Colombia Reports

She can’t vote, but that didn’t stop Colombian pop star Shakira from throwing her support behind Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama Thursday.

“If I could vote, I would vote for Barack Obama because I think that he is the person that can bring the world the true American message,” she said, according to the Associated Press.

Then the top-selling singer – who was recently described by Bill Clinton as “a young Colombian woman who loves her country, who doesn't want it overrun by the narco-traffickers and the guerrillas who support them.” – reached a little deeper.

“I feel in my heart that he would be able to reconstruct peace and confidence in the United States, a country that he appreciates profoundly."

Returning to political analysis, Shakira opined that Obama’s family background could be an advantage against his opponent John McCain.

No polls were available indicating whether her endorsement gave the young Illinois senator a bounce among ex-patriot Colombians.

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Comments (5)

Omar said:

... to bberube Uribe is not the best thing to happen Colombia in decades. Time will reveal the current Colombian president for what he really is. A white collard criminal, an assassin with ties to las AUC (Auto Defensas Unidas de Colombia or Paramilitaries as u expressed) and trafficking groups . Colombia is not a safer place now, as Uribe has installed his fascist government, a silent dictatorship where he has manipulated the constitution to allow himself a second, and now hoping for a third term.

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November 05, 2008
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Omar said:

... bberube continued: The evil in Colombia is not manifested in las FARC, or any other guerrilla organization. These groups are a by-product of a status quo of war and power struggles among the Colombian elite that stems all the way back to colonial days. Uribe's popularity is only evidence of a broken democracy, and quintessential proof of the difficulty of the idea of a government chosen by the people in an underdeveloped country where people are kept in deep ignorance and social illiteracy to even make an educated choice. Please refrain from opining on a matter you are obviously not educated on, and do yourself a favor and investigate. Information and knowledge alone are what sets us free

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November 05, 2008
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Omar said:

... The evil in Colombia is not manifested in las FARC, or any other guerrilla organization. These groups are a by-product of a status quo of war and power struggles among the Colombian elite that stems all the way back to Colonial Days. Uribe's popularity is only evidence of a broken democracy, and quintessential proof of the difficulty of the idea of a government chosen by the people, when said people are kept in deep ignorance and social illiteracy to even make an educated choice. Please refrain from opining on a matter you are obviously not educated on, and do yourself a favor and investigate. Information and knowledge alone are what sets us free

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November 05, 2008
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Omar said:

... I am not making this stuff up; Here's a survey of Uribe's Government in terms of human rights violatons. Sorry, its in spanish Noviembre 05 - 08:57 am El director para las Américas de Human Rights Watch (HRW), José Miguel Vivanco, dijo que las violaciones a los derechos humanos que se cometen en Colombia en un año equivalen a todas las realizadas en la dictadura chilena de Augusto Pinochet. En declaraciones a la radio chilena, Vivanco responsabilizó a los agentes del Estado colombiano y a los grupos paramilitares de las violaciones a los derechos humanos y dijo que hace varios años denunciaron ’la práctica de ejecuciones extrajudiciales por parte del Ejército de Colombia’.

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November 05, 2008
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Omar said:

... continued: "Esto consiste sencillamente en la ejecución de personas inocentes, pobres muchas de ellas, marginales, gente sin trabajo, cesante, de regiones abandonadas de Colombia, que son secuestrados por el Ejército y ejecutados’, denunció. Detalló que las víctimas son vestidas como integrantes de las FARC "y luego presentadas como muertos en combate para mostrar resultados" en la lucha del Ejército contra el grupo guerrillero. Now how can you say Colombia is a safer place with a straight face?

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November 05, 2008
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