Colombia Reports started one and a half years ago as a very basic weblog showing the news we felt was left out of the international media, but has grown out to be Colombia's main news source in English. It's time for a discussion about where we stand.
It seems that sometimes there's a misunderstanding concerning the identity of Colombia Reports and its newsroom and those who contribute opinion articles for our 'perspective' section. What we want to do now is establish where we as a media outlet stand.
We are still working things out internally, but we also want to know your ideas about this. Mind you, we don't want your political opinion about issues like the FARC, sex tourism or paramilitarism, we want to know how you expect us to deal with these issues as a news outlet. Please have a good look and let us know what you expect from us, what you disagree with concerning our stand and what points we have forgotten.
The points are a draft and will be changed after taking your critique into consideration.
Make sure that when you respond, you clearly tell us what point you refer to and if you want feedback. We'll be monitoring closely to make sure the reactions are on-topic.
Here's the points we figured out so far:
- We always attempt to bring news on Colombia in the least biased way, but as all media, we fail in doing this perfectly. To be fully informed on Colombia, you will need to read / watch / listen to more media.
- The newsroom is and will be independent of any other party, whether commercial, social or political.
- Because Colombians speak Spanish, our main focus will be on gringos who are interested in Colombia because of family ties, economic or social interest, because they live or are traveling in Colombia or plan to live or travel in Colombia or because their government is spending their tax money in Colombia.
- We are loyal only to our audience and only serve our audience by informing them or allowing them to read opinions we think can enrich their view on things.
- We believe in democracy. We expect Colombian politicians to work according to the principles of democracy. We consider corruption a violation of the democratic rights of the people that should be punished.
- We believe in the rule of law and reject any form of impunity. If we have to obey the law, we demand those who are trusted to positions of power do the same and be punished like we are if the law is broken.
- We believe in human rights and demand all those in Colombia to be enjoying these rights. Any violation of human rights within Colombia should primarily be prosecuted by Colombian courts.
- We believe in the freedom of press and the freedom of speech and we will allow the opinion of people even if we disagree with them and even if we find their opinion ridiculous or anti-democratic.
- On Colombia Reports, we allow space for opinion with the idea of challenging the opinions of others and we attempt to bring opinions from the left and the right, as well as top and bottom. We have regular contributors and welcome others to send in opinion pieces.
- We are uncomfortable with polarization and believe those taking part in a public debate or disagreement should stick to what is considered common decency to keep the debate open and honest.
- We are not against the consumption of drugs, but are sad to see how the drug-use of gringos is affecting the Colombian people in such a negative way. We hope for international legislation or whatever solution that will nullify the suffering of Colombians because of the pleasures of others.
- We believe in the principles of a free international market and think foreign investment can help Colombia's development. However, we do demand the Colombian people to benefit from foreign investment.
- We are sad to see how many Colombian women and girls are subjected to sexual exploitation and hope for a Colombia where the country's beautiful women or girls are allowed more opportunities to get ahead in life.
- Even though we are fed up with the FARC and the ELN because of their numerous and ongoing violations of human rights, we respect their call for social change and believe that in the end peacetalks between the Colombian State and the rebels are the only solution to the country's violent conflict. In the end, all forces involved in the conflict, whether legal or illegal, will have to compromise for the sake of peace.
- We understand how some people are pragmatic about the use of paramilitary force to establish order. However, we consider this unlawful use of force and want the security forces to handle public order. Order should be established within the boundaries of law, especially considering the thousands who were killed by unlawful paramilitary force.
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Comments (54)
Jim H
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... #14 Here your entire manifesto runs aground. Obviously you don't support free speech, democracy, human rights, etc. if you regard as legitimate the efforts of people who don't support any of those things outside of their own self-referential, self-serving definition to use violence to establish their own rule. #15 If you are going to tacitly approve of the efforts of one group to kill others to gain power you can hardly blame the others for wanting to avoid this outcome and defending themselves. It is best if the army fights FARC and protects the population; if they can't or won't the population will have to do it themselves. |
tomtom33
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... Regarding your point #12, the Colombian people will always benefit from any kind of investment. What you mean to say is that you don't want the rich to benefit disproportionately. While that is laudable, I don't see where us extranjeros get off demanding much of anything in Colombia. I am against the consumption of drugs. But the only way I see to limit the harm to society is to legalize drugs, and I don't see that happening in my lifetime. I would like to see a little stronger exercise of your veto pen regarding some commenters. And I would like to see comments arguing that the moon is, in fact, made of green cheese deleted. I am pretty new to CR. So my comments may be off base. But I like your work. And I realize that, like me, you will never be perfect. |
Adriaan
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... @ Jim H, We are trying to establish what our approach should be and we need responses like yours to come to a final idea. If you have alternative ways to describe our approach as media, please feel free to write it. Allow me to respond to what you wrote, please respond again, so we get into it better, this is a very difficult subject, so we need to come up with something that works. Regarding #14 What we are saying is that we respect calls for social change even if they come from a group who is placed or placed itself outside the law, like the FARC. As we demand human rights to be respected, we reject any actions by any of the armed participants in the conflict that violates these rights. A demand however, is a different thing than how to achieve these demands. We believe that if Colombia needs social change, this must be achieved through democratic ways. Regarding #15 First, we at CR are fed up with the FARC and ELN like the vast majority of Colombians and we recognize and understand how a lot of people pragmatically are ok with what the AUC has done. In the end they were able to restore order where the police or army wasn't able to. However, if you look at the number of human rights violations committed by these groups (24,000 murders committed so far), we want the official authorities to assume control of public order and not a bunch of drug traffickers. If the authorities are not able to they should be enforced within the law. |
Adriaan
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... @ tomtom33, Regarding #12, When we speak of the Colombian people that means that inside Colombia there also is a reasonable profit. How Colombia itself shares its wealth among Colombians is none of our business, that's up to the government the people vote for. We just don't want a gringo company to be making billions, while here people end up being evacuated or losing income. Regarding #11, As a news media it is none of our business that people take drugs. It is not upto us to condemn this even though personally we may. It is upto the people and their governments. We just ask that someone please come up with a solution that stops the suffering inside Colombia. About the responses, I don't really want to allow only a certain type of commenter, especially because I as a person am as politically biased as you are. I just want people to stick to common decency rules. How exactly would you like to see this changed? |
tomtom33
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... I have no problem with leftist articles or comments even though I am solidly conservative. What I do have a problem with is some of the totally absurd arguments whether they be far-right or far-left. I will share a flagrant, in my opinion, recent example with you privately if you like. I am not, nor was I ever, a journalist. So I don't know if this sacrifices any sacred cows. I could see a heavier hammer on the common decency even if you hammer me. On another point, I can see why the paras came to be. However, I in no way condone vigilantism in any area. |
Bluebird
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... I find many of your articles interesting and commend all of you for that. The only thing I truly dislike is that some days the whole front page seems like an advertisement for leftist/ socialist politics especially in the perspectives column. Even the placement of the perspectives column is such that the usually pro-leftist headline is one of the first things your readers see. I am sure this page design was not intentional. I just think that you and your readers would be better served if you did less forced feeding of your political views and more reporting of the news. Please try to be more nuetral. Thanks for listening and thanks for keeping those of us who are not fortunate enough to live there plugged in to what is happening. |
Adriaan
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... @ Bluebird, I'm often thinking of how the news section might seem leftist and I don't particularly like it (but I don't particularly dislike it too). What happens in any country is that those who governs gets all the heat. They are making all the decisions, so they are making all the bad ones automatically too. As press we are supposed to keep an eye on those who are spending our tax money and that at the moment is a right wing government. I am not denying I am more left wing than you, but this is exactly why I published this manifesto, so you know where we stand and how serious you should take us. In the opinion section we try to present an as broad view as possible, offering for example Sebastian, who obviously has more leftist ideals, and Gustavo, who can be considered more conservative. I love Sebastian because he pisses off guys like you and forces you to respond. I love Gustavo because he pisses off those who are on the left side of the spectrum and forces them to respond. Any of you who ever feel we are ignoring a subject you find we should, write us an e-mail at info@ |
Laureles191
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... I respectfully disagree with tomtom33 about the common decency thing. I think for the most part we are all grown adults, and the whole objective of a blog is to discuss (argue) point of views. Aside from outright swearing, blatant insults, or name calling, I don't see anything wrong with "absurd arguments" if that is where the readers decide to take it, because where do you draw the line? If you are going to run a blog about politics, heated arguments are pretty much a given, and I think this site has been about as clean as you can get. And I also feel that Adriaan has stepped in when needed to for the most part. If anything I feel there could be a little less effort to direct discussions. Though I do understand the point of trying to keep people on topic, its not a classroom with students that you have to coerce into following curriculum. It's either open discussion or not. But that's just my opinion. Otherwise I feel the reporting and stories to be interesting and provocative on both sides of the spectrum. |
Laureles191
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... As far as #14 and #15, I do feel as if there is a little problem with how they are worded. I do not repsect the para's or the modern day FARC even one bit. I even though I an a fan of Uribe, I wouldn't say that I have respect for any facet of either "organization". I respect the ideals of Tirofijo's beginnings as he was attempting to evade political genocide, the FARC doesn't have a drop of legitamacy or direction left in it. It is a terrorist, drug trafficking organization now, and thats it. Although how to end this tragic war seems to be an ever eluding answer, I couldn't fathom using the word "respect" in the same sentence with either of the two today, as both have used mass murder and executions of innocent villagers as a means to wage war against each other, in what has been one of the largest examples human rights abuse in modern history. |
Adriaan
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... @ Laureles191, You're making a few very good points. I'm gonna do some thinking on your and tomtom33's arguments. The idea of #14 was never to express "respect" for the FARC, but it can definitely use a clearer formulation. I'll come up with something better. Muchos thanks  |
gringomedellin
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... I think what is lacking is in depth reporting of happenings in Colombia, it might be a space issue not sure, but take the false postive killings, the news you read is just a bit of what is happening, or the sex trade ,or para miltitry links to elceted officals, even in the spanish papers there is no in depth reporting of these matters, it is just a quick basic report. I would love to see an in depth story on economic conditions in Colombia, tying into poverty employment numbers etc.... I don't just see it lacking here but it is the same with all the media in Colombia, take your travel section do an indepth story on a city, things to see there, cost one might have for buses/taxis/hotels/resturants is their a special festival in that city which would make it the better time to travel there.... these are the things I crave to see and read...... |
tomtom33
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... Okay, I cite Andrew's use of statistics to paint a blatantly false picture of Venezuela. Figures lie and liars figure. This argument supported by some statistics is inane. Hell I hold a Master's degree in statistical analysis from a Big Ten university. I can cite statistics to show that down is up. You have to connect research and statistics to real life. In this case, what is life like for the average Venezuelano? I know several who still live there. I don't claim that they are a representative sample, but they give a much better feel for reality than statistics. How safe do the people feel? How are the job prospects? Do they feel fulfilled? How do they feel about their futures? Chavez has been using oil revenues to temporarily prop things up. What happened when the price of oil tanked? What happens when Chavez starts importing things from Argentina rather than Colombia? The transportation costs alone will raise prices or subsidies. The oil infrastructure is decaying for lack of investment. And they will not get any foreign investment from the vast majority of countries after their nationalizing fiascoes. I am worried as hell about the destabilization of Colombia's neighbor by Hugo's antics. Then someone posts that they are doing so well? Give me a break. That type of stupidity doesn't even deserve a response. |
Adriaan
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... @ gringomedellin, I couldn't agree with you more. It's not really a matter of space, but of money and personnel. The whole website has been growing in content and is in a constant process of development. Initially the priority was to make sure we could bring a steady daily flow of news, which has worked pretty well so far, what the idea is now is to focus on 'unique reporting' and more in depth news in investment and economy. Going in depth in Colombia is hard as hell though, as the country is very complicated and nontransparent. It will be difficult to do this in a good way. |
Bluebird
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... @ Adriaan We all understand that money/ budget is the primary limiting factor in what you can or cannot cover regarding news in Colombia. I know that you solicit contributions to your organization and ask for help. I have considered donating to Colombia Reports but because of the leftist stance I just cannot bring myself to do it. I really think that if you would take a more centrist position in the overall tone of your reporting you would find that many more readers would be willing to help you financially. I am not suggesting that you trade your ideals for dollars I am merely saying that far more readers would be inclined to support you if you were less intent on furthering the socialist cause and more intent on on just letting people know what is happening........without the lefthanded spin. |
Bluebird
said:
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... Regarding #11, "As a news media it is none of our business that people take drugs. It is not upto us to condemn this even though personally we may. It is upto the people and their governments. We just ask that someone please come up with a solution that stops the suffering inside Colombia." Adriaan, I could not disagree with you more on this point! If Colombia Reports, as a news media, feels compelled to "take a position" and speak out on social ills in general then why in the world would you feel the need to remain silent on this very crucial topic. The production and consumption of illicit drugs is debilitating to societies in producing countries and consuming countries as well. Regardless of where you feel the "blame" lies for this problem, it is still a huge problem and you absolutely have a responsibilty to speak out an the problem. If you have no right to condemn this then you have no right to condemn the various other social ills that plague the country ...... yet you do just that every day. |
tomtom33
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... I'll side with BB on this one. What is the media for if not to crusade for a better world. "Just say no" will not work. But we should take every opportunity to decry the use of drugs. |
Adriaan
said:
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... @ Bluebird, I don't know what to do about what you consider a lefthanded spin. We're obviously not a right wing media, but I sincerely don't consider ourselves left wing either. For Colombia Reports we basically need the broadest audience as possible. Only by a high number of visitors we'll financially be able to survive. This is not an ideological, but a pragmatical search for the center. What we need to do is find where the largest audience is. If I move too much to the left I will exclude a significant audience on the right and vice-versa. And once in a while this means I have to add an article on some hot actress. What we do costs money, so we can not afford a political agenda. And to be honest, I really don't care much about politics personally. I'm a journalist, not a politician. I love watching Sara Corrales on Vecinos and a home game of DIM. I don't want to convince you of anything political. What really interests me is to give both the left and the right access to more information and to challenge the ideas of both the left and the right so that we don't get stuck in underinformed or misinformed discussions. We are trying to establish our political standpoint through the manifesto. As you can see it is not particularly based on left or right wing dogmas or ideals, but a bit of both. I am really enjoying this discussion, by the way |
Adriaan
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... @ Bluebird & Tomtom33 But what to condemn? The use of the drugs or the illegality of it? I personally feel more for showing those that use what the effects of it are in Colombia and demand of foreign governments to continue finding the right way to nullify the effect of drug use by their people in Colombia. I don't really feel like speaking out for legalization or more funds for the war on drugs, i don't know if that's any of my business, you know? |
tomtom33
said:
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... I would condemn both. The end users of the drugs not only ruin themselves and their families but help to finance all the other problems. I personally favor legalization, but I also think that society should not be shy about reminding drug users of their role. I think that it is your business. It is my business. It is society's business. |
Adriaan
said:
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... What do you think of this one? #11 We are not against the consumption of drugs, but are very sad to see how the drug-use of gringos is affecting the Colombian people in such a negative way. We think it is important that those using drugs realize what deadly harm they cause in countries like Colombia and we want to stress governments to increase efforts to nullify the suffering of Colombians because of the pleasures or addictions of others. |
tomtom33
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... Better, but we all ought to be against the consumption of drugs. If drugs were not consumed, none of those other problems would exist. |
Adriaan
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... If all drugs were legal there would be no crime, some would then say. I seriously don't want to go there What people put in the mouth or nose veins is none of CR's business. Let them deal with their authorities on that one. |
tomtom33
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... That is correct. There would be no crime. But the fact is that drugs are illegal. We have to deal with what is, not what could or should be. I can respect your opinion, but I believe that you are very wrong. |
Bluebird
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... It sounds like you are saying that drug consumption is basically a victimless crime but that is not true. Society as a whole bears the obvious costs as well as the hidden costs as well. Costs such as lower productivity in the workplace, increased absenteism, increase in medical problems resulting from long term use, deaths from overdose, deaths resulting from traffic accidents( which often also involve the deaths of innocent people), all contribute to the total cost and damage done to a society. Legalizing drugs would not address any of the problems I have listed here. It would only decrease the jail populations. |
tomtom33
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... Legalization is a practical solution. Drug abuse is not going to go away. Therefore we try to minimize the impact. Look at what legalization could do for Colombian society. The vast sums of money used to fuel violence perpetrated by the FARC, ELN, paras, and drug gangs would disappear. US and Mexican gangs would also be severely constrained. Crimes would no longer have to be committed to get money to buy drugs. But I still condemn the use of drugs including alcohol and nicotine. I do not use any of them. Some people can responsibly use alcohol, but I am not one of them. |
gringo michae
said:
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... the new number 11 is better how about a detailed story as to the affect on Colombians by those that consume cocaine, not just gringos are users. |
cococo
said:
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... In my opinion to say you are "fed up" with the FARC and ELN is an insult to their victims and to many Colombian families. Repulsed by their violence might be more appropriate. I read CR regularly but I find that you have too much of a left wing bias and many of your regular contibutors do not even live in Colombia but cast their gaze from afar and as a consequence they often make factual errors, which are then excused as opinion. Facts are facts and you need to ensure they are not twisted by those wishing to make a political point. To become credible CR needs to be come more objective and less subjective. |
Adriaan
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... @ Cococo, I like your point about about #14 although I don't see how it can be an insult to their victims. Many of the people we work with her are a victim of them too. I am going to come with a reformulation. I talked about our supposed bias in one of my responses before. Can you read my responses regarding that and see if that diminishes your concern? If not, please bring it up again. Mind you, the manifesto is expressing explicitly what our bias is. Are you talking about contributions from the columnists or those commenting? When it's about the columnists the bias is put there on purpose, so they can cause debate and those participating in the debate are forced to come up with good arguments. |
Joe
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... The role of any media should be to accurately tell the truth. Opinions and agenda should be covered in an editorial section. Since absolute objectivity is impossible I feel more comfortable using a media source that makes their personal beliefs public. This way I can understand the built in bias to their reporting. Given the limited amount of english language news available from Colombia this site has a great opportunity (responsibility) to be as objective as possible to give us gringos a chance to really get a good understanding of Colombia. I forward links to this website very often for that purpose. |
daffy00
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... My daughter married a colombian she met in college. They and their children live in Cartagena. That is how I discovered this site. I do send her links as well. Her spanish is good and getting better, but she does not always catch all the news there. Also, she is not a news hound as I am so that is the other reason she gets links to stories as well. Americans are shocked that I would travel to Colombia and venture into the countryside without armed escort because of the gangs mowing down innocents every day. Your site is a valuable tool in reshaping that popular image. To that end I believe that the most objective reporting possible is the best strategy. The other alternative is to tell both sides (or three sides) of stories. On issues like drugs the story is much more complex that dealers and sellers. There are the producers and the entire distribution chain plus the people who do business (legal and illegal) with them. The media, including Colombia Reports, would better serve their clients by looking beyond the story to examine possible effects of actions proposed by governments. If this is done in an objective manner everyone can benefit. Keep up the good work. |
Adriaan
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... @daff00, Many thanks your for your comment. I also think that by simply reporting on things and discussing the things that happen (good and bad) Colombia will be able to overcome the misinterpretations of the country. I think I will add a point about this in the manifesto. |
tomtom33
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... It is also very important to guard against complacency. People come to Colombia for a week or two and do not get mugged or killed and then report about how safe things are here. That is not the case. About the only area in Colombia that I would describe as relatively safe is the tourist zone in Cartagena. In the last few months I would say that there is no part of Medellín that is safe. In fact after 7 years in Colombia, I had to flee Medellín. And I may never return. |
Adriaan
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... @ Tomtom33 Good point. Same goes with accurate information about investment risks. I can add something about this to #4. |
Bluebird
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... @adriaan..... even the term "manifesto" is offensive to most people that use american english as a first language. There is a stigma attached to the word that you may not be aware of. The word tends to evoke images of bolsheviks, socialist/ communist uprisings, revolutions, etc. All kinds of inferences and assumptions are going to be made about CR simply because of your choice of the word manifesto. Rightly or wrongly, the word ( in english) is strongly associated with communism. |
Adriaan
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... @ Bluebird, I used the word in reference to an earlier commenter, because it basically describes well what we're doing. We are manifesting ourselves. I didn't know you had Bolshevik or communist uprisings in the U.S. and the only U.S. revolution I know of is when you kicked out the English. You celebrate this annually. I didn't know this was such a sensitive thing. I remember living 200 or so miles from a big electrified fence behind which communists ruled and we weren't allowed so to pass. People living behind this high voltage fence who tried running to our side were shot or locked up for I don't know how long. This was until 20 years ago. I'm just sincerely trying to get your opinion on things, don't be silly about my choice of words. It's not constructive. |
Bluebird
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... @adriaan..... I was actually trying to be be helpful in letting you know about the stigma attached to the word in the minds of many english speaking people . Just because you are not aware of this does not mean it is not true. You mentioned that you were interested in appealing to as a broad of an audience as possible and posting your beliefs and calling it a manifesto will be detrimental to that goal. Call it a "Company Statement" or Company Creed" and people (at least in N. America) will find the term much less offensive. |
Bluebird
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... A lot of companies use the term "vision statement". Adriaan, I hope you know I am not trying to be difficult or silly . It's just that unless you grew up in N. America ( especially during the cold war) you could not be expected to be aware of the sub-text attached to the word in this part of the world. Again, just trying to be helpful. |
Bluebird
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... @ adriaan.....no apology needed and by the way "Mission Statement" is an excellent choice! que tenga una buena noche........ |
Lyndi
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... Just wanted to say thanks concerning point #3. We are gringos living and working in Colombia and enjoy the convenience of reading news that actually matters to us now and has an affect on our lives. Without Colombia Reports it would be a lot more difficult to accomplish this. So, no matter my opinions about all the other points, just remember you are fulfilling a purpose for some of us out there (and saving us the time of trying to translate news in Spanish everyday). |
J. Rebel
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... CR, Your continual denial of being far left should make you question why your readers feel the way that they do. You are in denial as almost all journalists are left wing liberals. I would also donate to the site if it even leaned a slight tilt toward the center. If you want to report on Colombia, the 1st requirement should be that you are here in Colombia. You have people reporting from the far east who are totally clueless about what it is like here. I know exactly what is going on in my small part of the world but would never be stupid enough to publish it because I have a family to support. Life is fleeting and I don't need mine to be any shorter. |
Adriaan
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... @ J. Rebel, I think on several occasions I already said I consider myself a liberal, so I don't see why you accuse me of denying this. Other contributors to the news section consider themselves conservative and we all get along great. The joint effort of all is what has become Colombia Reports. We came up with the vision statement, so you know exactly what we stand for. Obviously you are free to accuse us of whatever you feel like, but you can also just ask me or any of the contributor. In fact, you have my e-mail address and are welcome to use it. You know, people from both the left and the right and the top and the bottom are perfectly capable of writing news stories. I'm a journalist and have no interest whatsoever in convincing anyone to be a liberal like me. What we want is to report as correctly as possible and feedback like yours helps us doing so. However, disqualifying contributions from people who are in the far east is nonsensical. It's just an excuse to also disqualify opinions you disagree with. We also do not exclude foreigners from voicing their opinion even though they have not lived in Colombia for long. This is arbitrary. Everyone who has something sensible to say can voice his or her opinion as long as they stick to the rules of common decency. Write me. |
tomtom33
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... Gee, I wish I knew exactly what was going on in any small part of anywhere. There is nothing wrong with liberals other than their thought processes.  And I am aware of many conservative nut balls. Rebel is correct about being constrained in what you say when you live here. Colombia is not Kansas. I never felt this way when I lived in the US. |
Adriaan
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... @ TomTom33, there is nothing wrong with my thought process, it's just that ehm, errr, well, i forgot what I was going to say  |
J. Rebel
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... Adriaan, 1st, I do not have your address. 2nd, I did not attack you personally. 3rd, Explain how a "reporter" can report other than hearsay if they do not have their feet on the ground? My post was written to Colombia Reports in general and not you but you have decided to take it upon yourself to respond. I only made a suggestion and observation. Why are you so defensive? Nonsensical? Your response is nonsensical. Anyone in another country can read a story about Colombia and re-write it here and this is what you consider journalism? I have no need for an excuse to disagree with the obviously ill informed. Four people were shot and killed right in front of my farm at two in the afternoon a few weeks back. I agree with you in that you say anyone with an opinion should be able to express it but they also need to be honest and explain from where they are reporting in their by line. This allows us to understand their perspective and informational sources as a "reporter" on your site. Adriaan, I support no political party or beliefs but can see the difference between left and right. I rarely agree with either. |
Adriaan
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... @ J. Rebel, I sent you an e-mail regarding the mail you sent on the poll. If you didn't receive it, write me at info@ please. I took the comment personal for the sake of the discussion and as editor-in-chief of the publication. I didn't feel attacked at all, please don't worry. I don't understand what you mean by hearsay and having their feet on the ground though. What we do is on a daily basis go through dozens of media and press releases and interviews and then make a selection of what we consider the most important issues of the moment. We try to be as secure as possible in naming the source so you can verify for yourself what we published. The only thing I considered nonsensical of what you said is disqualifying a contributor for his current location, this is arbitrary. I thought the rest of what you said was pretty valid, even though we disagree Please write me. |
Andrewmann552
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... I am a socialist, I am not afraid to say it, but I love Colombia Reports' coverage and balanced views. The only complaint I've ever had was the title of an article stating Chavez was "on the verge of declaring war," but the content of the article itself was very balanced and informative. |
Gringo Fiddler
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... "Even though we are fed up with the FARC and the ELN because of their numerous and ongoing violations of human rights, we respect their call for social change ....." I have a bit of a problem with notion that the FARC and the ELN constitute a legitimate call for social change. The Bible has a very pithy and astute observation., "by their fruits ye shall know them ..." when it comes to discerning between true and false prophets. The "fruits" of the FARC and the ELN are kidnappings and corpses. Their concern for social change is about a convincing as the Spanish Inquisition's concern for saving souls. |
Adriaan
said:
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... @ Gringo Fiddler, You're not the first to object to the formulation. I'm working on a serious rephrase. |
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