This week on Episode 415 of the Colombia Calling podcast, Emily Hart talks to two global experts on women in peacebuilding processes about their research into the pandemic and its effects on key actors in Colombia’s peace process – women.

As the fourth peak of the covid19 cases fades, the dust is starting to settle on pandemic management worldwide – how the lockdowns and movement restrictions affected peacebuilders and their crucial work, and how Colombia’s peace could suffer in the long term as a result – how it may already be suffering:

Last week, the Transitional Justice Tribunal – the JEP, announced a ‘reactivation’ of conflict in various parts of the country with various spikes in indicators for violence, this week and UN warned of levels of violence not seen in Colombia since 2014 - now NGO Frontline Defenders have released their annual report on the murders of human rights defenders – Colombia was not only host to more of those murders than any country in the world yet again, but accounted for nearly 40% of the global total of murders of human rights defenders in 2021.

Katherine Ronderos is a Colombian researcher with over 15 years working in the sector of women's rights, peace, security and development, from Colombia to Korea. For seven years, Katherine was the Director of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in Colombia and is now an independent consultant working for UN agencies.

Agnieszka Fal-Dutra Santos is a gender in peacebuilding expert who has worked in more than 15 countries - formerly Director of Programs at the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders, she is now researching her PhD.

“The shadow of anglophone science fiction has been over us for a long while – but there has also been a constant attempt to get rid of that shadow.”

Acclaimed Colombian science-fiction author Luis Carlos Barragán talks to Emily Hart about Latin American sci-fi, technoshamanism, pre-Colompunk, alien invasions and more on Episode 414 of the Colombia Calling.

Tune in to a fascinating conversation which takes many turns as Hart and Barragán take on cyberpunk, colonialism, giant worms and so much more.

Tags and Keywords: emily hart journalist, luis carlos barragán author, science fiction colombia, el gusano, sci fi writing colombia, sci fi latin america, colombia calling, books colombia, podcast colombia, colombia english podcast.

On this week's Colombia Calling podcast, we get to delve into the world of forensic architecture with expert Hannah Meszaros-Martin PhD and how this has been used to uncover and investigate topics, crimes and more in Colombia. And we have Colombia news reported by journalist Emily Hart.

Forensic Architecture (FA) is a research agency, based at Goldsmiths, University of London, investigating human rights violations including violence committed by states, police forces, militaries, and corporations. FA works in partnership with institutions across civil society, from grassroots activists, to legal teams, to international NGOs and media organisations, to carry out investigations with and on behalf of communities and individuals affected by conflict, police brutality, border regimes and environmental violence.

We discuss land dispossession in Uraba, the seige of the Palacio de Justicia in Bogotá in 1985 by the M19 guerrillas and then for our Patreon subscribers, there's a bonus segment on FA's investigation and research into the killing of Lucas Villa during the Paro Nacional demonstrations in Colombia in 2021.

Check out their website for further investigations https://forensic-architecture.org/

Further to our series in 2021, regarding some of the intricacies and causes of the Paro Nacional or national demonstrations in Colombia which brought much of the country to a standstill, we have decided to follow these up in 2022 with equally pressing issues. This week on episode 412 of the Colombia Calling podcast, we are honoured to welcome Juan Pappier, Senior Investigator for Human Rights Watch on Colombia Calling to talk about the urgent need for police reform in Colombia.

Pappier has a special focus on Cuba and Colombia and talks to us about not only a need for police reform in Colombia but also the failure by the relevant entities in investigating and prosecuting members of the force guilty of killing protestors during the unrest.

Tune in for an informative and interesting episode and follow Juan Pappier
@JuanPappierHRW

From the author of El Narco, a searing investigation into the enormous black market for firearms, essential to cartels and gangs in the drug trade and contributing to the epidemic of mass shootings.

The gun control debate is revived with every mass shooting. But far more people die from gun deaths on the street corners of inner city America and across the border as Mexico’s powerful cartels battle to control the drug trade. Guns and drugs aren’t often connected in our heated discussions of gun control-but they should be. In Ioan Grillo’s groundbreaking new work of investigative journalism, he shows us this connection by following the market for guns in the Americas and how it has made the continent the most murderous on earth.

On the Colombia Calling podcast, we discuss the arms trade, the drugs trade, the so-called war on drugs and how this all affects Colombia. Grillo is one of the foremost experts on these topics as he is based in Mexico and appears in the world's press reporting on said issues. Check out his website: https://www.ioangrillo.com

Journalist Emily Hart sat with Frank Wynne, tracing his incredible career from the start of his linguistic journey (a breakup and a bookshop in Paris) to his award-winning translation of writers across Latin America and the francophone world – particularly his work on cult Colombian author and ‘Enemy Number 1 of Macondo’ - Andrés Caicedo and his novel “Liveforever!”.

Tune in for a literary episode exploring one of Colombia's least known and cult authors recounted in such an erudite fashion.

This week's Colombia Calling podcast explores the position of forensic experts and their role in this (post)accord period in Colombia and their role in uncovering truths in Colombia's long-running conflict.

María Fernanda Olarte-Sierra, University of Amsterdam | UVA · Department of Anthropology, Doctor in Social and Behavioural Sciences joins us to share her findings as a social scientist and ethnographer having interviewed many forensic experts and their findings in the field.

We discuss the differences in disappearences carried out by the paramilitaries (AUC), the FARC guerrillas and finally the Colombian military and their role in the False Positives scandal.

Tune in for an in-depth look at some of the darkest yet most revealing issues affecting forensic science and forensic experts of all types in Colombia at this critical juncture in Colombia's history.

Anika Fajardo was born in Colombia and raised in Minnesota. She is the author of a book about that experience, Magical Realism for Non-Believers: A Memoir of Finding Family (University of Minnesota Press, 2019), which was awarded Best Book (Nonfiction) of 2020 from City Pages and was a finalist for the 2020 Minnesota Book Award.

Here on the Colombia Calling podcast, we talk about her Colombia-infused writing, what it means to be half Colombian, how she got involved in the film Encanto and further conversations about writing and publishing.

Her debut middle-grade novel What If a Fish (Simon & Schuster, 2020) was awarded the 2021 Minnesota Book Award. Her next book for young readers, Meet Me Halfway (Simon & Schuster) will be published in spring 2022.

For Episode 407, our first of 2022, Emily Hart and I take a look back at 2021 in Colombia and then address a number of questions that you, the listeners, sent in to us.

Thank you for the questions which cover journalism, fake news, visa issues, politics, elections, Covid-19, mental health and Medellin.

Tune in for a great episode with which to begin 2022.

We are humbled to host Kenneth Kosik, professor of Neuroscience at UC Santa Barbara on this week's Colombia Calling podcast, the final for 2021.

Kenneth S. Kosik, M.D. is an American neurologist, author, researcher and professor in neuroscience at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Kosik provided much of the original data on the largest family in the world with a genetic form of Alzheimer's disease located in Antioquia, Colombia. And this is where our interest lies.

We discuss the "paisa mutation," which has appeared in Antioquia and certain genetic mutations which cause early onset Alzheimer's disease in the region and that have been traced all the way back to the Iberian peninsula and the year 1500!

This is a revealing and fascinating episode, one which we feel is fitting to end 2021.

On episode 405 of the Colombia Calling podcast, we explore the world of e-commerce in Colombia and talk to Sebastian Laurson of the start-up sex toy company, Secretos.

Dane Laurson is partner with five other immigrants to Colombia and between them, they are seeking to revolutionise the sex toy industry, removing the stigma from the business in peculiar nook and cranny stores in parts of Bogotá and making it accessible and confidential for the buyer.

We hear how they came to start this business, how the pandemic has been important for their growth, how they researched the business and where they go from here. In a frank and insightful conversation, we learn about e-commerce and start-ups in Colombia and indeed, the sex toy industry.

Check out their page: www.secretos.com.co

Nadya Ortiz is Colombia's first woman chess grandmaster. Hailing from humble origins in Ibague, chess became a conduit for her success. By succeeding in the chess world, she won a scholarship to study at university in Texas, later another one to go to Purdue and then by virtue of her excellence in computer science now works for Apple in San Francisco.

We hear Nadya's story on episode 404 of the Colombia Calling podcast. As a woman from the provinces, playing an unpopular sport, she made it all happen for her. We discuss her life, politics in Colombia and much more in what is an inspirational story.

One of the goals of the Colombia Calling podcast is to reveal lesser or unknown stories from Colombia and this week on Episode 403, I feel we've really hit this one out of the park! We get to talk to Daniela Rocha and Daniel Velasquez, part of a team of filmmakers currently putting together a documentary entitled: Las Señoritas.

This is a special story as it highlights the work of a religious organization called USEMI (la Unión Seglar de Misioneras). This is a missionary group with a difference, it's revolutionary, it's staffed by single women and it was not designed to "drag the poor indigenous people from poverty and ignorance," but to understand local and original cultures, finding god within their beliefs.

We talk to Daniela and Daniel about the experiences of filming in the Sierra Nevada with the Arhuaco and Kogui people, hearing of the USEMI project which took place between the 1960s and 1980s before leaving the Sierra. It's unusual to hear about "revolutionary catholicism," and this makes for phenomenal listening.

The filmmakers are seeking contributions in this post-production phase, take a look here: https://vaki.co/en/vaki/lassenoritas#summary

It's no secret that I've been looking for someone to discuss this on the podcast for some while, but finally, it's come together. Johanna Gomez is in the process of writing up her PhD thesis at the Goldsmiths University in London and her research has taken her deep into the Llanos of Colombia, where witchcraft is rife, to investigate this phenomenon, the rites and rituals and delve into a lesser known cultural practice found in this region and all over Colombia.

How much do you know about witchcraft, witchcraft in Colombia, witches and shamans and indeed, in the context of Colombia's armed conflict? A lot more, I hope, after this incredible conversation with Johanna Gomez.

President Duque's presence at the COP26 in Glasgow has generated the kind of headlines that he seeks but it's important to hear from the people on the ground and in the communities. One collection of communities very affected by illegal mining, deforestation, armed actors, displacements, coca cultivation and more are those along the Atrato River in the department of Choco on Colombia's pacific side.

We hear from three environmental professionals all en route to Glasgow. Maryuris Mosquera from the Atrato speaks via interpreter about the life and problems in her home territory and her role as a Guardian del Rio.

Viviana Gonzalez of the legal association Siembra discusses the legal implications of the Colombian Constitutional Court's decision in adopting an unprecedented ecocentric approach to human rights: the judges recognised Colombia’s Atrato River as a legal entity with environmental rights that need to be protected alongside the communities’ bio-cultural rights.

and

Alejandro Perez, a senior specialist in political and peace advocacy at SNPS/Caritas Colombiana, discusses the three key points that need to shared at COP26 regarding the issues in Colombia. 1. Protect Environmental and Social Leaders, 2. Show the relationship between the failure to act on the peace accord and deforestation. 3. Strengthen local communities.

Thank you to ABC Colombia, SNPS/Caritas, Guadianes del Rio, Siembra and the University of Glasgow for their help and participation of this important episode.

To all Colombianists out there, Adam Isacson of the Washington Office on Latin America needs no introduction. Offering some of the most insightful analysis on not only Colombia but other countries in the region, he is a go to person for journalists seeking out informed and level-headed opinions.

We hear from Isacson after this, his first visit to Colombia since quarantine restrictions have been lifted and in the company of Congressman Jim McGovern.

They travel to Sumapaz, Cali, Santander de Quilichao and Bogotá and Isacson provides us with a lowdown of his thoughts on how Colombia is evolving...or not.

Tune in to a fascainting Episode 400!

On episode 399 of the Colombia Calling podcast, we welcome back one of our consistently most popular guests, writer and academic Emma Louise Jay. You'll remember her from the "Downton Abbey with a machete," episode some years ago and also talking to us about her investigation into and writing on Colombian historic figure: José María Córdova and much more.

But, on this episode we have a more free-flowing conversation about Colombia, her move from Antioquia to Eastbourne UK, the current state of politics in Colombia, getting her dog from Colombia to the UK, the infamous UK Covid-19 redlist, environmental concerns and whether or not she's secretly a spy.

Colombia news from journalist Emily Hart.

Tune in!

On Episode 398 of the Colombia Calling podcast, we address a sadly overlooked topic and that of the human rights and environmental defenders in Colombia. It is a great honour to host Isabel Cristina Zuleta, praised by Amnesty International for her work with Ríos Vívos - Antioquia Movement, in defense of the territory, and of the affected communities in the area of ​​influence of the Hidroituango project, and Beto Coral, a Colombian activist in exile in the US for having named former president Alvaro Uribe as the head of the Aguilas Negras paramilitary group. Coral's father was part of the squad involved in hunting down Pablo Escobar and was later murdered by a corrupt policeman.

We hear their thoughts on the 2022 presidential elections in Colombia, how they became activists, what they campaign for and the threats on their lives.

News as always from journalist Emily Hart

Alexander Diamond joins the Colombia Calling podcast from Briceño, Antioquia to tell us about his research which has kept him in the rural Colombian town for 24 months so far.

Briceño is a so-called "peace laboratory," designated as a principal site for coca crop substitution after the signing of the peace accords between the government of President Santos and the FARC guerrillas in 2016.

Now, the location of a tug of war power struggle between dissident guerrillas and paramilitaries, for this area that has suffered so much, the future is in the balance.

Diamond shares the findings from his PhD research and some insights into the documentary he is making entitled: An Uncomfortable Peace.We discuss the violence, the neighbouring dam in the town of Ituango and more, check out his website www.alexkdiamond.com

On Episode 396 of the Colombia Calling podcast, we get to discuss the disease of leishmaniasis in the context of the Colombian armed conflict and post conflict period with post doctoral fellow Lina Beatriz Pinto-Garcia.

Pinto Garcia's ethnographic monograph explores how the Colombian armed conflict and a vector-borne disease called cutaneous leishmaniasis are inextricably connected and mutually constitutive.

The stigmatization of the illness as “the guerrilla disease” or the "subversive disease," is reinforced by the state’s restriction on access to antileishmanial medicines, a measure that is commonly interpreted as a warfare strategy to affect insurgent groups.

Situated at the intersection between STS (Science and Technology Studies) and critical medical anthropology, her work draws on multi-sited field research conducted during the peace implementation period after the agreement reached by the Colombian government and FARC, the oldest and largest guerrilla organization in Latin America.

It engages not only with the stigmatization of leishmaniasis patients as guerrilla members and the exclusionary access to antileishmanial drugs but also with other closely related aspects that constitute the war-shaped experience of leishmaniasis in Colombia.

This work illuminates how leishmaniasis has been socially, discursively, and materially constructed as a disease of the war, and how the armed conflict is entangled with the realm of public health, medicine, and especially pharmaceutical drugs.

The problems associated with coca cultivation and leishmaniasis cannot be dissociated from cross-border events such as forced disappearance and the massive migration of Venezuelans who arrive in Colombia looking for survival alternatives, including coca production.

Tune in and hear about the Diseased Landscapes project
https://www.insis.ox.ac.uk/diseased-l...

Hasta Siempre Colombia, Dr Paola Cubillos speaks to Colombia Calling.

Was Dr Paola Cubillos naive when she and her husband decided to gamble everything and return with their three children from Canada to Colombia? It was 2016 and the peace accord with the FARC guerrillas was all but signed, things appeared to be changing for Colombia and they wanted to be part of it.

The peace accord was signed not long after they arrived to live and work in Cali in southwestern Colombia. Then, the "No vote" was victorious in the referendum on the accords, there were the demonstrations in October 2019, Covid-19 in 2020 and then the strikes, protests and violence in the country in April and May 2021, and Cali, where they were living, was a particular flashpoint.

That was it. The family departed almost five years to the day that they arrived. On this, the fifth anniversary of the signing of the peace accords, we sit down with Dr Cubillos to discuss, from a Colombian's perspective, how the experiment of returning home was unsuccessful.

Tune in to Episode 395 of the Colombia Calling podcast for this and news from journalist Emily Hart.

An exhilarating travelogue for a new generation about a journey along Colombia’s Magdalena River, exploring life by the banks of a majestic river now at risk, and how a country recovers from conflict.

An American writer of Argentine, Syrian, and Iraqi Jewish descent, Jordan Salama tells the story of the Río Magdalena, nearly one thousand miles long, the heart of Colombia. This is Gabriel García Márquez’s territory—rumor has it Macondo was partly inspired by the port town of Mompox—as much as that of the Middle Eastern immigrants who run fabric stores by its banks.

Following the river from its source high in the Andes to its mouth on the Caribbean coast, journeying by boat, bus, and improvised motobalinera, Salama writes against stereotype and toward the rich lives of those he meets. Among them are a canoe builder, biologists who study invasive hippopotamuses, a Queens transplant managing a failing hotel, a jeweler practicing the art of silver filigree, and a traveling librarian whose donkeys, Alfa and Beto, haul books to rural children

Tune in for an enjoyable conversation with the author and buy his book!

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/676218/every-day-the-river-changes-by-jordan-salama/

Exactly 40 episodes ago in December 2020, freelance journalist in Colombia, Joshua Collins (@InvisiblesMuros) made his first appearance on the Colombia Calling podcast talking about the border region at Cucuta and with neighbouring Venezuela.

So much has happened since then and we've collaborated on projects from Cucuta for the New Humanitarian and the Globe and Mail reporting on the tragedy of the Venezuelan migrants crossing into Colombia and making the journey South all the way to Chile in search of work.

Collins has been busy, such is the life of a freelancer, and he gives us the lowdown this week on his adventures and travel to the region of Catatumbo, one of Colombia's most important coca growing regions. Here he discovers various things but you'll have to tune in to hear more. We also discuss the protests in Cali, police brutality in Colombia, disappearances and finally his new project with other journalists:

Pirate Wire Serices

https://piratewireservices.substack.com/

Adriaan Alsema of Colombia Reports says it was satire and the injured party from RCN Colombia claims that it was slander. You can decide for yourselves over the duration of this podcast which takes in the subject of Adriaan Alsema's legal difficulties in recent weeks and an overall look at the increase in harassment of journalists in Colombia.

Can a journalist in Colombia discuss corporate activity in criminal activity, asks Alsema of Colombia Reports? No stranger to controversy, Alsema takes this opportunity to present his side of various stories since the Colombian press has not wanted to cover it, preferring to only make reference to Diana P Camacho of RCN news.

Tune in

On episode 391 of the Colombia Calling podcast, we talk to the director and producer of a new and incredibly insightful and moving documentary entitled: La Casa de Mama Icha.

Decades earlier, Mama Icha moved to Philadelphia in the United States to help her daughter with the care of her grandchildren. However, she never lost sight of her hometown of Mompox, spending years sending money to build her dream house there. Now, at the end of her life, Mama Icha boards a plane and flies back to Colombia where she finds joy and heartbreak in her return to the place her heart never left.

On Episode 391 of the Colombia Calling podcast, we sit down and chat with the documentary's director Oscar Molina and producer Brenda Steinecke to explore the themes of identity, belonging and returning home from Philadephia to Mompox after 33 years away.

La Casa de Mama Icha gets its cinematic release in Colombia in selected CineColombia theatres on 2 September 2021 and will be shown on PBS in the US on 18 October, mark your diaries!

A great deal is made of the urban regeneration of Medellin's infamous Comuna 13, and for good reason, but now that there's a "been there, seen this, done that," attitude towards this success story, with tourists arriving in their droves to view the graffiti, ride on the escalators and marvel at the strength of a community in the face of such adversity, is it time to extend this policy of regeneration and hope beyond the frontiers of but one nighbourhood?

Exploring the issues which arise around such a concentrated focus has led to an intrepid group of Colombians and Europeans resident in Medellin to explore this imbalance. After 130 interviews, six months of investigation and consultations, the result is a new exhibition entitled: ContraMiradas - Narrativas de la Periferia Urbana.

Austrian urbanist, Manuel Oberlader, resident in Medellin, put together a team to address this contextual issue which may define the city and started exploring outer-lying and lesser know districts of Medellin and nearby Bello, Antioquia. What resulted has been an empowerment of said districts and their populations, such as those of La Cruz, Santo Domingo and Granizal. Locals from these barrios were taught photography, filmmaking and more and their stories are those which are now on display in the EPM Biblioteca in Medellin.

Our newscast journalist Emily Hart was also involved in the setup of this exhibition and therefore she joins myself and Oberlader in discussing the essence of the displays and what the team behind Contra Miradas was trying to achieve.

Come and visit as the exhbition runs from 17 August -30 October 2021.

Many of you are resident in Medellin or often passing through the city, please stop in and visit the exhibition to support this initiative.

Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/contramiradas

There's a humanitarian crisis taking place at Panama's southern border and in northern Colombia where thousands of migrants ranging from countries such as Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti and as far-flung as Congo, Syria and Nepal are lining up to cross the Darien Gap in the hope of some day reaching the United States of America.

On this week's Colombia Calling podcast, we have the honour of talking to Raul Lopez, project coordinator and Doctor Fabiola Pintado, both of Doctors Without Borders (Medicos sin Fronteras, Medecins sans Frontieres) at their location on the frontline in the town of Bajo Chiquito in Panama.

Lopez and Pintado speak to us about the awful state of the migrants emerging from the jungle after the 7-10 day trek of 60 miles through one of the world's most dangerous jungles. Women are raped, people are murdered, robbed, children washed away in turbulent rivers, people collapse from exhaustion are forced into being drugs mules and more. This is harrowing story of human suffering and is one which deserves to be widely heard.

Tune in and hear about an underreported tragedy at the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama and the work of the MSF.

It's no stretch of the imagination to agree with Glen Galindo's description of himself as a problem solver and educator as he has carved out quite the life for himself in serving Colombia from his home base in Colombian coffee zone's town of Chinchina, Caldas.

With Galindo's set up, you can launch your Colombia Experience by immersing yourself within the public school system as an assistant teacher where you can brush-up your Spanish and gain insight on what's it like to work as a teacher in Colombia; In the meantime, our team finds you long-term teaching contracts for your consideration,

In an upbeat conversation with Galindo, one cannot help but feel positive for the future in Colombia. Check out his websites:
www.mingahouse.org
www.mingateachers.org

On episode 387, we pick up where we left off in Episode 386 and continue to talk to our anonymous sources from La Primera Linea (front line) of protests in Colombia. Speaking to us from Cali and Popayan, these youths speak about the importance of education and voting, how police reform should occur and how the Colombian government could better spend aid money from international governments which all too often goes towards the purchase of lethal weaponry for the Colombian police.

We hear from Colombian Monica Hurtado in the US speaking on the importance of helping Colombia and Colombians from overseas and that the 5 to 10 million colombians resident outside of Colombia must register to vote in the 2022 presidential elections. MCI also discusses the difficulty of registering to vote.

With MCI and Michael we also hear both in English and in Spanish the letter to Colombia, written by German tourist turned activist Rebecca Sprößer, who was deported last week being accused of participating in acts of terrorism and vandalism during the protests in Cali.

Tune in!

The Primera Linea, as the front line of the youths in Colombia's protests during the paro nacional strike is known, have been labelled as terrorists and vandals by the police and President Ivan Duque. In what is a first for the Colombia Calling podcast, we host a bilingual episode where three members of the Primera Linea share with us the reasons as to why they are striking, what they are demanding of the government and the hopeful outcomes to these protests.

On this occasion, we are able to question them on the violence and the destruction of public and private property, how do they respond to accusations of damaging the economy and more and in turn they also share stories of friends killed, facing up to riot police tanks and more.

Tune in to an important episode and a continuation of our series on the Paro Nacional protests in Colombia and thank you to Michael and MCI in the US for translating the interventions of the three individuals that share their stories with us.

It's a great pleasure to have a true expert in their field on the Colombia Calling podcast and discussing one of the lesser known cultures in Colombia, that of the Raizal people of San Andres and Providencia. To most Colombians these Caribbean islands represent only a vacation escape but the truth is that there is so much more.

Sharika D. Crawford is associate professor of history at the United States Naval Academy and she joins us to talk about her extensive research on slave routes to the Caribbean from Africa, the culture and society of San Andres and Providencia and the issues facing these islands.

We also discuss her book: The Last Turtlemen of the Caribbean. Crawford describes the colonial Caribbean as an Atlantic commons where all could compete to control the region’s diverse peoples, lands, and waters and exploit the region’s raw materials. Focusing on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Crawford traces and connects the expansion and decline of turtle hunting to matters of race, labor, political and economic change, and the natural environment. Like the turtles they chased, the boundary-flouting laborers exposed the limits of states’ sovereignty for a time but ultimately they lost their livelihoods, having played a significant role in legislation delimiting maritime boundaries. Still, former turtlemen have found their deep knowledge valued today in efforts to protect sea turtles and recover the region’s ecological sustainability.

Many listeners have asked after the Colombia Calling news journalist and this week it's a pleasure to have the one and only Emily Hart with us here in Mompós to discuss her life and journalism here in Colombia.

Hart is a journalist and researcher from the UK with a strong background in politics and human rights and has been reporting on some fascinating topics here in Colombia. Her bylines have been featured in the Times, the Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, Sky News and Pitchfork.

On Episode 384 of the Colombia Calling podcast, we have the opportunity to get to know Hart better, talk about her life as a journalist, the writing process, the hunt for articles and how she reported on the demolition of Pablo Escobar's building in Medellin, the ancient rock art in Chiribiquete, illegal armed groups enforcing a Covid-19 lockdown in Colombia and the "rainforest electro" music which is sweeping this region of the Americas.

Tune in to hear more and follow Hart on twitter: @emily_h_h
website: https://www.clippings.me/users/emilyhart

Many years ago we aired a podcast entitled: "How Corrupt is Colombia?" (Ep172) and unfortunately, the question is still all too timely today. In fact the issue of corruption here is perhaps more pertinent than ever in 2021 in a post Odebrecht era in Colombia, with the Char family in Barranquilla still making overtures about potentially launching a campaign for the presidential elections in 2022 and a seemingly endless slew of accusations levied at politicians on every side of the political spectrum.

On Episode 383 of the Colombia Calling podcast, Will Freeman, Ph.D. candidate in Politics at Princeton University shares his knowledge on the subject of corruption in Colombia and the region.

Freeman's research focuses on understanding how developing democracies strengthen the rule of law and fight corruption. His forthcoming dissertation is a study of the development of anti-corruption efforts in Colombia, Guatemala, and Peru and he spent much of his time doing fieldwork and investigations on the subject in Barranquilla, Colombia.

With Freeman, we discuss Odebrecht, the Char family, the Cartel de la Toga and further elements of regional corruption.

Tune in and also follow Freeman on Twitter: @WillGFreeman

Colombia a comedy of errors tells the story of all fifty million Colombians, examining the country’s history, people, culture, colombianomics and justice. The first edition of this satirical survival guide was a bestseller in Colombia from the first month of its release. This, the second edition, contains brand new and expanded chapters including: Dating, Beauty, A to B and Justice, which gives the book its name.

The book was written by British writer Victoria Kellaway and Colombian artist Sergio J. Lievano and reveals the secrets behind a nation that has drama and comedy seeped into its bloodstream. The pair study the country with an eye for detail that will surprise everyone, from the most knowledgeable reader to those who don’t have a clue about the country.

From my perspective, this new edition of Kellaway and Lievano's book is a timely update to remind us why we love Colombia and why we should continue to strive to improve her as well. It feels as if, this time around, both authors have decided to pull off the gloves and take a full swing at some of the more pressing issues of sexism, corruption and political indifference, but of course, with a sense of humour and empathy so as to keep the reader involved and interested.

There is an additional editorial maturity all these years later as well. Ideal for all of those out there wishing to learn a little more about our country but in a relaxed matter.

Can you imagine that we had the authors on the podcast, way back in our infancy in May 2014 on Episode 48!? That's 334 episodes ago, how times have changed!

Abducted, cheated and forced to fight in a war that wasn't theirs. Former child soldiers of the FARC recount one of the most shocking yet least known atrocities of Colombia´s civil war in this feature-length animated documentary entitled: "Operación Berlín: The children who fought war in Colombia."

Mathew Charles is a long-time journalist and investigator working in Colombia and covering some of the most difficult topics, embedding himself with the ELN guerrillas or the paramilitaries in order to get the story. This time, his subject is the stories of the the child recruits in the rank and file of the FARC and those that survived and those that tragically perished in a military attack known as "Operation Berlin."

This operation is heralded by the Colombian military as one of its greatest successes in the long-running conflict with the FARC guerrillas and took place in late 2000 and early 2001. New information about the military operation and the nefarious actions of the FARC have been emerging due to the diligence and dogged investigations done by Charles and his team and is revealed in the documentary (available on July 7).

You can revisit an interview with Charles from 2018 here on the Colombia Calling podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4OLfgS503wHS9svBG1rUwo?si=dhnoVgqFTVWkirRDMTwlNg&dl_branch=1

In the context of the on-going #paronacional protests in Colombia, it's time for the Colombia Calling podcast to take a look at another angle of what is going on in the streets, on the walls and all over the underpasses in the country. In short, during the unrest, which began on 28 April 2021, urban art, protest art and graffiti have proliferated to extend and spread the message of the youths' discontent with the status quo in Colombia.

This is our chance to chat to Jahir (Jay) Dimate of the Bogotá Graffiti Tour (http://bogotagraffiti.com) to discuss what is going on with reference to this genre of art, the cultural movement of graffiti and enjoy a conversation that this national strike is far from a: "left versus right debate."

About the Bogotá Graffiti Tour

Bogotá Graffiti Tour started in 2011 when a Aussie street artist and a Canadian graffiti writer decided they wanted to share Bogota’s unique, prolific urban art scene and help expose local artists to a wider international audience. The tour has changed a bit over the years, and it’s now considered one of the best things to do in Bogotá. The team (a group of artists and creative minds) get together just about every week to talk about graffiti, plan how to best help out artists’ projects, and to brainstorm the best ways to bring our own projects to life.

With the #ParoNacional still on-going in Colombia, we take on the subject of human rights and human rights law in the context of the situation here.

For some background on our expert guests, read on:

Maria Clara Galvis is a lawyer from the Externado University of Colombia. Professor Galvis has graduate studies in Compared Constitutional Law from the Universitá Degli Studi di Geneva. Since 2015, she has been a member of the United Nations Committee against Forced Disappearance and is currently its Vice President. Professor Galvis is also a researcher in the International Law at the Department of Constitutional Law of the Externado University of Colombia. She has been an advisor to the Procurator Delegate for Human Rights (1994-1995), the Attorney General's Office (1997-2000), the Attorney General's Office (2010-2011), assistant magistrate of the Superior Council of the Judiciary (2014-2015) and National Director of Promotion and Dissemination of Human Rights of the Ombudsman of Colombia (2016-2017). He has published academic articles and research on international human rights law, transitional justice, enforced disappearance, business, and human rights, women's rights, and the rights of indigenous peoples. See bio

Veronica Hinestroza is an independent senior consultant and advisor on international human rights law. Her primary focus is on the documentation and investigations of grave human rights violations, particularly torture and ill-treatment, enforced disappearances and arbitrary killings. She is a member of the Steering Committee developing a universal protocol for human rights-compliant, lawful and effective questioning for the United Nations. She was a member of the working group to update the Istanbul Protocol - the United Nation’s Manual for the effective investigation and documentation of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. During over 17 years spent promoting and supporting the development and implementation of IHRL and IHL standards at the national, regional and international levels, Verónica has worked for the World Organisation Against Torture, the German Agency for International Cooperation, the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute (Latin America and East Timor), Impunity Watch, the World Bank, the International Centre for Transitional Justice, the Overseas Development Institute, Samusocial and the Externado de Colombia University.

And the subjects we cover in the podcast:


1.How can this unrest be put into context within Latin America (Chile, Nicaragua)?
2.What is going on in Colombia and from a human rights perspective, what is the situation regarding the paro nacional?
3.Police brutality and use of excessive force? As I see it, the paro nacional finds its roots as a social problem yet the authorities are treating it as an issue of “law and order,” does this contribute to the problem of human rights abuses?
4.Why is the government selling a different narrative to foreign governments and what are they trying to do?
5.Who is responsible? We need to discuss who is in charge and who is giving the orders to state forces…is this something which is a collective or individual responsibility. There are reports of disappearances, there are killings and potentially cases of torture in addition to cases of sexual violence…
6.With the issue of the False Positives and the figure: 6402 which is heavily featured in the marches as one of the protestors’ demands, “quien dio la orden,” Colombia is experiencing a very difficult moment in terms of its international reputation.
7.What do you both see as happening now, will there be any significant progress in terms of human rights in the short or long term and what can we expect from the visit of the CIDH arriving on 7 June?

Tags and Keywords: human rights colombia, human right, maria clara galvis, veronica hinestroza, paro nacional, strikes colombia, police brutality, conflict colombia

On this week's Colombia Calling podcast, we continue on our series relating to the on-going unrest surrounding the #ParoNacional protests in Colombia. With more than a month of daily nationwide demonstrations, Adriaan Alsema of Colombia Reports follows Elizabeth Dickinson (Crisis Group), Andres Bermudez (JusticeInfo.net) and Sergio Guzman (Colombia Risk Analysis) in discussing an important angle to explain what is going on.

Alsema joins us to discuss the role and responsibility of the press in covering the marches and violence, the manipulation of the news and the worrying increase of censorship taking place, not to mention violence directed at members of the media...something which is becoming increasingly the norm.

UNESCO’s findings in a recent report: "Safety of Journalists Covering Protests – Preserving Freedom of the Press During Times of Civil Unrest," reveal a “wider upward trend” in the use of unlawful force by police and security forces, with more than 30 protests impeded by police and security forces last year alone. It details a wide range of abuses journalists face when covering protests, from harassment, intimidation and beatings, to being shot at with lethal or non-lethal ammunition, detention and abduction.

It's an absolute pleasure to welcome Elizabeth Dickinson, Snr Analyst for Colombia at Crisis Group, back on the Colombia Calling podcast to explore more profoundly the unrest and the #paronacional in Colombia.

We recorded this episode as Colombia hit an unenviable benchmark of 24 days of protests which began on April 28. What is going on, why and what can we expect in the coming months as we move into the presidential election cycle in 2022?

Showing complete clarity, Dickinson has been producing some of the most insightful interpretations of events in Colombia. There's an exasperation in the country and people are clamouring for social justice and security. Of course, the pandemic has exacerbated things, but when 84% of Colombia's youth are in favour of the national strike (Paro Nacional), something is definitely awry.

We discuss the violence in Cali, how the strike extends beyond the urban and into the rural, what to expect from the negotiations with the government of President Duque and where Colombia goes from here.

Expect an in-depth analysis of the 2016 peace accords in Colombia and the need for leadership and political courage from the country's politicians. Dickinson explains that it will impossible for the government to address the long list of grievances in Colombia, but empathy, accountability and a comprehension of the underlying issues in this nation would be a good place to start.

Tune in for an incredible conversation with one of the top analysts on Colombia.

As the the nationwide paro nacional protests continue in Colombia, it's worth taking a moment to explore an incredibly important piece of news which has been buried by their blanket coverage in the press.

This week, on Episode 376 we speak to journalist and investigator Andres Bermudez (www.justiceinfo.net) about the recent admission by the FARC guerrillas that kidnapping was an official policy and not an "economic retention," as they previously had claimed.

This admission by the FARC secretariat before the Special Peace Jurisdiction/ Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz or JEP, is a landmark decision taken by the former guerrillas and we're waiting to see what the JEP draws up.

We explore this and more themes, including an update on the protests in Colombia with journalist Emily Hart in Medellin.

These are troubling times in Colombia. This episode was recorded on Sunday 9 May during the 12th day of nationwide protests in Colombia. Sergio Guzman, Director of Colombia Risk Analysis joins us to provide a total overview of what has been going on here.

Guzman is recently returned from Cali where a great deal of the unrest has been taking place. We hear about what the situation felt like in Cali and the overall ambiance there. Then, Guzman provides us with a look at the situation in Colombia in the lead in to the strikes, what has gone on during the strikes and the government of President Ivan Duque's reactions and finally, what we might expect from a period of dialogue in the future.

This is a timely and important episode and worth listening to in order to understand the malaise in Colombia, the nation's youth who feel that there is no future for them here and the overall discontent which has been simmering for some time.

Check out Colombia Risk Analysis: https://www.colombiariskanalysis.com

Joining us from Cali, Colombia is Heidi Paster Harf to explain to us a little about the phenomenon of "emerrging jews" in Colombia. To explain this, first let's put this into perspective: One of the most striking contemporary religious phenomena is the world-wide fascination with Judaism.

Traditionally, few non-Jews converted to the Jewish faith, but today millions of people throughout the world are converting to Judaism and are identifying as Jews or Israelites and Colombia is no exception.

This overall phenomenon constitutes a dramatic turning point in Jewish history, since traditionally non-Jews had little or no interest in joining the Jewish people. This new reality has many implications, as it is beginning to change the face of Jewish communities and at the same time sharpen the debate over the boundaries of the Jewish collectivity.

So, tune in to hear about this and here in Colombia, something I had no knowledge of before reading her Harf's article and seeing her photographs in the Washington Post recently.

Tags and Keywords: heidi paster harf, hiedi harf photographer, colombia calling, cali, emerging jews, emerging jews colombia, jews colombia, jews south america, richard mccoll, richard mccoll journalist, richard mccoll podcast, podcast colombia

Angela Sierra is a self-described bookish foodie chocoholic coffee lover, writing stories from and about Colombia and this where we begin on Episode 373 of the Colombia Calling podcast this week.

What are the relationships between Culture, Identity and Society? And where do these fit into a country as complex as Colombia? By addressing these issues and more, we enjoy an open and flowing dialogue about cultural clashes, appropriation and how to live in this land.

A little more about Angela:

"I was born in Colombia, in a city called Pereira, where you get a clear view of a volcano every morning, siestas are sacred and macaws let you know when it's time to turn off your computer and enjoy the sunset. But my family moved to the US when I was still in diapers, so I didn't remember my homeland growing up. Still, I ate arepas and Pop Tarts, feared the Boogie Man and La Llorona in equal measure and got presents from Santa and El Niño Dios.

We moved back to Colombia many years ago and I’ve lived here since, writing stories from and about this magical place."

Download the book Unbound wherever you prefer to get your books and check out Angela's website: https://www.angelasierra.ink

On this week's Colombia Calling podcast, we have the pleasure of speaking to Damon O'Neill a Londoner based in Medellin and volunteering at the Ecoparque above Comuna 13 in the city.

A former trialist for West Ham and Tottenham football clubs, O'Neill brings his football talent to the city of Medellin and trains up children from Comuna 13 in his spare time.

But, there's more to this story, the idea is not only to train children in football but also to open up the area above Comuna 13 to tourists, both domestic and international. It's a natural escape with unrivalled views over the city, there's the option of excursions on horseback and visitors are able to enjoy freshwater pools in which to swim, places to eat, play volleyball and more.

However, despite bringing more tourism and visitors to the area, high above the well-travelled route of the Comuna 13 graffiti and Hip Hop tour, the aim is also to allow tourists to learn more about the infamous history of the area, such as what went on at La Escombrera.

Check out the Ecoparque on Instagram: @ecoparque13

You may or may not have heard of journalist and documentary maker Andrew Gold, such is life, but I highly recommend his podcast: "On the Edge with Andrew Gold." Gold's podcast is one of my go-to shows for when I walk the dog during these trying pandemic times and it never fails to maintain my attention and awaken my curiosity.

What is little known perhaps is that Andrew Gold lived in Medellin for a while and has a "Colombia story" to share with us alongside with other anecdotes from his varied and always interesting career path.

So here's a little about Andrew Gold to whet your appetite.

Gold is a journalist and TV presenter who speaks 5 languages & lived in 6 countries, producing docs on bizarre and controversial subcultures. He battled an abusive exorcist, duelled with the Crazy Baby Lady and hunted UFOs. The actor Viggo Mortensen made fun of him on live Argentine TV. After a joke went wrong, he became known in Argentina as The Last English Virgin. He represented England in beer-pong (also on live TV) and lost to a 12-year-old Panamanian girl.

Check out his podcast and website: https://www.andrewgoldpodcast.com

It's not every day you hear of someone on a sports scholarship to a US university and then returning to Colombia to follow her passion of rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing birds of prey back into the wild. Well, that's Ana María Morales' story!

Morales' describes these incredible birds of prey as "raptors," and so to clarify: Raptors are birds of prey in the orders falconiformes and strigiformes. In English, that means eagles, hawks, falcons, owls, osprey, kites, and others, their main feature of a raptor is a hooked beak and long, sharp talons.

We discuss her experiences with Peregrine Falcons, Hawks, the Harpy Eagle and of course, how we need to work together with farmers to understand their predicament and those of the wildlife around them. This can be a tricky topic, but through talking, open dialogue and understanding, things can be achieved.

Tune in to an episode where the wildlife takes the front seat and we talk conservation, birding, birders, rescue and rehabilitation and how we can all help.

Check out http://fada.org.co

Renouned conflict photgrapher with experience in civil wars in El Salvador, Nicaragua, the genocide in Rwanda and so much more, Malcolm Linton, joins us once again on the Colombia Calling podcast to share some more of his stories from the field. His experiences in some of the most brutal conflict arenas, his desire to cover humanitarian causes and the first time he was shot....this and more on Episode 369.

Why has he returned to the Colombia Calling podcast? To share his experiences and also to talk about the new photography workshop he has designed and set up for three separate dates in picturesque Mompós, Colombia.

TALKING PHOTOS: Malcolm Linton’s Mompox Workshop

Starting at the end of May 2021, international photojournalist Malcolm Linton will be staging a monthly photography workshop in the Colombian colonial town of Mompox in collaboration with the Hotel San Rafael and La Casa Amarilla.

The workshop is for photographers — from amateurs to professionals — who want to express themselves more fully in their images. It will run for three full days, usually from Friday to Sunday, with a welcome dinner the night before it begins.

The workshop will be limited to 15 people at three different rates, depending on the amount of personal tuition from Malcolm that clients wish to receive. The first two sessions (late May, early July) will be in English, and future sessions will be in English or Spanish, depending on demand.

Sign up

https://malcolmlinton.com (Mompox Workshop)

By all accounts 2020 looked set to be a record year for international tourism to Colombia. It's obviously old news now what happened and that the service industry has been battered by the Covid-19 pandemic...but what have travel agencies and hotels been doing during this time and how do they plan to create a motor for growth once again?

This week we talk to Bruce McLean, a New Zealander now resident in Viterbo in Colombia's coffee region to talk about his travel agency - www.bnbcolombia.com - and how he has been preparing for post pandemic tourism in Colombia and how he sees the evolution of the industry here and as a whole.

Whether you’d like to explore the Amazon; travel through the spectacular coffee zone; discover the culture of Bogota and the beauty of Barichara; enjoy whale watching and untouched nature on the Pacific Coast; Enjoy an amazing experience with turtles laying eggs in the dead of night, and others hatching the following morning; Explore the Caribbean, Tayrona Park, Cartagena, and the Rosario Islands; travel into the Tatacoa desert and walk amongst pre-Colombian stone statues and tombs in San Agustin, or maybe you’d like to see rock paintings dating back 1000’s of years and swim with pink dolphins, Colombia has it all and so much more.

Sabrina Prioli first joined us on the Colombia Calling podcast in 2013 on Episode 23, now on Episode 367 and eight years later, we catch up with her in Zambia and chart her life and work from Colombia to Peru, South Sudan and then to her present location.

For more than ten years Prioli has worked in humanitarian projects in montoring and evaluation and is keen to share with us that there is very little if any psychosocial help for aid workers spending extended periods of time in conflict zones.

After a life-changing and horrific event in South Sudan which saw a local journalist executed at the hands of government forces, another colleague shot in the legs and several women subjected to multiple rapes, Prioli was in a dark place, understandably. Two years of intense therapy in Italy, a court case in Juba, South Sudan and a tenacity and with a positivity that defies reason, Prioli has started her own professional coaching.

Prioli is a certified professional Co-Active coach that helping Workers and NGOs to prevent burnout and develop leadership methods, so that people can feel empowered and bring humanitarian projects closer to their goals.

Tune in to hear an inspiring story of resilience and strength

Check out her website: https://en.sabrinaprioli.com/coach

Children Change Colombia is the largest UK charity working exclusively in Colombia and we are honoured to have Executive Director Angela Maria Carreño on the show this week to explain their work on this the 30th anniversary of their founding.

CCC has been working with children and their families to challenge poverty, inequality, discrimination and violence in Colombia. Of course, it's far from plain sailing in Colombia and to this day, millions of Colombian children still face poverty, violence and exclusion from the opportunities presented by a changing society.

Children are at risk of forced displacement, sexual exploitation or recruitment into armed groups, they are denied education, a loving family or a place to play, CCC works to ensure that every child can claim their right to a safe and happy childhood and a fulfilling future.

Please sign up for the Children Change Colombia newsletter: https://www.childrenchangecolombia.org/mailing-list-sign-up
and
view the website: https://www.childrenchangecolombia.org

Perhaps we don't think much about youth activism for the environment and climate change in Colombia all too much...Greta Thunberg dominates the international headlines, but awareness of a movement driven by the country's youth is becoming more apparent.

Cast your mind back to the 11 November demonstrations when Colombians of all sectors of society and of all age groups flooded the streets with their list of demands for the government. Amongst the throng of people, Colombia's younger generations were present and fighting their corner with regards to climate change and the environment. The atmosphere was one of hope for the future.

This week we speak to Juan Jose Guzman, co director of the foundation Pacto X El Clima (www.pactoxelclima.org), an entity set up to give a voice to Latin America's youth. It's inspiring to hear of the organization and how activism in Latin America differs from that in Europe or the US. Of course, we have to also take into account the danger associated with activism of this type in the region.

And finally, Guzman provides us with his perspectives for the future in Colombia.

Buenaventura is one of the major ports on the continent, accounting for nearly 60% of all Colombian sea imports and exports. However, due to its strategic position, the city's economy has been hampered by gang-related activity fighting over control of the port, making it among the most impoverished cities in Colombia with an unemployment rate of roughly 88% for a population of around 400 thousand.

And now, Buenaventura is in the news once again in Colombia, and for all the wrong reasons.

Following on from her first appearance on the Colombia Calling podcast on Ep334 (The Problem with the Coastal Cities of Colombia's Pacific). US academic Shauna Gillooly graciously agreed to return to provide us with a background as to what is going on in Buenaventura.

Tune in to hear about an overlooked and under reported news story from Colombia in which powerful economic interests lead to the displacement and suffering of traditional communities.

Eddie White Jr has courted some controversy here in Colombia, not least with his casual observation and caricatures of "the girls of Medellin." We sit down for a conversation about his art, the long term goal of producing a book and indeed, to hear his side of the story surrounding "that" Medellin image.

In what is a friendly and frank conversation, we learn of White's love for Colombia and his admiration of the people here. His desire is to promote the country and show the wonders and exoticism here through his observational pop art.

Hear artist Eddie White Jr's story and check out his artwork on Instagram.

It will come as no surprise to many that mining is one of the most polluting and destructive industries in the world and in South America this extractive industry has been a root cause for so many different but cross-cutting problems. It’s vital we support frontline communities to defend their land, water and culture; biodiversity, and the global climate and so on this episode of the Colombia Calling podcast, we discuss these issues in relation to Colombia with Tom Gatehouse, writer and researcher for the Latin America Bureau.

Gatehouse is currently writing, "The Heart of Our Earth: Community Resistance to Mining in Latin America," which is due to be published in the Spring of 2022.

Mining has grown exponentially in Latin America in the last three decades. Massive new mining projects have had major socioenvironmental effects, including pollution, appropriation and contamination of water supplies, division and co-optation of communities, and in some cases their forced relocation.

Communities are learning how to resist and some have successfully challenged government and company claims that large-scale mining projects can be safe, sustainable, and socially beneficial.

Tune in to this informative episode.

The Sudaca craft beer company is a business idea born out of an experience in the city of Leeds in Britain when one of the team worked and learned the brewing trade there before returning home to Bogotá. Now, this team has introduced a selection of quality craft beers to the Colombian capital.

It was a great pleasure to be contacted by Rafael Vargas of the Cerveceria Sudaca, located in Bogotá's hip art district of San Felipe, known for off-beat galleries, graffiti and now craft beer, to talk about their work, their brew and the future.

And, showing the kind of classy guys they are at the Sudaca, Vargas sent over some bottles of the IPA and Stout that they produce at the brewery. So, let's say that this episode has been sponsored by Sudaca, check them out www.sudaca.com

I wanted to call Episode 360 of the Colombia Calling podcast, "the Roast of Richard McColl," but it really became, "a conversation with Alba Torres, or "How Alba manages to put up with this annoying, moody and difficult Englishman!"

You asked for it folks and we have delivered, here is the long awaited episode in which Alba Torres, to whom I have the immense honour of being married, gives you the lowdown of the cultural differences, the difficulties in working together and how we ended up opening not one (www.lacasaamarillamompos.com) but two (www.sanrafaelmompox.com) hotels in Mompós, Colombia.

We enjoy an open and frank conversation punctuated with some - not all - of the questions you the listeners sent in for us to answer. Thank you again to all of those of you that participated.

Enjoy!

It's a great pleasure to welcome back Alvaro Torres, the CEO and director of Khiron Life Sciences (Ep344) on the podcast and accompanying him this time is a new member of the board of the company, Juan Carlos Echeverry, former Minister of the Economy in Colombia during the presidency of President Juan Manuel Santos.

This time around we discuss the evolution of the medicinal cannabis industry during the pandemia, Colombia's economic recovery, legalization of illicit products and finally, whether Juan Carlos Echeverry plans to run for the Presidency in the elections in Colombia in 2022.

Years of campaigning for women’s rights and against domestic violence have paid off and other countries in the region could now follow suit, we discuss the ruling on abortion in Argentina and how this may cause a ripple effect as far as Colombia. This week's guest is British freelancer journalist Amy Booth who has been covering events in Argentina closely. Check out Booth's website: https://amyboothwrites.com

It's a controversial topic, but perhaps it's time for there to be a more open discussion in the region regarding this issue? Hear the details from Argentina and let us know what you think and how Colombia might react, if at all?

Picking up where he left off exactly a year ago in Ep306, mountain trekking guide Gabriel Torres reports back in to the Colombia Calling podcast to inform us that his project to map many of the ancient trails in Santander has moved forward significantly. With the support of the French NGO Tetraktys a new project entitled www.destinochicamocha.com is coming into fruition.

Gabriel Torres in joined on Ep357 with Gwenn Prevot of the NGO to talk to us about the importance of the region of Santander for hiking in Colombia, local sustainable tourism within communities and how to appeal to both a Colombian and international market.

There's also the chance for you to win a competition and make your mark on this region, please tune in to find out more!

2020 has been a challenging year by all accounts but it has been a breakthrough year for the Colombia Calling podcast. Now completing our seventh year on the airwaves, the Colombia Calling podcast truly came into its own and matured in 2020. I don't know to what we can attribute this, but the interviews were of a different level, the interviewees more involved and I think my style and form improved too. What do you think?

So, for this year ending 2020 episode, longtime listener and friend, Joey Czikk takes over to discuss some of the more memorable episodes from 2020 including the ones with Wade Davis, Toby Muse, MiKo, Diego Franco, Sergio Guzman, Elizabeth Dickinson and many more.

Thank you again for listening and we'll be back in early January.

Imagine a work of fiction set in Colombia where the line between real and unreal, fact and fiction no longer exists...this is what you get when you read author Lachlan Page's debut novel, Magical Disinformation. Think Waugh, think Greene and then a smattering of de Bernieres and you know what you're in for, a romp of a read which brings a smile to your lips as you enjoy this fast moving tragicomedy.

Oliver Jardine is a spy in Colombia, enamoured with local woman Veronica Velasco. As the Colombian government signs a peace agreement with the FARC guerrillas, Her Majesty’s government decides a transfer is in order to focus on more pertinent theatres of operation. In a desperate attempt to remain in Colombia, Jardine begins to fabricate his intelligence reports. But the consequences soon take on a life of their own.

In the era of ‘fake news’ in the land of magical realism, fiction can be just as dangerous as the truth.

Buy the book! www.lachlanpageauthor.com

It's a great pleasure to invite anthropologist and expert in gender studies, Nicol Lesmes on Ep354 of the Colombia Calling this week to discuss the state of play regarding the implementation of the peace accords in Colombia.

Lesmes works investigating how the peace accords and the key issues of the accords are being implemented across the country. This is a timely episode as the signing of the accords - to great international fanfare - occurred a little over four years ago.

We discuss the structural problems in Colombia which hinder the implementation of the accords in the regions, the issues of land reform, political participation and state presence in more isolated parts of Colombia.

Tune in to hear a first hand account of what is going on in rural Colombia and with reintegrated members of the FARC guerrillas.

If you want to know the real stories about what is happening on the frontlines of demonstrations in Colombia and Ecuador and on the border with Venezuela, you have to seek out the reporters on the ground, the freelancers that beg, borrow and cajole their way into certain danger to get the story. This is what US journalist Joshua Collins does. Why are the people protesting, why is there almost unversal unrest? Ask Collins.

Since Collins has been reporting for the mainstream media and publishing on his own website (https://www.murosinvisibles.com), those of us searching for boots-on-the-ground information don't have to look elsewhere as he's got it covered, from the violence on the Colombian border with Venezuela when the aid trucks were set alight after the "Branson Concert," when he reported from within the billowing clouds of tear gas in Quito, Ecuador and of course, during Colombia's N21 protests, now in their one year anniversary.

In this episode 353 of the Colombia Calling podcast, we hear about the challenges of being a freelancer, the journalist's desire to tell the stories and include the voices of those affected and the reasons behind their malaise.

In this heartwarming episode, we hear from Colombian musician in Paris, Diego Franco about the foundation he created with others called Piano Movil (Pianomovil.com).

PianoMóvil is intrepid and each tour of the country starts by loading a grand piano into a truck and heading out to lesser known parts of Colombia to bring musical activities to people ordinarily ignored by social and cultural events.

The aim is to promote the value of musical practice and to inspire societal change in smaller towns. We talk to Franco about some of the towns he has visited, some of the people he has played for and his hope for the future with the Piano Movil Foundation.

Tune in for a positive story from Colombia.

It's July 4 2014 and national team defender Mario Yepes has just scored a goal against Brazil in the stadium in Fortaleza. Had the goal stood, Brazil, the hosts would have gone out, alas no, the goal was wrongly disallowed and Colombia were sent home in the Quarter Finals, their best ever showing.

With historian Miguel Cuadros, we reflect on this momentous occasion in Colombia's footballing history, an event which brought - despite the undesirable loss - the joy back into the beautiful game for Colombia. The murder of Andres Escobar was pushed back as a distant memory and James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao showed what the cafeteros were capable of.

On a political level, would a victory against Brazil have led to national euphoria and a change in the Colombian mentality and psyche. Anything could have been possible? Would people have taken to the peace accords differently, would they have had a positivity about the country? It's worth considering.

Tune in for a fascinating discussion on what could have been...

In a startlingly frank and open discussion Cali-resident for 11 years, Kevin McCaffrey joins us to share his experiences of being drugged with scopolamine in Cartagena, Colombia

If you're not sure what scopolamine/ devil's breath/ burundanga can do, read on: You fall into a “zombie-like” state that leaves you with no ability to control your actions, leaving you at risk of having your bank accounts emptied, homes robbed, organs stolen, or raped by a street criminal. The US State Department notes on their website that scopolamine can render a victim unconscious for 24 hours or more. In Colombia, where its use seems to be most widespread, “unofficial estimates” of scopolamine events are at roughly 50,000 per year.

McCaffrey relates his robbery with such candour that it's hard not to admire his resilience and positivity, but he's firm that he's sharing the story to help others.

Tune in to hear a quite terrifying story that occurred only a few weeks ago in October 2020.

ArteSumapaz was founded by California-born Ric Dragon, a former digital marketing entrepreneur, and Bogotano Pedro Crump as a creative centre and retreat for artists of all types. And where better to get the artistic juices flowing than in Colombia's rolling hills and coffee landscape in southern Cundinamarca.

ArteSumapaz is located on Hacienda Australia, on 181 fanegadas (116 hectares, or 288 acres). The property is located in the municipality of San Bernardo, Cundinamarca, about three hours outside of Bogotá. In recent years, the property had been used as a cattle farm, although historically the farm was part of a larger coffee plantation.

When the Covid-19 pandemic struck, Dragon opened his doors to previous visitors and then once everyone had arrived, the doors were closed to the public and quarantine was observed. Dragon has been always taken a keen interest in trauma and how the arts can serve as a healing process.

In this week's fascinating conversation, we discuss how Dragon came to relocate to San Bernardo, what he hopes to achieve with ArteSumapaz and the trauma in Colombia.

Check out www.artesumapaz.org

Having designed and created the immensely successful La Leyenda multi-stage mountain bike race - a first of its kind in Colombia - Cali-resident Brian Murphy knows a thing or two about what it takes to entice travellers to Colombia. Murphy is also the co-founder of the Colombian Project, a tour operator offering bespoke and organized trips to Colombia.

And so, on this episode of the Colombia Calling podcast, Murphy and I enjoy a back and forth about the future of tourism in the country, how we see the industry developing and our hopes for this period of rebuilding during the Covid-19 pandemic.

We know and you all know that Colombia has it all, but, do we have the know-how to be able to move tourism forwards to be able to aid and address some of the most pressing issues inherent in Colombia?

Tune in for a interesting conversation between two implants to Colombia.

La Leyenda MtB race - https://la-leyenda.com
the Colombian Project - https://colombianproject.com

After I got out of jail, I was determined to find out more about how the issue of drugs not only landed me there, but has shaped the entire world: wars, scandals, coups, revolutions. I read every book, watched every documentary. I saved up to buy plane tickets. I went to Colombia, Mexico, Russia, Italy, Japan and the Afghan border—all in all, fifteen countries across five continents.

Call me Narco Polo.

Niko Vorobyov was jailed for dealing drugs in the UK, now he's out and tracing the history and data surrounding illicit drugs around the world. He talks to the Colombia Calling about his book Dopeworld, and gives an insight to his conversationally written compendium on the drugs trade which he witnesses firsthand.

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.

Hailing originally from Brighton in the UK, Vincent Pollard's journey has brought him to Colombia. After more than a decade as a mixologist in Toronto in some of the city's most exclusive haunts, Pollard finds himself now in Bogotá, but moving on to Cartagena, we catch up with him on Ep345 of the Colombia Calling podcast to hear a little more about his life here.

First and foremost, Pollard has been busy and has put together a very slick book of tantalizingly interesting cocktails entitled: Behind Bars: High Class Cocktails Inspired by Low Life Gangsters. You can find this in UK bookstores and on Amazon. Each cocktail is inspired by a character in a gangster flick. And if the cockail doesn't take your fancy, you can enjoy an education in gangster movies as there are some obscure examples cited.

Then, we talk to Pollard about his forthcoming project of creating a gin here in Colombia. It's called Selva Gin and will be on the market very soon, take a look at www.selvagin.co for more information.

Tune in to an enjoyable conversation with someone doing interesting things here in Colombia.

On this week's Colombia Calling podcast we have the opportunity to converse with Alvaro Torres, CEO and co founder of Khiron Life Sciences, one of the pioneers in the medical marijuana market from Colombia. Torres tells us about his background, how he got into this business and what the business is all about.

Khiron is a vertically integrated medical and CPG cannabis company with core
operations in Latin America, and operational activity in Europe and North
America. Khiron is the leading cannabis company in Colombia and the first
company licensed in Colombia for the cultivation, production, domestic
distribution and sales, and international export of both low and high THC
medical cannabis products. The Company has filled medical cannabis
prescriptions in Peru and has a presence in Mexico, Uruguay, UK, Spain and
also in Germany, where it is positioned to begin sales of medical cannabis.

Tune in for a fascinating episode and check out http://khiron.ca/

Catalina Gil Pinzón is an international consultant in peacebuilding and drug policy with over 10 years of experience managing projects and advising programs related to the reintegration of ex-combatants, youth violence, historical memory, peaceful resolution of conflicts, and drug policy. And so, given the tunnel vision attitude of the government of President Duque regarding their drugs policy, we thought it was time to have an expert who has worked specifically in this field for many years to explain the situation a little better.

We discuss art-based approaches to peace-building, the issues of youth violence, prohibition, the current narrative and stigma surrounding drugs in Colombia, the limitations and dangers of aerial fumigations of coca crops and much more.

Tune in to hear an expert in the field and read her articles in the Silla Vacia and in El Espectador newspaper on how we need to start addressing a change in the narrative on drugs in Colombia.

Adriaan Alsema, Director of Colombia Reports is back with another viper tongued diatribe at the government of President Ivan Duque. Times are complex and complicated in Colombia with the spontaneous protests in Bogotá after the killing of Javier Ordonez by the police. But this case of police brutality is not a lone event, the outrage comes from a situation of months of accumulated resentment at a government which is unwilling or unaware of the need to make changes.

Hundreds of thousands of Colombians took to the streets in November 2019 and their protests were muted and suffocated by the pandemic. Now, months of simmering outrage have been iginited by this inicident.

Hear Alsema discussing his fears for press freedom in Colombia, the responsibility of the cadre of foreign journalists in the country reporting the news and much more.

Read www.colombiareports.com

It's a great pleasure to welcome CEO and Founder of iFinca, Alexander Barrett on the Colombia Calling podcast this week to talk about his venture that is going to revolutionize the coffee market.

iFinca has been designed to place an emphasis on better pay for farmers. Where profit margins for farmers have dwindled over the last few decades to the point where coffee farming is no longer a sustainable endeavour for many farming families, iFinca's approach is to maximize the accuracy, efficiency, and profitability at every point in the supply chain. Allowing for greater social and economic impact.

The iFinca App connects you to the farmers behind your cup of coffee. This empowers consumers to make more informed and ethical choices about their coffee purchases. It's very interesting.

And so for those of you out there thinking of making the plunge and move overseas, listen to Alexander Barrett's good news story to inspire you further.

Check our www.ifinca.co

At least 39 people have been killed in the recent spate of unrest in Colombia and the country has seen 46 massacres so far this year. So, this week we speak to Colombia analyst Kyle Johnson to help us understand a little about why these are occurring now, who are the perpetrators and why?

Observers say that president Iván Duque – a skeptic of the peace deal he inherited when he took office two years ago – has not done enough to guarantee its implementation and has left much of the rural population exposed to the violence.

Duque has blamed the recent bloodshed on drug-trafficking groups, and ordered the armed forces to be “implacable” in their response. He drew sharp criticism on Saturday, when he appeared to downplay the massacres by describing them as “collective homicides”.

While the current wave of massacres has prompted comparisons with the peak of the conflict in the late 1990s – when both massacres and murders were commonplace – analysts say that the current dynamics of the armed groups are more complicated. Johnson provides us with a coherent and clear explanation.

One of the most popular guests on the Colombia Calling podcast, Emma Louise Jay, returns to the airwaves from rural Antioquia to interview me in rural Bolívar. Think of this episode as a conversation of catharsis for us both as we weigh up living under the world's longest Covid-19 quarantine in the world in Colombia.

The truth is that we are both feeling the mental strains and pressure - as most are in Colombia - under this interminable lockdown and the worrying increase in cases and deaths from the virus in our adopted home country.

I use the term, "the veil is slipping," to describe what is happening in Colombia and hopefully, we go some way towards verbalizing our concerns at the moment.

Read Emma's blog: https://www.emmalouisejay.com

Based at the Instituto de Biología, University of Antioquia. Blanco Libreros studies mangroves and coasts from landscape ecology and ecosystem ecology perspectives and it is an honour to have him on the podcast to speak about one of the lesser known regions of Colombia, Uraba.

His trips to the area of Atrato River Delta are frequent. In 2009, he started mapping these mangroves using high-resolution aerial photographs as part of a multi-disciplinary biogeographic expedition along the Urabá Gulf. Afterwards, he collaborated with the environmental authority for zoning mangroves according to their conservation status.

These mangroves in Urabá Gulf, and particularly those settled on the Atrato River Delta, are unique, fragile and vital and they are disappearing at a fast rate in some areas, the coastal climate is warming as they are converted to pastures and urban settlements. Coastal erosion, deforestation, forest-agriculture transition, mangroves, sedimentation are all challenges facing the area.

Tune in to hear an expert in the region speak to us about his passion.

August 7, 2020 marked the second anniversary of the inauguration of Iván Duque as President of Colombia and the midpoint of his administration so on this Episode 337 of the Colombia Calling, we welcome back the director of Colombia Risk Analysis, Sergio Guzman and Cameron Wilson, author of the new report: Defining his Legacy, Challenges and Opportunities for Duque in his Final Two Years.

Of course, since the report came out, there have been serious new developments regarding the house arrest of former president Alvaro Uribe for alleged witness tampering. President Duque has come out in vocal support of Uribe and we discuss the impacts of this and the decision made by the Supreme Court regarding the case.

Tune in for an in-depth look at Colombia's political landscape in 2020 and with an eye on the 2022 presidential elections.

www.colombiariskanalysis.com

Born in Toronto, Canada, Brian Johnston decided to retire from corporate work at the age of 25 and to dedicate his life to the exploration of his passion...and this, over the course of many years on the road working for NGOs and volunteering, has brought him to Medellin, Colombia.

The Via Cocina – Food Train is a social transformation project in Medellin aimed at impacting communities by educating them in healthy food training and teaching them recipes from around the world. Johnston and his team train low income Colombians and Venezuelans how to convert local produce into distinct yet affordable dishes for their home and new businesses. The culinary techniques and recipes were researched personally by Johnston in more than 25 countries.

But, the work doesn't end here, Johnston also provides exercises in where to source the foods, how to manage a budget and finances so that the participants' money is able to go further.

Should you find yourself in Medellin, check out Johnston's project and perhaps contribute some money towards ensuring its sustainability. The website can be found - https://viacocina.wordpress.com. Also, go with a group and have the Via Cocina - Food Train students prepare you a meal.

Tags and Keywords: charity medellin, via cocina medellin, via cocina - food train, 

An established singer, songwriter, accordionist and big band leader, Gregorio Uribe was born in Bogotá, Colombia and is currently based in New York City. Uribe has made a name for himself in the Latin music scene of both New York City and Boston. Well known for leading the Gregorio Uribe Big Band, a 16-piece orchestra that blends cumbia and other Colombian rhythms with powerful big band arranging, Uribe released "Cumbia Universal" (Zoho Music) featuring 8-time GRAMMY-winner and Latin music icon Rubén Blades in October 2015.

Upon its release the debut album for the big band hit the Billboard charts and received widespread critical acclaim with performances selling out at Jazz at Lincoln Center in NY, Villa Victoria Center for the Arts in Boston and two concerts at the celebrated Teatro Colón in his native Bogotá, Colombia.

He was also named by the government of Colombia as one of the "100 Most Successful Colombians Abroad".

Tune in for an excellent and upbeat episode of the Colombia Calling podcast
www.gregoriouribe.com

Every now and again, it's important to revisit some of the pressing issues in Colombia and on Ep334 of the Colombia Calling podcast, US academic, Shaun Gillooly gives us a blow by blow account of the tragedies taking place on Colombia's pacific coast, most importantly, in the cities of Buenaventura and Tumaco.

Whilst researching for her PhD dissertation, Gillooly takes us though her findings which lead us down a path revealing a century or more of isolation, indifference and despair for the communities of these two cities. Both Buenaventura and Tumaco are port cities, yet the benefits of the international trade are not seen by the population, the cities are both strategic deep water areas and close to coca growing regions. Therefore the illegal armed groups are in a constrant struggle for dominance and given the paucity of work available, many people fall into some rung of these illicit trades.

Gillooly does not, at any moment, glaze over the problems, we hear them all. Tune in for an informative and shocking account of life in the urban areas of Colombia's pacific coast.

Follow Gillooly @shaunagillooly

On Episode 333 it's a great pleasure to have Alex Rocha of the barrio San Francisco in Cartagena with us to talk about the challenges faced by the youth of his neighbourhood and what he has been doing via the Alex Rocha Youth Center.

The Alex Rocha Youth Center's main purpose is to provide a safe place for kids and keep them off the streets by teaching them Art, music, languages, crafts and hopefully skills towards getting jobs.

In San Francisco, a largely afro-colombian and working class neighbourhood, the children don't see the benefits from Cartagena's tourism boom, the colonial city is so far removed from their reality but so close to where they live that it's a contradiction.

Rocha himself has experienced the hard times of addiction and gang membership and from these memories and the desire to help others in similar situations to those he lived through, he has set up the Youth Center.

Tune in to hear an inspiring if at times worrying episode of the Colombia Calling podcast and how you can help.

You don't have to be Scottish or be a history enthusiast to love the tales of adventure and bravery behind the ill-fated attempt by the Scots to colonize the Darien region of Panama. And so it's a great pleasure to welcome John McKendrick QC on the Colombia Calling podcast to speak on this subject and his book about the episode: Darien: A Journey in Search of Empire.

Background: The Company of Scotland and its attempts to establish the colony of Caledonia on the inhospitable isthmus of Panama in the late seventeenth century is one of the most tragic moments of Scottish history. Devised by William Paterson, the stratagem was to create a major trading station between Europe and the East. It could have been a triumph, but inadequate preparation and organization ensured it was a catastrophe - of the 3000 settlers who set sail in 1688 and 1699, only a handful returned, the rest having succumbed to disease, and the enormous financial loss was a key factor in ensuring union with England in 1707. Based on archive research in the UK and Panama, as well as extensive travelling in Darien itself, John McKendrick explores this fascinating and seminal moment in Scottish history and uncovers fascinating new information from New World archives about the role of the English and Spanish, and about the identities of the settlers themselves.

It has been a while since we took a step back and looked at the news in Colombia and so, journalist Manuel Rueda joins us this week to provide a timely overview of what is going on and what may have been missed by the international press.

Rueda is a journalist held in high regard and reports for the international media on issues in Colombia and around the region. You can find his updates and reports in AP News, DW news, the Christian Science Monitor, TRT World and many other outlets. Chances are that if you follow the news in Colombia, you will have read pieces by or seen Rueda at some point.

This week we discuss the tragic increase in Covid-19 cases in Colombia, the government response, the extended quarantine, security in Bogotá and the plight of the long-suffering Venezuelan migrants trying to make their way back to their home country.

Tune in for an excellent overviews from Colombia

Jennie Erin Smith is a freelance science writer from upstate New York based in Medellín, Colombia, where she is working on a book about families with Alzheimer’s disease. She is the author of “Stolen World” (2011) and we are very lucky to have her on this episode of the Colombia Calling podcast to share with us a little about her investigations and the book she is currently writing.

So we delve into the information on offer and Smith debunks some of the myths about the "Paisa mutation," and what this means for local considerations on place, people, race and society. Why rural Antioquia, if here where else and on.

Tune in to a fascinating episode about new discoveries in this field here in Colombia.

It's a great pleasure to have Julianne Pachico back on the Colombia Calling podcast and discussing her latests novel, the Anthill. She last graced the show way back in August 2017 on Ep199 and was speaking about her first book, the Lucky Ones. The Anthill is a fresh and fascinating insight into the Medellin of today and how it contrasts with the city in which the protagonist Carolina grew up in.

I don't want to give too much away, and I enjoyed the book immensely for its warts and all take on some realities in Colombia, class, society, violence and beyond, but you'll have to read it. Below is some of the high praise which Pachico has been receiving.

A visceral, hallucinatory ride by an author who has been called "blunt, fresh, and unsentimental" (The New York Times Book Review) and "remarkably inventive" (The Atlantic), The Anthill is a ghost story unlike any other, a meditation on healing--for both a person and a country--in the wake of horror.

Check out: juliannepachico.com

The pandemic struck and some people panic shopped for toilet paper, our guest on the @ColombiaCalling podcast, Emma Louise Jay of www.conqueredbycolombia.com bucked this trend and went and bought dozens of blood sausages. Tune in to hear her anecdotes and reflections on 80 days of almost total isolation during this extended quarantine in the countryside with precious few neighbours.

Our guest has been on the Colombia Calling podcast on several previous occasions and is always immensely popular with the listeners due to her articulate and self-deprecating look at life in Colombia's sticks. Hear her tales of the stone deaf neighbour, taking out her machete in anger and how she's dealing with the aloneness...not loneliness.

Enjoy!

We’re trapped. We have been confined along with our dreams, goals and illusions. With the global emergency caused by COVID-19, we have hit rock bottom and the travel and tourism industry is never going to be the same.

This is why we are talking to Rainbow Nelson of "This is Cartagena," (www.ticartagena.com) for his insights on the situation as seen from Colombia's capital of tourism.

The good thing about hitting rock bottom is that there’s only one place to go from here. The only thing we have left now is to make a great staircase in which one by one, we can get back to somewhere considered safe ground. Many people have already understood it that way. There are good people out there who have begun to replace fear and resignation with hope. Where others feel only fear, these people are being driven by their imagination, finding creativity where others see only crisis.

Tune in!

In our final episode of this three-part series with journalist Nadja Drost on crossing the Darien Gap, we bring the conversation back to the article Drost wrote for California Sunday magazine in April 2020. We discuss her experiences on the trail, the physical toll the journey took on her and delve into the extreme nature of thrill seekers in search of their next off-limits adventures such as in the Darien.

NADJA DROST is a Canadian journalist and documentary filmmaker. Currently based in New York, she lived in Bogotá, Colombia, for a decade and continues to report on Latin America for the PBS NewsHour and other outlets.

Picking up where we left off in Part 1, Canadian journalist Nadja Drost continues her tale of travel alongside desperate migrants from all over the world in their hopeful quest of reaching the United States. At times, this does not make for easy listening.

We discuss the realities of the crossing through the Darien jungle, the most physically demanding section of their oddessey and Drost provides us with not only vital insights and information but also some of the stories she collects along the way.

NADJA DROST is a Canadian journalist and documentary filmmaker. Currently based in New York, she lived in Bogotá, Colombia, for a decade and continues to report on Latin America for the PBS NewsHour and other outlets.

In what is a three-part series on the Colombia Calling podcast, we'll be exploring the realities - warts and all - of crossing the Darien Gap from Colombia to Panama. Canadian journalist Nadja Drost made the crossing in 2019 and her excellent piece came out in the California Sunday Magazine in April 2020. It makes for a terrifying and harrowing read, but is arguably one of the best articles I have read so far this year.

Drost brings us down to earth with stories of migrants from Sri Lanka to Cameroun and the difficulties they face on this physically and mentally demanding passage. Do all of their migrants make it to the US, what happens when they are in Mexico, did the journalists end up sharing their food, what were the dangers?

We address all of these issues and more over the coming three weeks.

NADJA DROST is a Canadian journalist and documentary filmmaker. Currently based in New York, she lived in Bogotá, Colombia, for a decade and continues to report on Latin America for the PBS NewsHour and other outlets.

Tags and Keywords: darien gap, journalist nadja drost, colombia to panama, migrants in darien, migrants reaching US, hike darien gap, adventure colombia, carlos villalon, richard mccoll journalist, colombia calling podcast, podcast english colombia

Both a successful Judge and a Barrister in the UK, Sarah Lucy Cooper's life could have taken an extremely different course were foreigners permitted to practice law in Colombia. However, as we learn in Episode 323 of the Colombia Calling podcast, her 1990 introduction to Colombia defined the course she took in her life back home.

We hear from Cooper regarding her time in Colombia and her frequent visits to the country, her reflections on Colombian law and definitely understand why she has been described as: "a robust and tenacious lawyer equally adept at handling witnesses as arguing the finer points of law."

Tune in for an upbeat yet honest understanding of contemporary Colombia.

We are all suffering due to the Corona virus pandemic which has swept the world and some more than others, and here at the Colombia Calling podcast, we have the opportunity to talk to a small business owner in San Gil, Santander to see how he is faring.

Shaun Clohesy is a long-time australian transplant to Colombia and is responsible for opening up one of the original hostels in this country, the Macondo in San Gil.

Clohesy effectively put Colombia's adventure sports capital on the map for the international travel community. And how the Macondo hostel has grown and how Clohesy has changed from a dreadlocked backpacker to a respectable family man in San Gil! We discuss it all.

Needeless to say, the Corona Virus swept in and decimated the travel and tourism business and Clohesy shares insights about what is happening in both San Gil and Colombia and how he is hoping to survive.

Check out the Macondo Hostel, recommend it to friends and perhaps buy a voucher for a future stay. http://www.macondohostel.com

With upwards of 900,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, "Un Colombiano Mas," and with entries routinely drawing more than a million views, Zach Morris is undisputedly a one man positive public relations campaign for all things to do with Colombia!

Hailing from South Carolina, Morris is a psychology major and speaks to the Colombia Calling podcast about how he fell into becoming an influencer and youtuber and how, over time, this led him to receiving his Colombian citizenship. it's an incredible tale of upbeat experiences and unbridled love for his new homeland.

With uploads in both English and Spanish - and one Maluma style foray into the music industry with his reggaeton song, "Mi Latina, - Zach Morris has found his niche in Colombia and is widely recognized as the gringo who truly loves this country.

Tune in to hear the story of Zach Morris in Colombia, how a guy from South Carolina became a household name in Colombia.

Check out his youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/williamzachmorris

In fifteen years covering Colombia, this is the best book I’ve ever read about the cocaine trade. If you want to understand why the drugs are produced here, then how they get to the U.S., there’s no better guide." (Matthew Bristow, former Colombia bureau chief, Bloomberg News)

Toby Muse, author of "Kilo: Inside the Deadliest Cocaine Cartels―from the Jungles to the Streets" has been receiving high praise from all quarters for his recently released book. And rightly so, this is the culmination of Muse's decades of knowledge of Colombia and the cocaine trade.

Reading more like a work of non-fiction, Muse invites us into the otherworldly experience of meeting the actors in the chain from coca leaf picker to narco sub driver and the result makes for an incredible read but at the same time the author never permits you to forget the violence, aggression and desperation involved in the drugs trade.

So, it's an incredible honour to have Muse back on the Colombia Calling podcast and sharing his anecdotes with us. Buy the book and tune in to the podcast.

How is your relationship faring under the Covid19/ Corona Virus lockdown, how are you keeping sane, have you stuck to a routine, are you all alone and now talking to your pet(s)? It's a time of tragedy for sure, but in order to share a different perspective of life in a quarantine in Bogotá, Peter Dale, a founding member of the Bogotá Writers, shares with us some extracts from his "Covidiary," now entitled: "The Quarantine Chroncles."

We hear and discuss four different entries from Dale's diary. We begin with Day 1 and the innocence towards the pandemic which we may still have possessed her in Colombia and finish on Day 10 and things get darker in Dale's prose as this innocence is now certainly behind us.

Peter Dale's diary has been picked up by Miguel Vila, a Colombia TV producer and can now, a version of the diary can be enjoyed on Instagram TV. Check the link on the Colombia Calling facebook and twitter pages.

Before the Corona virus reached Colombia, President Duque and his political patron, former president Alvaro Uribe, were in danger of drowning in the scandal engulfing them.

To keep it brief, and Adriaan Alsema of Colombia Reports will explain this further in the podcast, there is the very real possibility that Duque won the presidential contest in 2018 with a campaign of vote-buying in various parts of the Colombia.

Wiretaps have revealed that the late Jose Guillermo Hernandez (Nene Hernandez), the alleged money launderer of drug trafficker Marquitos Figueroa, was the go-between for narco-trafficking bosses and the political elite. Both Duque and Uribe have denied the links but the photographic evidence tells no tales and neither do the contents of the telephone wire-taps.

So, in the first part of the show we discuss "Nenegate," and then move on to the very troubling onset of Covid 19 in Colombia. Alsema gives us a run-down of what the government has done so far, an idea of whether it may effective and what we should expect as we launch into a 24 day-long quarantine.

Elizabeth Dickinson has been Crisis Group’s senior analyst for Colombia since 2019. Her work centers around armed conflict dynamics in the country and the implementation of the 2016 peace accord between the Colombian government and FARC guerrillas. Previously a journalist, Elizabeth first reported from Colombia in 2011, covering topics including criminal and armed group violence, illegal mining, migration, and national politics.

With this resume, I can think of no better person to have on the Colombia Calling podcast to explain one of the most complex regions of the country. Tune in to hear an in-depth, digestible and informed overview of Colombia, the sociopolitical problems and so much more.

Follow her @dickinsonbeth

"You write the books that you want to read," Matt Rendell tells me in our conversation on Episode 315 of the Colombia Calling podcast. Well, I wish I could have written his latest book entitled: "Colombia es Pasión! The Generation of Racing cyclists who Changed their Nation and the Tour de France," out in all good bookstores in the UK in March...as I most certainly want to read it.

In a fascinating interview, Rendell gives as an insight into the beginnings of his love affair with Colombia (from a basement at Channel 4) and the reasons behind the current surge in cycling heroes emerging from the highlands of Cundinamarca and Boyaca. We discuss economics and how this has affected cycling in Colombia and the spirituality surrounding the likes of Nairo Quintana, Egan Bernal and other household names in Colombia and on the international cycling circuit.

What results is a sneak peak into his 300 pages plus book which sounds like a book that everyone with any interest in Colombia should read. Humbly, Rendell declares that this, "book is written for Colombia."

Be sure to tune in and also, buy the book!