The Military March for Congress

During a bike tour today, we crossed paths with these unusual political marchers: ex-soldiers running for Congress.

One man told us that they had 10 candidates this year: 'We're going to run the government,' he predicted.

A military-run government might be a disturbing idea for many, particularly in a nation whose military has directly carried out or colluded with horrendous human rights violations, most notoriously the 'false positives' scandal, in which military units killed thousands of young men and disguised them as guerrillas in order to earn time off and bonuses. Colombia's military also supported paramilitary units which committed terrorism against civilians, including massacring villagers with chainsaws.

Soldiers want to be tried in their own military courts, she said.

Which is not to say that the military has not also played a valuable role, such as extending rule of law over parts of Colombia and protecting civilians from illegal armed groups, or that it should not have a voice in society. But in a country of laws and democracy, the military should be subordinate to civilian authorities.

Colombia's military is understandably uneasy about the peace treaty with the FARC guerrillas, which gives guerrillas a slap on the risk for sometimes horrific crimes, as well as eight seats in Congress. The peace agreement also provides near impunity for many guerrilla crimes, including narcotrafficking, as long as they were done in furtherance of the guerrillas' revolutionary ends. Ex-FARC leader Timochenko is now campaigning for the presidency, altho he has no chance of winning.

Military leaders may want to run their own candidates in order to counterbalance the ex-guerrilla politicians.

'We're going to run the country,' he boasted to us.

Soldiers are also fearful that the peace treaty could mean punishing soldiers for war-related crimes while guerrillas get off scot-free. That's why one young woman accompanying the march told us that the soldiers want to be tried for crimes in military rather than civilian courts. But human rights advocates say that soldiers should be tried in civilian courts for crimes not related to the conflict, such as sexual violence.

Marching along 26th Street.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Sad Clowns: The Circus Protest

For these clowns, this fight is no joke.

Among the many protests I've seen in Bogotá, today's circus workers' march was one of the most colorful. However, like a sad clown, the circuses say their future is endangered. One man I talked to said that taxes on circuses are going up; another said the circuses are being strangled by regulations and red tape.

Whatever the troubles, the circuses' extinction would be a great loss to Colombia's children.

'The traditional circus lives.'

This guy's not clowning around!

'The Institute of Recreation and Sports Carries the Circus to its Grave.'

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

On the March Against Health Reform

Some 1,500 doctors, nurses and medical students marched today against a proposed reform of Colombia's health system.

The contradiction is that nearly everybody agrees that Colombia's public health system is failing and that it does need reform. The question is how to reform it.

According to many observers, parts of the public health system are near bankruptcy. Patients complain that they are sometimes denied service. Some medicines are exorbitantly expensive. The Health Provider Businesses, known as EPSs, have received particular criticism.

The anti-riot police didn't have much to do.

In response, a government-backed bill now in Parliament would remake the whole system, creating a single fund, called Salud-Mia, to administer the whole system; set up a health plan named Mi-Plan to provide services and create 'Health Services Managers,' to accompany patients during their treatments.

To me, all this sounds like Big Government, for better or for worse. So, it's ironic that many of today's protesters denounced what they termed 'turning health care into a business.'

I can't pretend to understand the pluses and minuses of this reform, except to say that reform of some kind is needed. I will say, however, that, with all of its faults, Colombia's public health system is far ahead of the of the United States.

A poster in a public park denounces the proposed reform.

Happy protesters on Ave. Septima. 

Anti-health reform propaganda also fights the sun. 

The Colombian Society for Anesthesiology and Reanimation (SCARE) bought a full-page ad in El Tiempo critiquing the reform law. 

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours