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 News from Colombia

Our most recent blog is about a Colombian town that made news around the world. In case you missed it you can read it by clicking on this link - Armero, the Colombian Town That Disappeared one Night
 
Do you think about traveling the world full time as a couple?
Ok, this is not necessarily about Colombia. But research constantly shows that many people would like to travel the world full time. Well, here is your  chance for a little more information. Our friends Frank and Lissette over at the blog site of BBQ Boy and Spanky interviewed three couples who travel. 
 
Use your strong dollar in Colombia
Checking the daily exchange rate between the U.S. Dollar and the Colombian peso is not a priority for me. But when withdrawing money the other day a pleasant surprise balance greeted me on the receipt. The exchange rate is the best I have seen in over 15 years. Now is definitely the time to visit Colombia. You get over 3,300 pesos to the Dollar.  That makes a minimum taxi fare about $1.30 USD. A filling plate at such restaurants as Crepes and Waffles or Sopas de Mama will only set you back less than $7.75 USD.  
   But do not wait too long. The news stated that U.S. House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, wants to weaken the U.S. dollar. 
 

Australia has burger place demonstrating their fascination with drugs

Following close on the heels of The United States is Australia in terms of cocaine consumed per capita. The TV show Narcos is big in the country. So it comes as no surprise that in Melbourne there should open a restaurant called, Pablo Escoburger.
 
Santos pens book about the peace with the FARC
Titled, La Batalla por la Paz (The Battle for Peace) is written by the former president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, about the peace process with the longest active left-wing military group in the country. For negotiating the peace Santos won the Nobel Peace Prize. The book is  available in Kindle format for $7.99 and paperback for $26.77. Currently it is only in Spanish. As of this writing it has 3.5 out of 5 stars but has been criticized much by some other political figures in Colombia.
 
A few differences between Americans and Colombians
Over at the Medellin Living blogsite Grace wrote: Cultural Differences Between Paisas and Americans. My wife and I live in Bogota, but almost everything Grace writes applies to the capital city as well.  Not to mention it would be easy to add 1,000 more words to the writing with other differences that I have noticed.
Trump calling it like he see it upsets some Colombians
In April President Trump stated that Colombia's President Duque is a "good guy", however since he took office drugs from the country are up 50%. Duque in return blamed the world for its consumption and said in a speech in Cartagena that he is only responsible to the Colombian people. This is despite well over $10 billion in U.S. aid coming from the USA to fight drugs. Many Colombians state they are aware of the detriments the drug trade brings to their country but also state that the problem rests with the buyers not the sellers.
  Interesting is that the statistics released by the Colombian government confirms that President Trump is correct with Duque doing less than his predecessor towards stopping drugs. 
 
Violence significantly up says International Committee of the Red Cross
After the peace accord negotiated by former President Santos violence in the country dropped to its lowest level in years. Under the new president the Red Cross says that mass displacement rose 90% while civilians killed by land mines increased a whopping 280%.
 
Colombian Truth Commission in New York
Colombia has the largest displaced population in the world. Latin Dispatch in their article, AS VIOLENCE CONTINUES AT HOME, EXILED COLOMBIANS RECONSTRUCT COLLECTIVE MEMORY covers about the Truth Commission talking to exciled Colombians in New York City. Though the commission was started by a previous president they mention that the current President, Ivan Duque, is against their efforts to get to the truth. It is an interesting read.

Thank you for reading. Wishing you a very good day.
 
Copyright © 2019 Michael and Graciela's Colombia, All rights reserved.


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