? What are the consequences of the loss of biodiversity and climate change in Colombia? We also talk about zoonotic transmission where an infectious disease is transmitted between species from animals to humans (or from humans to animals) Please consider supporting us on www.patreon.com/colombiacalling

Magdalena: River of Dreams, A Story of Colombia is a captivating new book from Wade Davis--renowned, award-winning, bestselling author and photographer, and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence for more than a decade-- that brings vividly to life the story of the great Río Magdalena, illuminating Colombia's complex past, present, and future in the process. Thia week, Wade Davis, author of the inimitable book on the Amazon river, One River, joins us on the Colombia Calling podcast. It's humbling to have someone of this stature on the show, please enjoy. The Colombia News Brief is brought to you by journalist Emily Hart And please consider supporting us at: www.patreon.com/colombiacalling

On this week's show, we return to the topic of travel and tourism to Colombia as it is so timely with the ANATO convention taking place last week. We reflect on how the ANATO fair has changed over 15 years, how international travel agencies are now responding to those of us in the tourism business here in Colombia and potentially what to expect in the future. There are some outtakes with music taking place during the convention, some information from Tatiana - the head of tourism for the department of Vaupes - Bruce McLean's (www.bnbcolombia.com) reaction to some spicey chili flakes and more! Come and enjoy some vicarious travel to Colombia. And thank you to Grace Brennan for taking over from Emily Hart with the Colombia News Brief this week.

Welcome to Colombia Calling – I’m Emily Hart and today I’m talking to ZZK, one of the top music labels in the world for latino electronica, digital and experimental cumbia, and rainforest electro. From a Wednesday Night party in Buenos Aires to a global record label, ZZK are now celebrating 15 years working in the business. The now-huge digital cumbia scene was incubated in large part due to ZZK’s parties and label, which exploded into a community of artists whose experiments with blending unlikely sounds and styles have continued ever since, bringing cumbia from Colombia, through the barrios of Argentina, through an experimental digital wave – now to a phenomenon which plays worldwide. I’ve got two of ZZK’s co-founders in the studio, as well as the lead of new Colombian signing and Bogotá phenomenon Los Cotopla Boys - We’ll be talking parties, rhythms, and the experimental scene in Colombia – as well as reggaeton, K-Pop, and how to survive as an indie record label. At the end of the show, I’ll also be giv

On this week's Colombia Calling podcast, we have the opportunity to speak to supporters of the UK-based NGO, Children Change Colombia and their experiences of visiting a local partner project led by ACJ (Asociación Cristiana de Jovenes) in downtown Bogotá. Abhijit Kapadia, Betty Encinales and Carlos Ordoñez join us to share their experiences of seeing - with their own eyes - how ACJ and Children Change Colombia are working to protect some of Colombia's most at-risk children from commercial sexual exploitation (CSEC). Tune in to hear their reflections of visiting the Santa Fe neighbourhood known as the “tolerance zone” in Bogotá. This area is known for high presence of problems of sex work, drug addiction and delinquency. ACJ, works to improve the lives of children and adolescents who have experienced or are at high risk of CSEC, as well as supporting children and young people that have experienced conflict-related violence, including sexual violence. ACJ has a youth centre which is a protective oasis for

This week on the Colombia Calling podcast, we delve a little deeper into the African influences in Colombia's music and culture. It's a fantastic conversation that goes well beyond the superficial and opens a whole new spectrum when we think of Colombian salsa and the music of Grupo Niche, the poetry of Candelario Obeso and the town of San Basilio de Palenque, amongst other things. Luisa Marcela Ossa, Ph.D., is an associate professor of Spanish and area chair of the undergraduate Spanish program in the Department of Global Languages, Literatures, and Perspectives at La Salle University’s School of Arts and Sciences. Her research interests include Afro-Hispanic Literatures and Cultures, the Chinese presence in Latin America, and connections between racism and anti-Blackness in Latin America and the U.S.

“Conflict was not only played out on the battlefield, but also in the symbolic field.” Emily Hart and renowned Colombian political scientist María Emma Wills Obregón discuss collective memory, polarisation and conflict resolution - and how a country can weave itself back together after decades of war. So is history always written by the victors? Who is writing Colombia’s collective memory? And why does it matter so much?

Remember the German citizen deported from Colombia during the Paro Nacional? Well, this week we have the opportunity to hear Rebecca Sprößer's version of events that ocurred during the Paro Nacional protests in Cali in 2021. Whilst accompanying members of the Primera Linea protestors in Cali, Sprößer recorded and detailed human rights abuses taking place, something which put her at odds with the authorities in that city. We discuss the traumatic events that Sprößer witnessed in Cali, from the killing of her love in a café - shot by a sicario killer 12 times - and her deportation from Colombia back to Germany. Later, the new government of President Petro had the deportation orders overturned, citing them as contrived. Was this a case of xenophobia or was Sprößer rightly deported? This is her opportunity to speak freely about the experiences and her support of Paz Total in Colombia.

On our inaugural episode for 2023, the Colombia Calling podcast welcomes Bruce McLean of BNBColombia tours back on the show to explain why you should plan to come to Colombia this year. Hear an upbeat and fresh episode with which to begin the year on a high point. Get some ideas of new destinations within Colombia and allow yourself to be transported by McLean's infectious enthusiasm for his adopted homeland. Check out the website at: bnbcolombia.com

It's time to discuss the first 100 days of President Gustavo Petro's tenure in Colombia and who better informed to provide us with the total low-down of events but Sergio Guzman, Director of Colombia Risk Analysis. In our own conversational style, Guzman and myself banter about the successes and failures with the Petro presidency thus far. And, we discuss the latest report published by Colombia Risk Analysis entitled: The Subnational Risk Index. "The Subnational Risk Index built by Colombia Risk Analysis arises as a response to the information asymmetries that domestic and foreign companies encounter when trying to enter the Colombian market. In that sense, the Index highlights departmental differences based on six major categories to simplify the decision-making process of companies. The objective of the Index is to account for potential and existing risks for companies in the different departments of the country according to the productive sector in which they are interested in investing." Link to repor

La Niña is hitting us hard here in Colombia and much of the country is under threat of floods, people are losing their homes and livelihoods. Previous governments have done so little to help vulnerable communities until it is too late. What is La Niña (not to be confused with El Niño) La Niña and its more famous counterpart El Niño move back and forth across the Pacific Ocean every few years. The phenomenon changes the temperatures of surface waters and the state of the atmosphere, leading to severe weather conditions for many. And so, Bogotá and much of the country are suffering from above average and extended rainfalls which threaten much of the country. My wife, Alba Torres and I discuss this phenomenon as we sit here watching a deluge in Bogotá and think back to the last terrible floods in Mompós in 2010 when we had to sandbag our houses. Our anecdotes and experiences fuel a real concern for what might happen in coming weeks. When will the rains end? The Colombia News Brief is brought to you by journ

In a lucky turn of events, I was contracted by National Geographic and Lindblad as a cultural specialist for Colombia on their recent expeditions from Cartagena to Panama and back. Hugging the Caribbean coastline, our journey departed from Cartagena before taking in Santa Cruz del Islote, Isla Tintipan, Tuchin, the Bahia de Cispata, Santa Cruz de Lorica before finishing the Colombian leg with a visit to Capurgana and Sapzurro. In Panama, we stopped by the Kuna Yala islands, Portobelo, the final resting place of Sir Francis Drake before heading up to the Panama Canal to cross from the Caribbean to the Pacific and managed to squeeze in some birdwatching in Gatun Lake. So, on this show, I share live recordings that I took on-site in various locations along the route. I think you'll enjoy it. The Colombia News Brief is brought to you by journalist Emily Hart.

 On this week's Colombia Calling podcast, Adriaan Alsema, director of Colombia Reports (www.colombiareports.com) joins us to discuss the recent declarations made by president Gustavo Petro about the use of cocaine and its effects on Colombia's environment and society. Where does a legalization of cocaine begin and why should this be discussed? It's widely recognized that the "war on drugs" has failed, so how do we move forwards? Of course, this conversation leaves us with more questions than answers but the debate must start somewhere...

On this week's Colombia Calling podcast (Ep448), we get the chance to speak to Ceasar, a 34 year-old Venezuelan webcam model based in Medellin. We learn about the webcam industry, how he got into this business, the business model of webcams, the legality of it, fetishes and finally, the webcam industry's close relationship to organized crime in Colombia. Ceasar provides us with a frank and detailed insight into his business and we learn about how he became successful as a webcam "content creator."

Channeling a late-era sound not dissimilar to Joe Strummer of the Clash, friend to the Colombia Calling podcast, singer songwriter Kevin McCaffrey joins us from the southwestern city of Cali to speak about his latest single, "Punk Rockin' Blues" and the creativity behind it. You'll remember McCaffrey from his last appearance here when he related the time he was drugged and robbed of his life savings in Cartagena, Colombia. Out of this experience, he has been very productive, writing and releasing several singles, the latest being punk Rockin Blues. The video is now available to enjoy on Youtube and even includes Snoop Dogg lookalike! Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBU26w9r1uk We have a jovial conversation which even goes so far as to mention Gerry Rafferty of Baker Street fame, the Clash, the Police and a great deal more. Please tune in and support McCaffrey's creativity here. Colombia news from Emily Hart.

The World Mosquito Program in Colombia is part of a global, not-for-profit initiative that is working to protect local communities from mosquito-borne diseases. More than 25 million people are at risk of dengue, which is more than half of Colombia’s population. A number of large-scale outbreaks have occurred in recent years. The number of Zika cases also increased rapidly following a global outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease in 2015. So, on this week's Colombia Calling podcast, we have the opportunity to talk to Simon Kutcher, Senior Project Manager for the World Mosquito Program in Colombia. Simon Kutcher has been managing and advising on the implementation of international development projects for more than 25 years. He has extensive experience working on complex integrated programs across many sectors, including spending the past 15 years in public health. The number of people affected by mosquito-borne diseases is rapidly growing. In recent years, population growth, the movement of people from ru