Recent Blog Entries


  • Hippos in Colombia

    Rogue "Narco" Hippos in Love?


    May 28, 2009

    Two months ago, Colombian media briefly reported on one of my favorite local stories: The torturous life of a group of hippopotamuses that escaped from Pablo Escobar’s personal zoo. The hippos are still roaming the country’s rivers at will, terrifying Colombian campesinos and fishermen along the way.


  • Chicken Crossing

    Why Did the Chicken Cross the Security Fence?


    May 08, 2009

    Even the fortress-like U.S. Embassy in Bogotá is not impervious to infiltrations by some winged subversives: A dissonant moment of security infrastructure at its most futile. 


  • Matrix of Cyberwar

    The Coming Cyberwars?


    Apr 28, 2009

    The dawn of cyber-warfare is upon us. The cyber-scape of these new techno-wars could be described as the Cold War meets Al Qaeda meets Silicon Valley. Apparently, the Obama administration inherited complicated plans for cyber-defense and -offense from the Bush administration. The implications are staggering.


  • New U.S. Military Base in Colombia?


    Apr 14, 2009

    It seems Washington is still trying to figure out what route to take once its lease on the Manta military base in Ecuador expires in November. Although Colombia had previously denied it would host a U.S. base, it appears the Pentagon and the Colombian Defense Ministry have found an alternative solution.


  • 'Af-Pak' to Go Colombia Way?


    Apr 08, 2009

    In recent months, articles in the U.S. press have drawn provocative comparisons between Colombia and Afghanistan, or more precisely between the Colombian government's war against rebels and the Pentagon's war against a resurgent Taliban. None of these articles are more misguided than Scott Wilson's recent op-ed in the Washington Post.  


  • Santa Muerte

    Mexico: 'Narco-Protests' and 'Narco-Saints'?


    Apr 06, 2009

    Besides the mind-numbing laundry list of gruesome acts being produced by Mexico's narco wars, protests have increasingly becoming another fixture of a society under the thumb of the narcos. These protests tell us a lot about how the cartels are changing Mexican society, and it is in these seemingly tangential stories that we'll be able to detect how Mexico is changing under the narcos.