Why no reporting on civil unrest, assassinations?

The U.S. Press stopped reporting foreign news years ago when they closed all their foreign bureaus, most Americans have little interest in what is going on outside its borders.

Colombians are extremely agitated over a proposed sales tax increase "reforma tributaria". I have known people for years who I thought were apolitical who are now apoplectic.
The tax hike has been rescinded due to massive protests particularly in but not limited to Bogota. There has been looting and according to the news last night six people were killed. I haven't heard about assassinations.
I tend to steer clear of discussing politics here in Medellin. As a foreigner I feel that it's not my place and that I would be sure to offend with my lack of knowledge and background. Colombian friends and aquaintences tell me completely different versions of what is going on but in this case they're all telling me the same thing; that it was a crazy idea to raise taxes in the middle of a pandemic that is still peaking and causing massive stress, unemployment and poverty. 45% of the country is either poor or extremely poor already and this is pushing people over the edge. Scores of once thriving business have gone under just in my immediate neighborhood.
Why doesn't the US mass media cover it? My guess is that they don't care. At least here we don't have people calling for the defunding of the police and burning down police stations.

Colombia like most of Latin America is between a rock and a hard place.  It has had for years a government and bureaucracy that it cannot afford, Congressmen are paid ten thousand dollars a month for example.  Duque has totally mismanaged the pandemia from the beginning to the point there are more deaths in Colombia each day than there are in the U.S.  This has destroyed large portions of the private sector.  Lastly the international credit agencies are now rating Colombia bonds as junk resulting in the devaluation of the currency.  Plus it does not help to have a Communist country next door which cannot feed its people and sends them to Colombia creating more mayhem.  The only solution is to reduce the size of the bureaucracy and allow the economy to recover or it will become Petro's country and live in poverty forever.

I have read many reposts and stories all over the news, but you may want to look further than Colombia Reports. Good luck...

CaliRay wrote:

what's going on in Colombia?... I am reading in Colombia Reports about civil unrest, violence and assassinations but find nothing about this in the US news. Do you know what's going on there?

Late at night, the live CNN programming available in the USA covers more international news than at other times of day. 

Otherwise, the cable networks seen in the States probably don't think their audience cares about South America.  The exception being covid statistics and the lack of ICU beds in some countries.

The New York Times has a few correspondents in South America.  nytimes.com

Ditto The Washington Post.  washingtonpost.com

www.cuencahighlife.com carries stories involving Colombia, but not every day.

Even news about the massive tax protests in Colombian cities hasn't broken through as far as I have seen.  No doubt you can google this issue if you want, though you may not seen it reported in mainstream USA media.

cccmedia

Who is Petro?

coluccimba wrote:

Who is Petro?

You can read about Gustavo Petro here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustavo_Petro

He is a left-wing politician in Colombia who was recalled from office as Bogotá's mayor in 2013 and banned from political activity for 15 years, but was reinstated the next year.  Many say if he got into power again, if elected as President, he would be the Colombian equivalent of Venezuela's Maduro.

To have a better understanding of Colombia and its politics you should also read about Álvaro Uribe:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81lvaro_Uribe

The two are basically polar opposites, Petro having been a guerilla who still advocates socialist/communist policies and Uribe a law and order politician who as President was largely responsible for the defeat of the FARC and making Colombia safer for everyone.

Thanks Osage!  I read the biographies, and learned that there are very different views on how to run the country.  Columbia's politics seem similar to the United States.  In the United States, there are a few Democratic senators who may prevent a Chavez like movement in the U.S.  If we survive this movement, we will do so by the skin on our teeth.  The Wuhan virus vaccine dissemination and the economic recovery are taking some of the steam out of the U.S. Chavezistas.

As an expat from the US it is often advisable not to discuss politics in Colombia except with close Colombian family members who presumably share your views. 

This is a country whose people have been torn apart for more than 30 years and even longer, by guerilla actions, army re-actions, kidnappings for ransom, drug trafficking, ordinary crime, and violent reactions between individuals who disagree on politics.

The ordinary hard-working honest Colombian people are the ones who have suffered most.  Some rural areas are still largely controlled by guerillas and sympathizers.  Urban areas which may be mostly free from ideological struggles, suffer from crime - armed robberies are all too common, such that words/phrases have been made up to describe the various methods (such as fleteo and secuestro exprés.  Gang wars over turf and drugs may break out periodically in the cities.

Most Colombians acknowledge that things started to get better, much better, under the mano dura policies of Uribe's presidency beginning in 2002 (do a search for "uribe mano dura").  But there are perhaps almost as many who believe socialism/communism or some modified form of them is the answer instead - redistribution of wealth and land to address poverty is popular among the many disadvantaged.  Many even praise Cuba as being a model for Colombia to emulate, and these views are not dismissed out of hand by some. 

So tread carefully if/when politics are being discussed.  Change the subject and buy another round!

Two of the most active Expats/YouTubers in Colombia have begun posting regularly on the unrest in Colombian cities, related to tax protests and whatever else is bothering la gente.

Marshall Powell, 30, is posting from Cali, where he came across tear-gassing and looting last weekend .. and continues to follow the gestalt.

Loren Lowe (rhymes with cow) of the YouTube site Gran Colombia, late 60's, is in Armenia in the Coffee Triangle, where he has been discussing issues that have provoked the protesters.

Both Expat producers are from the USA.

Search at YouTube...

   1. marshall powell things getting out of hand

   2. gran colombia protests in colombia why

The YouTube channel TYT tonight posted a ten-minute report with analysis .. titled Colombia Protests Explained.

TYT principal hosts Ana Kasparian, Cenk Uygur and their reporter explained that the protests are about inequality, poverty and corruption.

Portions of the report were based on New York Times reporting datelined Bogotá.

cccmedia

Today's Colombia headlines from TYT and The New York Times...

24 dead, 87 missing in a week of protests in Colombia

Presidente Iván Duque withdraws his VAT tax proposal .. for now

Colombians persist with protests despite Duque's decision
    due to violent and bloody response by the state

NYT:  Police are using the same militarized policing tactics
    earlier used against Colombian terrorists and cartel criminals

No people understand the fruits of socialism as well as Venezuelans.  And there has been a diaspora of Venezuelans to Columbia and most, if not all, countries in the Americas.  You would think that Columbians ears would be deaf to the message of socialism, as their eyes see impoverished, homeless Venezuelans lining their streets, offering first-hand evidence of the bitter fruits of socialism.  Meanwhile, in the U.S., many people are also turning a blind eye to the fruits of Venezuelan socialism.  They say that due to their superior knowledge and leadership, the U.S. will be the first country to get socialism right.  They are utopian and idealistic.

The name of this country is Colombia not Columbia.

Thanks for the feedback!  We call Colon Columbus in the U.S., so American names use Columbia, e.g. District of Columbia or Columbia University.  So, I mistakenly thought that we translatedy the nation of Colombia the same way.  My bad!

Anyone who wants to visually follow the travails of a USA Expat caught up in the protests and riots of Colombia can view the Marshall Powell channel at YouTube.  Marshall, age 30, is from Washington State, and planned to visit Cali, Colombia, for at least a month.  I mentioned Marshall briefly, earlier on this thread.

Fortunately for Marshall, he speaks with and understands la gente using his excellent language skills.

Less fortunately, he arrived for his visit to Cali just before the protesting erupted.

Marshall has been filing daily YouTube reports on his progress dealing with the national crisis as an Expat.

His latest reports detail his attempts to escape Cali at a time when vehicular exits are blockaded, food supplies have dwindled and violence in the streets is commonplace....

Search at Youtube.com...
        marshall powell escaping cali colombia

We have been following Marshall's adventure on a daily basis on this Colombia forum's Streaming Colombia thread.

cccmedia

I'm in touch daily, even hourly, with my family in Cali - it's bad but there's no reason to panic.  Everyone is just riding it out.  Most places in most neighborhoods are still quite calm.

The biggest thing is that food for people and animals, and gasoline are in short supply.  Not to the point that any people are going to starve, but some farm animals may in the rural surrounding areas, because of the bloqueos.

"Entrepeneurs" in various parts of Cali are making a few extra pesos by illegally charging peajes or tolls for vehicles to use some city streets and roads.

Already there is some return to normality - but are they there yet?  NO.

Many Expats may wonder how far the U.S. dollar goes in Colombia during this protest period.

I visited a one-month chart showing the dollar (USD) versus the Colombian peso (COP).

It shows that in mid-April, one month ago, the dollar was plateauing
at just above 3600 pesos.  Now, in mid-May, it's up overall at
about 3686 pesos to the dollar.

That's an overall increase of 2.3 percent in the dollar's value
against Colombian currency.

Along the way, there was movement:  the dollar went as high as
3854 pesos in early May, then went back down to its current
exchange value.

At its peak on May 6, the dollar had climbed 7 percent from its mid-April value.


Source... www.xe.com

All peso figures in this post are rounded up or down to the nearest peso.

cccmedia

Here in Bogotá the Mayor is extremely Liberal and has openly said she does not support the Police. Many of the small community Police Stations have been destroyed or vandalized, busses burnt to the ground, transportation stations destroyed. The Protesters/Rioters/Criminals have barricaded the primary roads into Bogotá cutting off the supply of food, medical supplies, oxygen for hospitals.  We received a letter from the Water Supply Company saying the water is no longer treated with chemicals because their trucks can not get to the Water Filtration Plants. These people/criminals are holding the 8 million people in Bogotá hostage for what ?
This has gone far beyond people protesting about a Tax Increase, in my opinion there are people with an agenda to overthrow the existing Government and President Duque.

***

Since the world is paying more attention and the press is doing more reporting on the protests/civil unrest, the title of this thread including "why no reporting on the civil unrest" seems out of date.

So I have posted a new thread, titled Colombia's 'Permanent' Protests, on this forum .. and asked the Home Office to give it the "sticky treatment" -- also known as listing it ongoingly near the top of the forum's welcome-page lineup.

cccmedia
member, Expat.com experts team

You are so right. It started even before trump but has only gained in popularity. “ I know nothing and I'm proud of it! It use to be if you were ignorant you kept you mouth closed to keep people from realizing .Now they are loud and proud of their ignorant.