VOXXI: Colombia: FARC Guerrillas Rap for Peace

"Colombia: FARC Guerrillas Rap for Peace"
W. Alejandro Sanchez
VOXXI
May 15, 2014
Originally published: http://voxxi.com/2014/05/15/colombia-farc-guerrillas-rap-for-peace/

The Colombian FARC guerrilla movement and the Cuban band “Cuentas Claras” have produced a rap video entitled “Pueblo Colombiano pa’ la mesa” (Colombian people, go to the negotiation table) featuring two well-known FARC fighters.

The song praises the FARC for seeking equality and peace in Colombia, while criticizing the government for endangering the ongoing peace talks in Havana, Cuba.

While the song will not win any Latin Grammys, it is a public diplomacy tool aimed at helping the Colombian narco-insurgents gain popularity.

FARC raps

“Pueblo Colombiano” includes not just the members of the Cuentas Claras group, but also Tanja Nijmeijer, a Dutch citizen who became a FARC fighter and is a member of the insurgent movement’s negotiation team at the talks in Cuba. In fact, she appears at the start of the video, calling Havana “the peace capital of the continent.”

Depicting himself as a joyful field worker, one of FARC’s founding fathers, Miguel Pascuas, also known as “Sargeant Pascuas,” also made a guest appearance. (The U.S. State Department offers a $2.5million reward for information leading to his arrest).

As for the lyrics and the video itself, it can be summarized as FARC propaganda. In general the lyrics praise the narco-insurgents; some verses state that the FARC came to Cuba to speak in favor of “shoeless kids” and “peasants who live under threat.”

On the other hand, “they,” meaning the Colombian government, are accused of protecting their “businesses,” “covering up the truth,” and keeping the people “ignorant.” One verse implies that the Colombian government unjustly accuses the FARC of hindering the ongoing peace negotiations. The video briefly shows images of police officers (arguably Colombian), beating up an unidentified person who is lying on a street.

Revolutionary music

The FARC-Cuentas Claras video is certainly not the first public relations stunt in which a revolutionary movement has resorted to music in order to improve their public image. Some songs have remained popular over the decades if they praise a popular hero.

Case in point is “Hasta Siempre” a song written by Carlos Puebla in 1965 which praises the Argentine revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara, who had left Cuba in order to organize revolutionary movements in Latin America. Two years later Guevara was killed bythe Bolivian Army.

Additionally, in the 1990s Sub-comandante Marcos, the leader of the Zapatista movement, requested the Spanish artist Joaquin Sabina to write a song for the non-violent Mexican movement. Sabin’s song is entitled “Como un Dolor de Muelas” (Like a Toothache).

Nowadays, even the powerful Mexican drug cartels have their own music bands. They perform songs praising the drug lords who control criminal networks, while also harassing their opponents. These “narco-corridos” have become both popular and deadly as it is not surprising nowadays to hear of a narco-singer that was murdered by a rival cartel.

One of the worst massacres occurred in January 2013, when all 14 members of the band Kombo Kolombia were murdered. Their songs praised the Zetas cartel and it is believed that the Gulf Cartel may be behind their deaths.

A discussion       

Colombia is scheduled to have presidential elections this upcoming Sunday, May 25. President Juan Manuel Santos is running for a second term and, even though his popularity has suffered over the past year, it is expected that he will emerge victorious.

Nevertheless, this victory will not be easy, as it is expected that the Colombian leader will have to go to a second electoral round againstOscar Ivan Zuluaga, of the Centro Democratico.

Santos’ re-electoral strategy was to achieve a permanent peace agreement with the FARC. But with peace negotiations well into their second year (they started in late 2012), it becomes disheartening to see only an agreement on a few issues as the only signs of progress in restoring social tranquility. In other words, it is blindly optimistic to imagine a peace agreement being reached before the upcoming elections.

The FARC high command, the Secretariat, knows that President Santos hoped for a positive outcome of the peace negotiations to assure his re-election. To what extent the FARC purposely stalled the negotiations to hurt President Santos is debatable. Solving a six-decade long civil war, in addition to a plethora of complexities involved, is certainly not something that is resolved overnight.

As for “Pueblo Colombiano,” the lyrics reflect the FARC’s ideology and critiques of the Colombian government. The addition of renowned fighters like Nijmeijer and historical leaders such as Pascuas is a jab at both Bogota and Washington.

It is likely that the FARC will continue to produce music videos. Certainly, songs are a quick and easy way for any entity, revolutionary or not, to gain popularity. Nevertheless, as catchy as “Pueblo Colombiano” may be, hopefully it will not win a Latin Grammy.

VOXXI: Evo Morales signs contract with Bolivian soccer team

"Evo Morales signs contract with Bolivian soccer team"
W. Alejandro Sanchez
VOXXI
May 20, 2014
Originally published: http://voxxi.com/2014/05/20/evo-morales-signs-bolivian-soccer-team/

Bolivian President Evo Morales can add “professional soccer player” to his resume as he recently signed a contract to play with Sport Boys Warnes, a professional Bolivian soccer team.

This will certainly please the Bolivian head of state as he is known to be a lover of the sport. Additionally, seeing him on the playing field will increase his popularity leading up to the country’s December elections, where it is expected that he will be re-elected.

Nevertheless, one important critique is that the time Morales will spend on the field could be better spent by trying to solve the country’s problems, including the fallout from an April protest by hundreds of Bolivian soldiers.

The deal

President Morales will earn the country’s minimum salary of $214 USD on his new team, Sports Boys Warnes and he will play this upcoming 2014/2015 season, which starts in August. Additionally, he will use the number “10” jersey, making him a striker.

Nevertheless, it is unclear how many games he will play and how much time he will spend with his teammates practicing prior to a game since he is still the country’s commander-in-chief. It is speculated that he will play around 20 minutes per match and, according to the Spanish daily El Pais, he will play three games next season.

It seems unlikely that the team’s coach will have much of a say on whether President Morales, age 54, is fit to play in a specific match since it would certainly be a bad career move for any coach to bench the country’s head of state.

President Morales’ longstanding passion for soccer has had tragic consequences in the past. In one memorable incident in July 2006, he broke his nose during a friendly match in the town of Independencia, located in Bolivia’s Cochabamba region.

As for his future team, Sports Boys is currently in 9^th place out of the 12 teams that play in the country’s first division. The leaders of the league are Universitario with 41 points and San Jose with 38, while Sport Boys only has 26.

Even though Sport Boys’ priority is to avoid relegation, it will be interesting to see what would happen if the team manages to qualify to an international soccer tournament like the Copa Libertadores or Copa Sudamericana next season. Would the Bolivian head of state attempt to play in these prestigious soccer championships?

Presidents, sports and national priorities

Most heads of state exercise regularly and some tend to do so in public places, a practice which provides positive publicity while demonstrating their fitness and making them more relatable public figures.

For example, President Obama is known to love basketball while Peruvian President Ollanta Humala has been seen jogging through the streets of Lima as well as abroad (he jogged while visiting France in 2012).

As for contact sports, Russian President Vladimir Putin participated in an exhibition hockey match in early May at Sochi, the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics. Putin displayed some good ice skills and even scored. Nevertheless, one could argue that the opposing team playerswere in no rush to hit the Russian head of state and former KGB officer.

This begs the question as to how opposing professional players will react when President Morales plays. Since he will play as a striker, other team’s defenders will have to face him for the ball. Would any of them try to slide and hit the head of state?

While it is commendable that President Morales wants to maintain his health and pursue one of his passions, Bolivia has plenty of issues that he should also prioritize. For example this past April more than700 Bolivian soldiers and sergeants took to the streets to protest the humiliating way their superiors had been treating them. The event marked an unprecedented display of anger from the country’s armed forces.

Today, Bolivia’s situation is not particularly dire. Certainly, it cannot be compared to the tense moments that the country experienced in 2008, when violent separatist protests almost toppled the Morales presidency and could have split Bolivia into two states.

Nevertheless, President Morales must pay attention to pressing issues like the military’s protests and a new mining law which was recently approved by the Bolivian Congress.

While his re-election in the upcoming December 2014 elections is all but certain (this will be his third term in office) hopefully President Morales does not forget that aside from being a professional player for Sports Boys Warnes and a presidential candidate, he is still the head of state.

Peru This Week: The Camisea Gas Project: From Peru to the World

"The Camisea Gas Project: From Peru to the World"
W. Alejandro Sanchez
Peru This Week
May 19, 2014
Originally published: http://www.peruthisweek.com/news-the-camisea-gas-project-from-peru-to-the-world-102996

On May 21-22, the Institute of the Americas will host the XXIII La Jolla 2014 Energy Conference in La Jolla, California. The two-day event will be a chance for experts to discuss the status, and the future, of energy production and consumption across the hemisphere.

Given the focus of this event, it comes as no surprise that Peru’s energy industry will receive star treatment at this prestigious conference. Namely, on Thursday, May 22, there will be a morning panel entitled “Spotlight on the Camisea Project at 10: Reflections and the outlook for Peru’s: historic natural gas project and the country’s hydrocarbon sector.” Attending will be representatives of Perupetro and Pluspetrol, as well as the CEO of Gran Tierra Energy Inc., a Canadian international oil and gas exploration and production company.

It makes sense that Peru will be discussed at length at La Jolla, and that there will be a special focus on the Camisea gas project. Over the past decade, Peru has enjoyed one of the most vibrant economies in Latin America. The country is a member of the Pacific Alliance as well as the Trans Pacific Partnership, a grandiose attempt at bringing major economies from Latin America and the Asia Pacific region, as well as the U.S., under one free trade area.

The Camisea Gas Project: The gem on the top of the Inca’s crown
The Camisea project stands out as the gem on top of the Inca nation’s crown when it comes to energy-related initiatives. Located in the Peruvian highlands, not far from Cusco, Camisea is an area rich with natural gas.

The gas field in Camisea was first discovered in 1986 and it began producing in 2004. According to the website Hydrocarbons-technology.com, the energy project cost US$2.7billion and made, “Peru a gas-rich nation with royalties of US$34 billion expected over the 30 year duration of the project.” The Camisea gas field is situated in the San Martin reservoir in the Amazon rainforest and is connected to the Port of Pisco via the Camisea pipeline.

In December 2013, the Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mines reported that it is now believed that there are 2.6 trillion of cubic feet of natural gas in Camisea. The ministry is hopeful that these estimates mean that, apart from being exported, the gas can also be utilized for the Gasoducto Sur Peruano (GSP). The GSP is an ambitious project to build two thermal energy plants that will provide electricity to the southern part of the Andean nation.

Controversy of the Camisea Project
Nevertheless, the Camisea project has not been without controversy. Over the past years, there have been a plethora of protests against it. One major concern is that the gas itself is benefiting consumers abroad while companies are getting rich, but the people around Camisea do not benefit from the natural gas. Moreover, this extractive industry has destroyed part of the local ecosystem around the Camisea River. In 2010, hundreds of people in Quillabamba, in the Cusco region not far from Camisea, protested against the export of the Camisea gas.

Control over the revenue from the Camisea exports is a source of tension as well. In 2013, there were major protests in the province of La Convencion, in the Cuzco region, over congressional proposals that would have altered the budget that the area receives from the income country obtains from the Camisea. Castro Melgarejo, mayor of Quillabamba, where the protests took place, accused Lima of trying to take control of gas export income destined to the nation’s provinces, specifically Cusco.

Finally, this March, a delegation of indigenous Peruvians belonging to the Kirigueti community arrived in Cuzco to protest against the potential expansion of Camisea’s Lot 88. The gas in Lot 88 comes from two gas fields to the north and south of the River Camisea. A February 25 commentary in the renowned British daily The Guardian explains that, “three of the four producing well locations in Lot 88 are in the reserve and, according to the state oil and gas agency Perupetro, Lot 88 accounted for 43% of Peru’s natural gas output in 2012 and 43% between January to November 2013.”

Representatives of the Kirigueti declared to the Peruvian daily La Republica that all 20 thousand of their people are against Camisea’s expansion, as living conditions for them have worsened since the project started a decade ago. Moreover, they declared that the financial wealth that the Peruvian government enjoys attributed to the Camisea has not helped indigenous Peruvians that live around the gas field.

It is debatable to what extent the aforementioned representatives from Perupetro, Pluspetrol, or Gran Tierra Energy will acknowledge the demands of Peruvians that have been affected by the operations of the Camisea gas project. Hopefully, the XXIII La Jolla 2014 Energy Conference will meaningfully address the complex issues surrounding the Camisea project rather than simply praising its accomplishments while ignoring its shortcomings.

Peru This Week: Peruvian Military trains to prepare for disasters

"Peruvian Military trains to prepare for Disasters"
W. Alejandro Sanchez
Peru This Week
May 12, 2014
Originally published: http://www.peruthisweek.com/news-peruvian-military-trains-to-prepare-for-disasters-102927

Between April 21 and May 2, the Peruvian armed forces orchestrated the “Cooperation III” multinational military exercise, which was carried out in the coastal cities of Lima and Pisco. The goal was to prepare the Peruvian armed forces on how to respond in case a natural disaster strikes the Andean nation – the military units involved in the exercise carried out maneuvers like delivering humanitarian aid and transporting cargo and emergency personnel, as well as search and rescue operations. ”Cooperation III” was carried out under the auspices of the Sistema de Cooperación de Las Fuerzas Aereas Americanas (SICOFAA, Cooperation System among the American Air Forces).

The hypothetical scenario was what would happen if an earthquake and a tsunami occurred in the coastal region between the two aforementioned cities. This scenario hits home to most Peruvians, as tremors are a normal occurrence in the country, including a severe quake in 2007 which hit both Lima and Pisco.

The Peruvian Air Force hosted the event and provided a variety of military hardware that included an An-32B transport aircraft and two Mi-17 helicopters, among others. The bases that were utilized for the exercise were the Grupo Aereo No 8 and Grupo Aereo N 51, located in Lima and Pisco, respectively.

This drill took on an international dimension as, even though the hypothetical disaster took place in coastal Peru, units from various regional countries were also present throughout the lengthy-maneuvers. The goal was to improve coordination between Peru and friendly governments so that, should a natural disaster occur in the near future, it will be easier for Peruvian disaster and security agencies to communicate and coordinate with international entities.

As for the international units that were present, Colombia sent a delegation of 25 military personnel, plus two aircraft, a King 350 and a Casa 295, the latter which served as an air bridge between Lima and Pisco for quickly transporting humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, Canada deployed a C-130J aircraft and one CH-149 Cormorant helicopter. An April 22 press release by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) explains that: “this deployment highlights two milestones for the RCAF: it is the first time a CH-149 Cormorant has been transported by a CC-177 Globemaster III and it is the first time a Cormorant has been deployed outside of North America.” (The Globemaster is part of the 429 Transport Squadron at 8 Wing Trenton, Ontario.) As for the U.S., Washington sent 30 airmen from the West Virginia National Guard’s 130th Airlift Wing as well as two transport aircraft, the C-130 Hercules.

The recently-concluded exercises that took place in Peru and are the third installment of the Cooperation military maneuvers. The first such exercise, “Cooperation I,” took place in Chile in 2010, while the second, “Cooperation II,” was hosted by Argentina in 2013.

Certainly, it is critically important for Peru’s civilian and security agencies to constantly be prepared in case a disaster occurs since, sadly, the Andean nation is used to them. In May 1970, a devastating earthquake, 7.9 in the Richter scale, killed over 70,000 people in Peru’s Ancash region. More recently, as previously noted, an earthquake hit Peru’s coast in August 2007, which had a magnitude of 7.9 on the Richter scale. The quake was felt in Lima and tragically, several southern provinces received the full force of the quake. Specifically, the coastal city of Pisco, major tourist destination, was virtually destroyed by the shock as well as the tsunami that occurred afterwards (waves around the southern city of Paracas reached five meters in height). While the loss of life was relatively low for such a disaster (595 people perished), there were 2,300 injured while 76 thousand houses were destroyed.

In other words, it is a welcome development that Peru hosted the “Cooperation III” exercises, as this will aid the coordination and preparation a natural disaster. Sadly, the question is not if an earthquake will occur in Peru, but rather when.

This past November 2013, a strong tremor, 5.6 on the Richter scale, hit Lima and several southern provinces, while a stronger one, 6.2 on the Richter scale, hit the Peruvian coast around the Pisco region this past March. While none of them were destructive, they alarmed the population. Hence, governmental, military and civilian readiness is essential.

You can follow W. Alejandro Sanchez on his Geopolitics & Geosecurity blog and on Twitter:@W_Alex_Sanchez.