Catalina's Endless Urban Expedition

Catalina and some of her sketches.

Three years ago, Catalina Gomez Arias saw something more in Bogotá than bricks and concrete. That launched Catalina on an adventure which she continues today.

One of Catalina's man sketches.

A man walks thru Independence. The palm with the white
trunk is the wax palm, the palma de cera,
Colombia's national tree.

Catalina has criss-crossed Bogotá chronicling the city's sometimes exuberant, often struggling, urban flora. And it is often the meekest, most struggling and ignored fauna which most fascinates her.

Mateo and a native plant. He

 points out the paradox of biodiverse Colombia 

importing plants from overseas.

"Bogotá is a growing city," she says. "And as it grows, it produces cracks," in the sidewalks, thru which plants stuggle up. "And that produces nature which we call 'trash.'"

A decidedely not-native pine tree in
Independence Park in Bogotá.

Walikng past non-native palms
near the bullfighting stadium.

She photographs and makes intricate ink drawings of the plants. She displayed her work this weekend in Casa Tomada, a stylish cafe/bookstore in Teusaquillo's appropriately tree-lined Palermo neighborhood, as part of a comemoration of Colombia's Independence Day, 20 de Julio. While Catalina agreed that her work doesn't have any connection to Independence Day, her project's title does have a clear historical reference: to the famous Expedition Botanica, led by Alvaro Mutis, which documented Colombia's botanical biodiversity between 1783 and 1815. Sadly, Catalina observed, the exepdition's drawings are all in Madrid today.

Exuberant vegetation fills a canyon in
Bogotá's Eastern Hills.

Catalina's work has taken her up and down Bogotá's hillsides, where rivers still flow thru vegetation-choked ravines. In the city proper, most of the city's rivers, sadly, are buried in pipelines. In doing her work, Catalina has been frustrated by lack of interest from city institutions and even outright stonewalling from officialdom.

"The more they denied me the information, the more I insisted," she said.

Cyclists ride past huge, non-native trees
the National Park in Bogotá.

The resulting collection of sketches commemorates an urban ecosystem which is omnipresent but all but ignored.

Check out Catalina's work on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/magazzineamazing

Mateo Hernandez, an environmental restorer who gave a talk at Casa Tomada, said that Bogotá has made real strides in returning native trees to the city. A few decades ago, he said, all of Bogotá's street trees were exotic pines, ashes and eucalyptus. Today, about one third are native Colombian species. Similarly, Bogotá's Botanical Gardens has planted many more native species.

It's an advance.

Newly planted trees along Carrera Septima.
But are they native?

However, for native bushes and other smaller plants, the city has done nothing, Mateo says. And those plants provide necessary resources for insects, birds and other small native animals. He gave the example of the chusque, an invasive bamboo which provides food and shelter for many native species including birds, caterpillars and butterflies. For centuries chusque has been aggressively chopped down by residents of the Sabana of Bogotá, but Mateo said at least one stand survives in the Eastern Hills and there's another in the Botanical Gardens - altho the gardens' own workers, evidently ignorant of its importance, chopped that one back recently.

More encouragingly, however, Mateo said that the Eastern Hills' native tree species, which were harvested ruthlessly a century ago for firewood, are now advancing again over their historic habitat.

But their recovery will only be possible as long as that habitat remains. Buildings, often illegal or questionable, are invading Bogotá's hillsides - much of which is supposed to be a sacrosanct Forestry Reserve.

"Of ten steps," to restore local fauna, says Mateo, "we've taken only one.

Mateo blogs at: http://biodiversidadyconservacion.blogspot.com/

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

How Important Really Was That Flowerpot?

Nicolás Pernett and a historian friend in the Casa de la Historia.

The Casa de la Historia,
in Teusaquillo.

What triggered Colombia's revolution against Spain? According to the common story, on July 20, 1810 a Spanish-born seller refused to lend a flowerpot to a group of criollos, who proceeded to smash the pot and run into the street screaming in protest. Thus, the 'Grito', or Cry of Liberty. (It sounds silly, but then so does a tea party in Boston.)

The incident, which the criollos had staged in order to trigger a rebellion, is usually credited with generating the anger which started the revolution against Spain.

A few of the CD's history produced by Diana Uribe.

But that's not the real story, says historian Nicolas Pernett, who gave a talk today in the Casa de la Historia in Teusaquillo. The Casa was founded three years ago by famed historian Diana Uribe, an author and popular radio personality whose historical talks range across continents and centuries.

Tucked away on a side street in Teusaquillo, the Casa houses a bookstore, holds talks and shows films. On July 20, the Casa and some of the neighborhood's many other theatres, cafes and bookstores held events related to the Grito de Libertad.

But historian Pernett doesn't swallow the idea that the Grito was really such a seminal event. Instead, he argues that Colombia has experienced various protests and rebellions against both the Spanish empire and later against the Colombian republic's power structure. The first major revolt was the 1780 Rebelion de los Comuneros, in which much of present-day Colombia and part of Venezuela took up arms against sudden tax increases. The Spanish rulers betrayed and then viciously supressed the rebels, sowing hatred and suspicions which probably contributed to the revolution of 1810.

But the Comuneros demanded lower taxes, not independence from Spain. And, in fact, the

Where it all began? La Casa del Florero,
or House of the Flowerpot, on Plaza Bolivar.

Colombians who rebelled in 1810 initially did not want independence, either - but just the opposite. At that time, Spain was occupied by neighbor France, and the American rebels claimed they only meant to govern the country until Spain's legitimate rulers were restored.

Interestingly, both the 1780 Comuneros rebellion and the 1810 rebellion were driven by middle class economic conerns rather than yearning for liberty - as is the case for many of today's protests, rebellions and 'revolutions' - whether in Brazil, Turkey, Myanmar or the Arab World. In 1810, the criollos - Spanish descendants born in the New World - felt constrained by the economic and social privileges enjoyed by the Spanish born. Liberty and civil rights received, as usual, less importance than did bread and butter.

Has Colombians post-revolutionary history also contained a series of would-be revolutions? Historian

The famous fight over the flowerpot. (Wikipedia.org)

Pernett doesn't think so. I suppose it's debatable - and impossible to say - since therebels, whether the Liberals in the wars of the 1800s and 1950s, the Gaitanistas of the 1948 Bogotázo and Colombia's many guerrilla groups have all been defeated by conservative state forces.

Perhaps the sole, partial exception were the M-19 guerrillas, who lost the violent battle, but achieved many of their progressive goals by helping to rewrite Colombia's Constitution in 1991. Today, the FARC guerrillas, who on the battlefield have accomplished little but cause suffering, are negotiating peace with the government in Havana, Cuba. Perhaps they too will accomplish more revolution through talk than force of arms.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Crime and (Little) Punishment

United States authorities are finding new legal arguments to extradite a group of taxi drivers and accomplices who allegedly robbed a murdered a DEA agent in Bogotá's ritzy Parque de la 93 neighborhood a few weeks ago. Now, the U.S. is accusing them of kidnapping for their attempted paseo millonario robbery-gone wrong.

An alleged drunk driver, now de-stressing in hospital,
and the results of his fatal work. (Foto: ElEspectador.com)

When the taxi drivers thot they'd spotted another wealthy, vulnerable gringo leave a bar with a few drinks in him that night, they surely never imagined that soon U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder would be vowing harsh punishments for them.

People who commit robbery and murder deserve no pity, and I won't be sorry if they spend decades in prison. After all, these guys had criminal histories, almost surely had robbed and perhaps murdered previously, and would undoubtedly still be at it today if they hadn't grabbed the wrong gringo.

Still, it's impossible to ignore the huge contrast between this case, which has made international news and triggered plans to reform Bogotá's taxi policies, and other killings.

During the aftermath to the DEA agent's murder, a drunk driver in an Audi slammed into a taxi, killing its two female passengers and leaving the taxi driver partially paralized. El Tiempo reports that the man's initial medical examination found no stress problem at all.

Not a punishable crime? (ElEspectador.org)

The drunk driver is now in a hospital, where the poor guy is being treated for 'severe stress' he supposedly experienced from killing two innocents and injuring a third.

Most likely, this drunk driver, like so many others, will escape with a slap on the wrist. Once his comfortable hospital stay ends, he'll likely receive a few years of home detention - of questionable enforcement - and then be driving again.

(In fact, at the drunk driver's July 30 court hearing the judge sent him home, saying he wasn't a flight risk. The victims' relatives expressed anger. Strangely, another drunk driver, who killed one person, was sent to jail the other day. The judge sounded like she was on the driver's side, saying that he was 'innocent until proven guilty - even tho he'd confessed - and asserting that, since he was from a wealthy family he wouldn't flee. (So only the poor deserve prison.) Finally, she congratulated the driver for 'resisting media and social pressures.'

Clearly, for her honor, the victim here is the killer drunk driver.

 It all makes one wonder whether something incorrect happened between this wealthy family and the judge.)

Citizen groups and some parliamentarians have made repeated attempts to give drunk drivers real punishment. But other members of Congress - some of whom have been known to drive drunk themselves - don't seem interested in making the laws stricter. At the same time, social and economic factors allow drunks, who often pay off victims or seem to have connections with judges and authorities, to get off lightly.

It's impossible not to read an economic lesson into these two crimes: Taxi drivers, who are usually lower middle class, get the book thrown at them for assaulting a wealthy foreigner, while drunk drivers, who are often wealthy, get off easy.

Check out this dramatic video of a wrong-way drunk driver hitting a man carrying his daughter to school on Thursday in south Bogotá. The driver, who'd had previous drunk driving charges, then allegedly tried to bribe and threaten the victim and attacked police.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Like Petro, Like Mandela?

Nelson Mandela's image on Bogotá's City Hall. Is there a resemblance to the mayor inside? Interestingly, the term 'Humanidad' resembles the city's 'Bogotá Humana' slogan. Coincidence?

Over the last week, Bogotá's City Hall has honored South African civil rights legend Nelson Mandela, who celebrated his 95th birthday gravely ill in a hospital.

Bogotá Mayor Petro.
Like Nelson Mandela?

It's particularly appropriate for Colombians to honor this great man now, as the government and FARC guerrillas talk peace in Havana. Mandela's is perhaps best known for his capacity to forgive his oppresors. And Colombians are spending a lot of time and newsprint these days discussing how much society can forgive the FARC, who during decades have kidnapped, displacement, bombed and land-mined their country, while financing themselves thru drug trafficking.

Forgiving the FARC - or at least punishing them lightly and allowing them political participation - may be the price Colombia must pay for peace.

It's also impossible not to read a subtext into the Mandela images, at a time when Mayor Gustavo Petro is battling a recall effort against him. Like Mandela, Petro was also a leader of a violent, outlawed - if idealistic - organization, who became a political leader. Unlike Mandela, however, Petro spent only a short time in prison, making one ask whether he had much to forgive the government for. And, while Mandela's African National Congress used mostly economic tactics against South Africa's apartheid system, the M-19's tactics were often violent: They kidnapped a union leader and a conservative political leader, murdering both, and attacked the Dominican Republic's embassy and held diplomats hostage for months. In 1985, they attacked Colombia's Justice Palace on Plaza Bolivar, and the ensuing violence and conflaguration left about 100 people dead. The M-19 also had violent guerrilla units in the countryside.

Petro did spend two years in prison for illegal possession of weapons, during which time he says he was tortured. However, that can't compare with Mandela's decades of imprisonment. And many Colombians feel that the government's treatment of the M-19, who transformed themselves into a political party and have attained prominent positions in Congress and regional governments, has been overly forgiving.

Petro, who has presidential ambitions, may aspire to some play the same healing role in Colombia that Mandela did in South Africa.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Bogotános' Bad Mood

Bogotá scored poorly on traffic congestion, which residents say is getting worse. 

Of the ten cities surveyed,
Bogotanos are the
least proud of their city. 

We fear crime and don't trust the police. We feel that our commutes take ever longer. Health care is inadequate. We live in fear of crime. And, predictably, bogotanos feel little pride in their city.

Those are the disappointing results of the latest Bogotá Como Vamos (Bogotá How Are We Doing) survey, which asked Bogotanos and residents of nine other department capitals how they felt about their cities.

Only 41% of Bogotanos feel
the city's heading in the
right direction. 

The citizen perceptions contradict official statistics, which indicate that Bogotá's crime and poverty rates have declined recently. Traffic congestion, however, is getting worse, and the city has shown little will to confront the problem.

About the only positive in the report was that most Bogotanos feel better economically than they did last year.

But what's money worth if you spend long hours trapped in traffic and can't get good medical care when you fall prey to all the stress and pollution?

Bogotanos are the least satisfied with their city.

More Bogotanos than residents of any other city surveyed report being victims of crime. 

Relaxing in a park in La Candelaria overlooking Bogotá.

Only 17% of Bogotanos feel 'secure' in the city.

Most Bogotanos feel that their economic situation is improving. 

But most Bogotanos feel better economically than they did one year ago.

A traffic jam in Bogotá's historical center, La Candelaria. 

Most Bogotanos feel their commute takes longer and longer. 

The use of private cars (blue line) is increasing, meaning even worse traffic congestion. 

Private vehicle use is increasing, meaning worse traffic congestion is on the way.

Only 10% of Bogotanos feel it's likely that criminals will be punished. 

Few Bogotanos feel that their health care is assured. 

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Paramilitary Remorse?

'I repent,' (poetically) by Salvatore Mancuso.

Notorious paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso, who has confessed to ordering multiple massacres and hundreds of killings, says he's sorry.

 Mancuso made this poetic video in the United States federal prison where he's serving a 24-year sentence for narcotrafficking.

"I'd give my life for all of those whose lives ended at our hands," Mancuso declared. "But it would be impossible. Life calls for life."

Salvatore Mancuso on his way to U.S. prison. 

But Mancuso waxed even more poetic, talking of the "Remorse that navigates the atribulated waters of my memory," and the "palpitations that shake my soul with the echoes of laments and moans."

"My repentement isn't of today, or yesterday, but of many years back," he insisted. "A thousand times, pardon, a million times, pardon, for my whole life, for all of eternity, pardon."

Sure, it sounds nice. But back in 2007, when Mancuso and other paramilitaries demobilized expecting to receive slaps on the wrist from the Uribe government and to be able to live out their lives in luxury on their ill-gotten wealth, Mancuso claimed that the victims of his paramilitary death squads were all guerrillas - even tho his victims included teenagers and old people. (The Uribe government later accused the paramilitary leaders of continuing to plot crimes from prison, and extradited them. Human rights activists charged that Uribe's real motive was to cover up his government's links to their crimes.)

Body bags at the site of the 1997
Mapiripan Massacre, where
30 people were killed.
(Photo: Nacla.org)

In one 2007 hearing in Colombia, Mancuso described a series of massacres and justified them as 'anti-subversive operations,' according to The Guardian newspaper. A woman whose father was murdered by Mancuso's men told The Guardian that Mancuso "seemed proud of what they'd done, not remorseful."

Mancuso's remorse smacks more of seeking a pardon than cleansing his soul.

To give Mancuso some credit, he has testified by video for Colombian courts, which seem to be giving credence to his accounts. And in his testimony, Mancuso has said that the police, military and even members of the Uribe family collaborated with the guerrillas. Collaboration by state forces has been widely documented, and some police and military charged with helping Mancuso commit massacres. 

But watch Mancuso's video and you'll see a smooth, controlled delivery with no evidence of remorse. Mancuso looks to me like a psychopath: Cool, controlled, intelligent and manipulative, lacking empathy for his victims. 

Remorse and psycopaths don't mix.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

The Vice Hasn't Left El Bronx

Police frisk people entering and exiting El Bronx this afternoon. 

A few months ago, police invaded El Bronx, the notorious drug-filled street near Los Martires Plaza. They,  cleared out the hundreds of shacks which residents had set up to live and do business. 

Today, the buildings are still gone, the open air drug market and shooting gallery remain. 

This afternoon, police had the street's western entrance blockaded and were searching those who entered and exited. A few meters away, seated on the opposite sidewalk, a half dozen apparently homeless people were smoking bazuco, a cheap form of crack. 

The authorities evidently are fine with drug consumption insid El Bronx, but want the vices contained there. 

It can't be any fun looking inside drug addicts' shoes and under their shirts all day long. 

Related:

Back Into El Bronx

Battle in El Bronx

A Poet of the Bronx: Death, Drugs and Music

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours