The topic of pyramids is so hot right now in the country that popular music singers have already released songs about it, as La Guayabita reports:

“Pongan cuidado señores
lo que les vengo a contar
por eso de las pirámides
nadie quiere trabajar
miren la fila tan larga
que hay que hacer pa' consignar
yo con esos intereses
hasta me lo hago …
mamá me lo dijo un día
no meta la plata allá
porque esta gente es muy viva
y lo van es a robar”.

We had previously covered these pyramids and DMG, you can read more about this story in Colombia: people falling prey to pyramid schemes. Jaime Plata writes in the Atalap group blog about the pyramid schemes and DMG, pointing out how these pyramids have affected rural communities, for example explaining the inflation bubble where goods have gotten more expensive since people have more money to spend, but also to the fact that liquid assets have practically disappeared in some of these communities, since all the cash is invested in these companies:

Sabían que en algunos pueblos del Putumayo y Nariño los campesinos han dejado de sembrar papa, yuca, y hasta Coca, porque las pirámides les dan un mejor salario y no hay necesidad de matarse trabajando en un trabajo honrado!! También hay otros municipios que ya no tienen dinero circulante para usar, porque todo el dinero esta metido en estas pirámides, están teniendo que regresar al trueque porque no hay liquidez!!

In the comments, pastusos brings a completely different perspective to the problem, supporting DMG. The event mentioned regarding police stealing money can be seen on this video.

te cuento que gracias al dmg en el putumayo se dejo de sembrar coca y no por el glifosato ni por las campañas de publicidad mal hechas, porque empresas como esta aclaro NO SON PIRAMIDES LOGRO QUE este hermoso municipio tuviera otra oportunidad, oportunidad que el gobierno no les brindo ni les brindara jamaz[sic], jovenes profesionales sin empleo ni oportunidad alguna lograron proyectarse y salir adelant[sic], a su ignorancia les aclaro que carlos suarez nunca se volo y nunca incumplio, al contrario medios como rcn y caracol crearon panico en la gente permitiendo que las autoridades se tomaran las oficinas y como quedo registrado en pasto se robaran el dinero de los aportantes, siendo los principales autores del complot de sarmiento y grupo aval que manejan nuestro pais a su antojo y a nuestro presidente que le dio la espalda al pueblo

An insider view of the DMG system is shown in A Midas in the Tropics [es], where Julio Caycedo and Nathan Jaccard, explore the process of becoming part of DMG, and include examples of successful clients who managed to buy products such as cars or computers, and later paid them off out of the return, in such a way that they were practically for free. The comments are largely made by supporters of DMG, who believe that if DMG collapses, it will be the government's fault, and not the company's. They consider David Guzmán Murcia the messiah, who has taken them out of poverty. One of the strongest arguments on behalf of DMG has to do with the mistrust of banks in Colombia, and how someone, after saving a certain amount of money in a bank, at the end of the year ends up with less, after the banks debit for account management, for calls requesting information and other hidden charges, while in DMG they invest and 6 months later they receive the same amount of money they invested.

Marialucy comments what seems to be echoed in the rest of the supporters:

Yo he invertido en sitios aparentemente seguros como Corfipacífico, Fondos de Pensiones, Bolsa de Bogotá, Cáceres y Ferro y en todos he perdido dinero.

Que no me vengan a decir ahora que DMG es inseguro. Y si es así, prefiero perder la plata con ellos y no con instituciones donde uno pierde y el banquero siempre está barrigón y con las arcas llenas. Por lo menos David Murcia ayudó a mucha gente y si no alcanza para mí, bueno, qué se va a hacer!

Lo que sí es cierto es que el gobierno se mete en problemas si lo hace quebrar. Además los periodistas tienen mucho que ver con ésto pues se ensañan dándoselas de virtuosos y éticos.

Ojalá nos vaya bien.

Recently during the collapse of the other pyramids, one company left a parting message on the front door of their office, which Reticente reproduces on his blog, where the company berates the gullible investors for believing there was an easy, quick and effortless way to make money. It ends with:

Y recuerden, las únicas pirámides que existen y no se van, son las de Egipto. Les deseamos una triste navidad y vergonzoso año nuevo pelado”.

There is even a facebook group where they are discussing the possibilities that David Murcia Guzmán could be the next presidential candidate. Although it isn't translateable on a blog post, calls on radio shows also show that David Murcia's followers believe him close to being the next Messiah, speaking of him as a prophet unjustly picked on by the government for helping the poor.

One of the greater complaints has been the lack of action from part of the government, who didn´t take measures to stop people from investing in these schemes. If it was so illegal, why didn't the government stop it, and why were they charging the company taxes if it was in the shady side of the law? Some people have their own conspiracy theories about the relationship the government has with DMG:

Bueno pues segun mi Fuente que trabaja directamente en DMG; hace algunos años hubo un negocio para Lavar dinero del Narcotrafico, en especial de los paramilitares através de DMG y en estas marañas estaba interesadisimo don Alvarito asi que, segun la parte Administrativa de DMG mientras Alvarito este y se mantenga en el Poder DMG se mantiene protegida y funcionando. Osea que al cosa ya tiene mas sentido.

DMG itself has also defended itself on the YouTube Channel: On DMG Vs. Financial Terrorism (Part 1) [es] he blames Aval group and its banking directors for the collapse of DMG due to their refusal to deal with DMG and their mudslinging tactics against the organization:

Currently, David Murcia is in the process of being extradited from Panama, where he currently lives, along with his wife, mother and other family members to answer to legal charges. DMG's supporters are blaming the government for freezing the company's assets and staunchly believe that the money they were receiving had to do with investments and trade and in the capital city of Bogotá they marched yesterday to prove their support of their hero. You can see images, read posts and view their perspective on their blog “Let us Work”. The following video records the support march which took place on November 17th to support DMG and protest against the government's actions:

As Apeláez writes in “The Putumayo Messiah”, with hard numbers to prove his point:

En particular, los holgazanes que invierten en DMG parecen no entender ( o entender muy bien) el riesgo que está detras de sus inversiones. Actuan como fanáticos religiosos detras del nuevo mesias que promete fortunas con sólo esperar y confiar. Suponen, también, que los retornos de su inversión son una muestra contundente de la mezquindad del sistema financiero colombiano y están dispuestos a inmolarse con tal de proteger al mechudo.

Según han dicho en los medios, cerca de trescientos mil colombianos son holgazanes que tienen una parte de sus ahorros en DMG. Si cada uno de estos tuviera invertido en promedio doscientos cincuenta mil pesos, hoy DMG estaría manejando en su último round cerca de treinta y ocho millones de dolares. Para poder cumplirle a sus inversores, el señor del pelo largo necesita recoger casi ciento veinte millones de dolares o de lo contrario colapsa. Si lo logra, necesitará trescientos cincuenta y cuatro millones de dolares para mantenerse a flote, y en caso de lograr conseguir esta plata con sus amigos oscuros, necesitará mil y pico millones de dolares para evitar ser crucificado.

La tiene dificil el mesias.

Participants from El Salvador and the 22 member states are divided into one of a broad range of areas including: Astronomy, CampusBot (robotics), Innovation, Modding, Campus Create, Digital Leisure and Digital Inclusion, and includes the participation of bloggers. These bloggers have captured the feeling of being in a room with their fellow technology enthusiasts through their blog posts, photos and videos.

Photo by Patinet and used under a Creative Commons license.

David of the blog Dark Manfred [es] and a native of El Salvador writes about his first impressions about the amount of computers in the room, numbering in the hundreds.

With representatives from all 22 Ibero-american states, it is an opportunity to meet others, share ideas, and see what others are doing across the region. Blogchorno [es] from El Salvador had the opportunity to see the XO computers from the One Laptop Per Child project that attendees from Uruguay had brought to demonstrate. The traditional media is also presented, as La Prensa Grafica, one of San Salvador's most important newspaper is devoting a blog [es] to the event and published a note about theBlogs & Beers event for local and visiting bloggers. David Mejia is also promoting the event on Facebook [es].

Many bloggers are writing about their favorite areas of Campus Party Rafael Monge was thoroughly impressed with modding (modification) of computers from their original factory enclosures with “customized designs by their owners to make things truly surprising: personalized equipment which are more works of art.”

The robots have also been a notable attraction, with original designs built by representatives from across Ibero-América. Joster Ricardo took a video of a robot that stands up on its own.

As many of the participants are enthusiasts of Open and Free Software, many were excited about the recent release of the newest version of Ubuntu 8.10. To spread the word, there were signs everywhere, such on the computer towers and also on signs on people's backs to let everyone know for sharing purposes. Edwin of Sansivar Graphics [es] has photos.

However, not all bloggers arrived from around El Salvador, others travelled varying distances such as Gustavo Reyes of Guatemala [es], Hugo Miranda of Bolivia [es], Carolina Botero of Colombia [es], and Julio Juan Ortega of Nicaragua [es]. The gathering was also an opportunity for first-time visitors to El Salvador to try local cuisine. Joan Guerrero from the Dominican Republic [es] captured an outing to try the traditional pupusas.

The event continues through Saturday morning, and one can follow the rest of the agenda on Campus Party's official YouTube, Twitter, Flickr, and Facebook page.

For the last four years, Colombian video blogger Alejandro Ángel has been living in Spain, recording his experiences since February 2007 on his videoblog Armadillo TV. Following, a 4000 image recap of his last 4 years:

Bebin TV is an Internet TV channel and web show made by Iranians living in California. On the 56 episodes of Bebin Office, they have produced their own Persian version of the popular US and British TV series the Office. They also have some clips on travel, shopping and news.

Hip Hop artist DJ Jay Smooth raps on politics, economy and current events in his video blog Ill Doctrine. On the following video, he shows a collaboration between hip hop artists from different countries, rapping together in 3 different languages:

Voices of Africa video citizen journalism project is also nominated. The project provides journalists in 33 different countries in the African continent mobile phones or small digital video recorders so they can follow news and upload the content via mobile and internet networks to the AfricaNews site.

Mostafa al Baqali from Morocco portrays life in his city, focusing on stories about people's lives there. The last installment shows us a bit of the challenges life presents for a Abdul Latif, a blind Moroccan:

The New Lumiere is a transpotting trend follower: it is a Russian video blog that records train arrivals in different Russian cities.

Please check back this week as we visit the rest of the international nominees for these awards.

They write:

la fuerza publica entró disparando con armas de largo alcance y ya hay 3 heridos mas de gravedad. la fuerza militar entro ya al territorio de dialogo y negociación.

Se solicita de manera urgente que organismos internacionales frenen esta violencia. tambien a los pueblos inigenas que refuercen el personal que esta siendo atacado.

The indigenous community has been sending emails and posting on their website[es] updates on the situation.

The following video was posted last week by user nasacin, including cellphone and video camera images from the manifestations, clips showing shot indigenous community members, a soldier speaking about the differences between the Mob Control ESMAD and the armed forces, stating that the armed forces are to keep the peace, and the ESMAD is the one in charge of defusing violent situations. However, when asked who it is that is shooting with rifles, the soldier doesn't answer.

Blogger Alejandro Peláez last week wrote of how foreign media is reporting on the indigenous protests, but local media hadn't published anything at all:

Las noticias son hechos, y para escribir sobre hechos toca salir del escritorio, entrevistar personas, buscar en archivos, viajar al monte . Las masacres, por ejemplo, son hechos. Pero en este país los medios cubren este tipo de hechos con diez años de diferencia y ahí ya no son noticia, son historia. En este momento, como lo cuenta AdamIsacson (sí, un gringo sentando en Washington D.C.), hay serios disturbios en el Cauca y El Tiempo ni lo anota. Tal vez presenten una crónica completísima dentro de diez años. Chévere.

In Gacetilla Colombiana, a Digg style application for Colombian news, posters have been linking foreign news as an alternative for those who are under the “media blackout” on this event, in particular to a major foreign news chain's video [en] where a citizen media recording shows what could be an armed but hooded person dressed in green with a rifle going moving through the mob squad and shooting at the indigenous protesters as the members of the mob squad move to let him pass. In the blog “Lets Change the World”, Decio Machado posts the email chain sent out by the Indigenous groups, the means through which most Colombians have found out about the crisis.  The Selvas.org blog also posts updates on the situation, how indigenous groups are all marching towards a main city called Cali and blocking the Panamerican Highway and other roads with 10 000 people, including cane pickers, farmers women and children.

In the national blogging  award winner Tienen Huevo blog,  they write outraged at the fact that at the same time there is an ethnocide going on in the streets of Colombia, trying to reach Cali, while a fashion and makeup expo is taking place, with people more concentrated on clothing and fashion shows than the indigenous situation.

The government has responded to the accusations of opening fire on the indigenous protesters by saying that they have orders not to shoot, so it must've been an inside job, someone infiltrated from the indigenous communities among the police in order to cause panic and bad feeling. Bacteria Opina blog has a caricature of the situation where two indigenous protesters comment that in spite of marching with “indigenous malice”, a phrase used to determine  the ability to make do with whatever is doled out their way, the government is accusing them of being an “indigenous milicia”. The government has issued statements saying that these indigenous protests are infiltrated by guerrillas and are terrorist activities, statements the indigenous communities refute absolutely on their blog.

These other videos online on YouTube show the indigenous community's past struggles, this is the first of the multipart series:

Federico Ruiz posts a play-by-play ping-pong match style summary of events up until Saturday:

los indígenas decretan un paro, el gobierno lo declara ilegal, los indígenas se toman la panamericana, el gobierno manda a una fuerza especial antimotines de la policía para que desbloqueen las carreteras, más indígenas se suman a las movilizaciones, el procurador de la nación dice que va a los diálogos, el presidente dice que está muy ocupado para ir a resolver el problema, los de la policía intentan desbloquear la carretera a las malas, los indígenas dicen que no se van porque les tienen que arreglar sus problemas y cumplirles los compromisos que les habían hecho hace como 15 años y que están en ese link que es una “carta abierta al presidente”, entre tanto en las protestas matan a un indígena y hieren como a 10 según las informaciones de El Tiempo, pero que en realidad no son 10 sino 90 según lo dicen los indígenas, y los de la policía dicen que en la manifestación o en el paro hay infiltrados de la guerrilla, los indígenas dicen que no, y justo luego los indígenas descubren que si hay un infiltrado pero que justamente es policía y que tenía unos panfletos de las farc y unas armas para encochinar a los indígenas, y por si fuera poco, justo llega el defensor regional del pueblo, o sea un representante del gobierno, y dice que “la Fuerza Pública se ha excedido en el uso de las armas de fuego”.

EDITED to add:

The organization who sent in the recording of the hooded shooter among the mob squad team have uploaded it online with other images of the protests. The images of the shooter amongst the mob squad, shooting at protesters starts at 1:44. They also add images of President Uribe calling military leaders to ask about the murders of the protesters, to which the military replied it was a shrapnel wounds from a pipe bomb and wasn't a bullet injury.The indigenous people are also shown with segments of a handmade grenade full of metal pieces and ball bearings they claim the armed forces are using against them.

Here is part one of a collection of Latin American bloggers who participated in the campaign:

Paraguay

Osval wonders why his country is consistently ranked as one of the world's poorest countries:

Paraguay is a country full of resources and opportunities, we have three hydroelectric power plants, including the world's biggest one Itaipú, we have plenty of land for agriculture, the best and most fertile soil, a lot of water everywhere, cement and steel factories, so…. why are we considered one of the poorest countries in Latin America? I really don't know.
(…)

We would like to see in the coming years and with the help of the new government, a change in all this. We just need good people, good administrators, people who really cares about the benefit of the whole country and not only their own pockets. Why we use gas stoves when we have three hydroelectric power plants!!

Colombia

Sandel provides links to other Colombian bloggers [es] that are participating in Blog Action Day, including DianaCats. She writes that many are too attached to material things [es] and that we should look through our stuff for the things that we don't need in order to share with others. Juliana Rincón of Medea Material [es] shares an email from Andrea, one of the members of Hiperbarrio, the citizen media project in Medellín, who is once again organizing a toy collection campaign for children of the community of Choco.

Mexico

Jorge Landa thinks that Blog Action Day is not meant for policymakers, but rather for inner reflection [es]:

Hoy no pensé jamás en acabar con la pobreza del mundo, esperar ese cambio de la realidad resultaría ingenuo cuando menos, pero espero que continuemos cambiando la forma en que nos acercamos a esta realidad.

Peru

For Blog Action Day, Menos Canas [es] thinks it is difficult to talk about poverty, not because it does not exist, rather that one does not know where to start. El Útero de Marita [es] knows where to start and thinks that one cannot talk about poverty without linking it to the ever present problem of corruption.

El Salvador

Samuel Bran reflects on poverty [es] in his country:

La pobreza el nuestro país El Salvador es una realidad que vemos día tras día, todos los días vemos cuadros tan difíciles, tan dolorosos y muchas veces como leí hace un tiempo en Andando a Pie no tengo reacciones a este a ellos, realmente cuando te pones a pensar detenidamente a meditar un poco, cuando de tu cabeza salen por un solo minuto la Disco, el vacil, el mascón e inviertes ese pequeño minuto en pensar que de aquellos que no tienen una casa, o del que esta buscando comida entre la basura… que hacemos por ellos son nuestros hermanos salvadoreños y aunque no podemos ir por la vida levantando a todos nuestros hermanos por lo menos ayudar a uno cada cierto tiempo nos ayudará a nosotros a mejorar algo de nuestro país.

Honduras

In countries of stark contrasts, Hugo Chinchilla recalls visiting the small town of Marale and encountering starving and desperate people. In turn, he wonders how much money politicians spend on luxuries knowing that fellow countrymen and women are in this dire situation. Aaron Ortiz of Pensieve finds out where he ranks on a Global Rich list, and Laurie comments relating a story of a father struggling to buy baby formula.

Special thanks to Juliana Rincón for providing links for this article.

Full Moon by Irargerich

Legends and myths are part of our culture. Nina Maguid  mentions in her post “Of Fear and Frights”, that these stories were told in first person and usually around some source of fire, and I couldn't agree more. I used to hear local versions of some of these stories during my holidays, sitting around dining room tables at rural farmhouses, our faces lit up by a flickering kerosene lamp. All it took for a story to be recalled was the unexplained baying of dogs or a horse galloping by in the dead of the night.  Nina mentions three specific frights famous in her mother's Argentinean hometown: The bad light, the widow and the pig.

Scary creatures that jump at you by kevindoolay

According to Comodín at El Blog de Oro, this light would be used to hunt for treasure: if it was a white light, it would signal gold and silver treasure, if it was red, they had to run away, since it was the devil at work. This myths is by no means unique to Argentina: all over the world people have tried to explain the meaning of these mysterious lights which appear at twilight, like in Spain and Chile.

The Widow was a woman slighted in love, who died when she discovered her husband was unfaithful. She signed a deal with the devil to remain forever in this world and get her revenge. She would jump on single men's horses and ride pillion with them, and if they got frightened, she would kill them. The only way to remain unscathed was by carrying a rosary or crucifix and not getting scared. This myth is so fixed in Argentinean folklore that the expression “getting visited by the Widow” is a synonym for an unexpected or disagreeable event.

El Loco Bender (Crazy Bender) also writes about the Black Widow, and adds a bit more flair to the hair-raising story by promising a lonely, slow and painful death to those fickle or unfaithful men she meets.

Costa Rica has a similar myth, known as la Cegua. La Cegua will hitch a ride from lonely and unfaithful men, luring them with her attractive appearance, but once she is atop the horse, when the men look back they will see that her face is a horse's skull covered in putrid meat, and she will bite their cheek to mark them as unfaithful. However, blogger Elemental writes that the outcome may be far more dire: all unfaithful men die with their eyes wide open in fear, and those who weren't unfaithful keep their lives, but remain impotent for the rest of their lives.

Elemental also writes about the Cadejos, a demon dog that would appear at night with the sound of dragging chains, although none would be visible. The size of a small calf, this dog had matted hair, giant fangs and sizzling eyes, nose and ears, and would scare anything in its way, from naughty children and wayward men to farm animals. Nevertheless, this “fright” is considered benevolent, since it will walk along drunken men and make sure they get home safely, even protecting them from other beings of the night such as La Llorona or common thieves. In Guatemala, however, they consider that there are two versions of this dog: the black one and the white one. The white dog will protect anyone it walks with, and in Deguate.com, Mrs. Argentina Barcia tells of how the Cadejos led them to find her father's dead body.  At El Blog Chapin another goose-bump inducing story tells of how El Cadejos appeared to a city slicker staying at a homestead, and how people should take heed when warnings of the supernatural kind are delivered by country folk.

La Llorona by rareworlds

Our last legend for today is that of La Llorona, [en]  one that caused me to fear cats in heat for years and years of my childhood . La Llorona is “the crying woman, and this is one of the multinational frights. From Mexico to Chile, the Llorona stays near bodies of water (which might include a water tank in your garden) and wails for her missing children. She might just be there to scare you, or if you are in Colombia [es],  she might want you to hold her baby for just one second, since she's very tired, and then you'll be condemned to being La Llorona until someone takes the burden off your hands. The story of how her children went missing varies from one country to the other, but most have some of the same elements. Women who married men who were much richer than they were, got slighted or abandoned, and decided to take their anger out on their children by drowning them, to later regret their choice. Others versions have a young and flighty woman who leaves her baby out by a river rock where she things he'll be safe while she goes out dancing, and then the river rises and takes the baby away, and so the woman remains near rivers, asking everyone if they have seen her children.

The following Costa Rican animated short film, Asusto, by Pablo and Francisco Céspedes Jr showcases most, if not all the Costa Rican legends, including the ox-less cart and the headless priest. No translation necessary: there seems to be no need for words when you are busy running away from fright after fright.

In Colombia, the organization of the 4th Deaf Youth Conference is under way, and on the following video, Sandra and Eliécer, organizers of the event, show us and the rest of the Colombian deaf community the recreational park where the conference will take place this year, this time in Colombian Sign Language and voiceovers in Spanish:

Other conferences are also being organized for the Deaf Community in different countries. This video invites viewers to participate in the First Latin American Spiritual Conference for the Deaf, and in this other video, the invitation is for the activities in Costa Rica during the Deaf Awareness Week.

As part of the innitiative to get more deaf people videoblogging, eloypr created a video tutorial in sign language explaining how to open a blogger account and get the “signoblog” (Signblog) started.

Image is Hand by John-Morgan, used according to Creative Commons attribution license.

The day after the Semana article was published, President Uribe defended his officials in a press conference [es], claiming that “that people who wanted to testify about things concerning national security are welcome at the Presidential Palace” and that “the material handed by the paramilitaries wasn’t enough to incriminate the Court.” This week, the Colombian ambassador to the Dominican Republic resigned because of his links to Don Berna's envoy, and the Attorney's office is probing him and the other officials involved.

Colombian bloggers seem to take sides on the issue, some supporting the government, some others supporting the Supreme Court, whose president reacted to the scandal claiming the Presidency was conspiring against it.

Atrabilioso [es]'s Jaime Restrepo attacks the Supreme Court because they seem to seek to damage the government.

Los magistrados, como cualquier ciudadano, tienen derecho a debatir, a exponer su defensa y a no guardar silencio frente a los delicados hechos cuyas explicaciones evaden o minimizan en el mejor de los casos. ¿Acaso esos cuestionamientos son irrespeto a la independencia de poderes? Por supuesto que no: Los señalamientos contra el poder judicial son graves y el país está esperando aclaraciones y, porqué no, procesos en las instancias competentes.

Sin embargo, que esos pronunciamientos tengan la intención de ocasionar un perjuicio internacional al poder ejecutivo sí deja a la luz una maniobra desesperada de ataque y muestra a la Corte como el último bastión de aquellos cuyos feudos, privilegios y vagabundería están amenazados por el gobierno Uribe. Semejante respuesta es la exhibición de una maniobra que intenta llevar la confrontación al escenario internacional para que puedan entrometerse, de lleno, los patrocinadores y aliados latinoamericanos y europeos de las Farc.

At equinoXio [es], Marsares writes about the intentions of those who leaked the information about the meeting to the media:

Aparte de lo que signifiquen estas visitas de delincuentes, de entrada hay un hecho curioso. La reunión se realizó hace tres meses y fue intrascendente. Si no lo hubiera sido, y dados las relaciones álgidas que mantiene con la Corte, muy seguramente el presidente hubiera aprovechado la situación para atacarla. Pero nada pasó. ¿Por qué ahora se saca a la luz pública? La deducción es clara. Quien filtró la información quería causar un escándalo que perturbara aún más las relaciones entre el poder judicial y el Gobierno.

¿Pero quién lo hizo?

(…)

Todo es posible, pero la hipótesis más razonable es que la filtración proviene de los paramilitares y todos caímos en la trampa que armaron: enfrentar a los poderes públicos. Como en el pasado lo hizo Pablo Escobar con bombas materiales, hoy sus herederos atacan con bombas de publicidad malsana, buscando como el extinto capo, debilitar al Estado colombiano.

Besides what these visits by criminals mean, since the beginning there is something interesting. The meeting took place three months ago and was insignificant. If it were not, and given the critical relationship he maintains with the [Supreme] Court, the president would likely have taken advantage of the situation in order to turn on it. But nothing happened. Why is this put into the spotlight now? The conclusion is clear. Whoever leaked the information wanted to cause a scandal to upset, even more, the relationships between the judicial branch and the Government. But who did it?
(…) Everything is possible, but the most reasonable hypothesis is that the leaking came from the paramilitaries and we all fell into the trap they set up: to bring the public powers into conflict. As Pablo Escobar did it in the past with real bombs, today his heirs attack with bombs of bad publicity, seeking to weaken the Colombian State just as the deceased mafia boss.

Don Blog Pérez takes the news with some cynicism [es]:

[E]l asunto es que hace siete meses a la Casa de Alvarito de Nariño entró una camioneta en la que llegaron el abogado de alias Don Berna (paramilitar supuestamente desmovilizado), y un representante de la oficina de Envigado. El vehículo ingresó por la puerta trasera -por motivos de seguridad, claro-, y según explicó hoy Uribe el motivo de la visita fue la entrega de unas pruebas que incriminan a los magistrados de la corte suprema de justicia de manipulación de testigos, últimas tres palabras que Alvarito repitió como si fuera la única respuesta a todas las preguntas de los carnívoros periodistas.

¿Pero por qué se quedó callado el presidente y no sacó al aire las pruebas? pues según explicó él mismo, “las pruebas no eran nada trascendente”, es decir, que supuestamente los visitantes fueron a llevar pruebas falsas pero que él no podía negarles la oportunidad de hablar “porque este gobierno ha escucha’o a todo el que tiene algo qué decir” (que vaina, ¿será que Uribe no lee a Don Blog Pérez?). En fin, como al presidente nadie puede llevarle la contraria, digamos que se estaban tomando un tinto, de la forma más honesta, sincera, transparente, justa, noble, cristiana y legal que un gobierno como el nuestro puede hacerlo.

The thing is seven months ago [sic] a pickup entered Alvarito's Nariño's House carrying aka Don Berna's (a supposedly demobilized paramilitary boss) lawyer and a representative from the [criminal organization known as] Office of Envigado. The vehicle entered the backdoor -for security concerns, of course-, and as Uribe explained today, the reason was the delivery of some evidence incriminating the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice on witness manipulation, three words that Álvaro kept saying over and over as if it was the only answer to all the questions from the carnivorous journalists. But why did the President stay quiet and not publish the evidences? Because, as he explained himself, “the evidence was nothing significant”, that is, allegedly the visitors went to deliver false evidence, but he couldn't deny them a chance to talk “because this government has listened to everyone who has something to say” (too bad, how come Uribe doesn't read Don Blog Pérez?). Whatever, as no one is allowed to disagree with the President, let's say they were having a cup of coffee, with the most honest, sincere, transparent, fair, noble, Christian, and legal way a Government as the one we have could have done.

Thumbnail by René Medel