La semana pasada El Tiempo publicó un artículo sobre los vallenatos que se cantan en Las Pavas, una comunidad de 123 familias en el sur de Bolívar. Las canciones narran la historia del conflicto y desplazamiento en ese lugar. Conocí a Edwin Torres, un cantante de Las Pavas, en el 2010 y le grabé esta canción.
Hoy, la comunidad fue galardonado con el prestigioso Premio Nacional de Paz en reconocimiento de su lucha pácifica por la recuperación de sus tierras.
Unos datos relevantes: Después del despojo masivo de la comunidad, compañías de palma africana se apoderaron de las tierras. La pudrición del cogollo (PC) es una misteriosa enfermedad que acaba con los cultivos de palma—también conocida como la peste cogollera.
English:
Last week, El Tiempo published an article about the vallenato songs of Las Pavas, a community of 123 families in the south of Bolívar, a province in northern Colombia. The songs describe how the conflict and forced displacement have affected the community. I met Edwin Torres, a singer from Las Pavas, in 2010 and recorded this song.
Today, the community was awarded Colombia's prestigious National Peace Prize in recognition of their peaceful struggle to reclaim their lands.
A few pertinent details: After the community's violent displacement, African palm companies took over the lands. The pudrición del cogollo (PC) (trunk rot) is a mysterious illness that can kill an entire palm crop—it's also known as the peste cogollera (trunk plague).
Stentor Danielson from the New Books Network invited me to his podcast to discuss my book The Frontier Effect: State Formation and Violence in Colombia (Cornell University Press, 2020).
My interview with Dave Koller of TYT about the Colombian armed conflict, its origins, and current attempts to bring it to an end.
After Colombia's 2-1 victory over the Ivory Coast, I spoke with Meleiza Figueroa of KPFA's "The People's Game," a show about politics and society during the 2014 World Cup. We discussed Colombia's history in the World Cup, its current winning streak, and how soccer in the country has crossed paths with the drug trade, the armed conflict, and today's political conjuncture.
This podcast produced by the Social Science Research Council's Drugs, Security, and Democracy (DSD) program features Winifred Tate and myself talking about our research projects on paramilitaries, land conflicts, and drug trafficking in Colombia.
As mass protests in Colombia entered into their tenth day yesterday, I was interviewed by KPFA about the mobilizations that continue spreading throughout the country. Negotiations between the government and protest leaders continue. What began as a strike by peasants and agrarian workers now also includes organized labor groups, students, and other civil society groups.