Las voces perdidas

Essay 7

2011-01-29T09:08:00.000-05:00

Faith
“Faith is certainty of the divine promise without proof whatsoever of it”
Saint Augustine of Hippo, Civitas Dei
Faith is so simple to understand, and yet so dramatically important for life, that there is no easy way to find an example of it. Perhaps, the best example of Faith is in the everyday job of medics, nurses, teachers, soldiers and policemen. These people, unlike others, besides doing their job must assume a life mission which is to give their lives to a higher purpose: To serve mankind despite any kind of hardships and even though success is not certain.
They serve without any kind of certainty of their success. How is it that you would give your life in exchange of “nothing”? That’s when faith comes in. Even though they are not sure of their success they sort of expect in the certain presence of a divine being. Why is it that the do such thing? Because they act either for love or hope to their fellows. As a soldier once put it, they don’t throw themselves at dangers because there are fearless, in fact they are fearful of what they do but their love for their fellow soldiers and the hope that by facing danger without care for their own lives they might save the lives of their fellows is what truly guides them.
The case of a soldier is the same case of a medic, nurse, teacher or policemen. Most of them act, without certainty of their success, motivated by love and hope. This is how I can deduce that Faith is related to love and hope and these two elements are the traces of a divine presence however we call it. At the end of the day, looking at these everyday examples of Faith, I realize that is not a mere doctrinal certainty but rather the result of feeling those traces of divinity in my life and acting according to them. You can say that Faith also comes from spirituality and that, regardless of religious stances, is universal to all people who get in touch with those traces and acknowledge their supremeness.
So bottom line is that, for me, Faith is the greatest expression of spirituality and is an expression of Love and Hope. By itself Faith is a motivation that spurges from these two elements and that drive you through fear and not through uncertainty. I believe Faith does carry me through a lot o fears I have in my everyday life and illuminates my path whenever this gets clouded. Also, I believe in what Jesus said about this motivation: Faith is not about quantity but about quality. This idea Jesus gave humanity about faith is perhaps the only truth I’ve experienced of it, whenever coldness grips my spirit no matter how small is my faith, if I get a good hold from it; it carries me through fear and darkness.
Lots of people relate Faith to Death and believe Faith is a way to avoid being gripped by an eternal termination that they consider Death to be. I think that my everyday efforts to accept Death have led me to understand Faith is not only about Death. Faith goes beyond this universe and is present independently of my existence; this takes to me believe that Death is not the final end and that Faith goes beyond it. For me, this means that Faith is my everyday path and struggle to turn into my spiritual true being and thus reach my Creator through the opportunity of Death.

2011-01-29T08:56:00.003-05:00

A point of view about September 30th.
Talking about September 30th (30S) is not easy. Any Ecuadorian who has to talk about and, maybe more challenging give a version about that day’s events; will often find a knot in his or her throat. However I will go ahead and will give my impression about that day in order to contribute to an understanding of the events.
Many people criticize Correa for going to the National Police Quito Regiment Headquarters. Some others say that it was all a distraction because the President was having problems with his legislative block. Some are even more irresponsible as to say it was all a fiction that the President had created for political issues. I will not try to prove them all but I disagree.
The Police was raging mad because the reforms that the Public Service Law introduced. That is why the President, as Commander in Chief, had to go there and face what were no longer policemen but rather Enemies of the State that had the capacity, like they did later that day, to kill innocents.
There are even ignorants who believe that the Armed Forces High Command acted politically and actually doubted obeying the command of their Supreme Commander.

Some even doubt the fact that the President was being held against his will. Ikt can be said that the police had prepared a kidnapping of the President and that their actions were synchronized with actions by bad elements in the Armed Forces and other Police Commands in the country. However their actions were stopped by the people’s massive support for democracy and the Armed Forces professionalism and obedience of the Law.
After I cried my life out because Ecuadorian blood spilled. We will never forget 30S.
Title: A participant point of view about September 30th.
1. Introduction
a. A knot any Ecuadorian has in his or her throat
2. Critiques
a. Normal critiques
b. Irresponsible critiques
c. Critiques Far Far away from exactitude
3. A participant point of view of the truth
a. Matching objectives
4. The military that day
a. Irresponsible thesis
5. The kidnapping
c. Support for democracy
6. A personal revealing
a. The day we will never forget.

Essay 4

2011-01-29T08:55:00.000-05:00

Cesar Gabriel Cedeño
English for Academic Purposes
21 ENE 2011
Journey to the heart of the Colombian conflict in Esmeraldas
For most people the Colombian conflict is something that can be isolated in Colombia. However what most people are not aware of in Ecuador is that the conflict has a heart in Ecuador and that heart is in northern Esmeraldas. Though forgotten to most people until the election of Rafael Correa as President, Esmeraldas is the frontline of the Colombian conflict in Ecuador.
The journey starts in Quito from where you must drive 4 hours until arriving to Esmeraldas City, the province’s capital city. You can tell how much danger this province faces when drivers refuse to make the travel at night, they prefer to depart from Quito at 4 to be at provincial borderline at dawn and avoid the dangers coming from violent gangs. From Esmeraldas you travel to the south until you arrive to Borbon. This town, with 100% of poverty according to official statistics, looks more like shantytown where people act elusively and refuse to speak about the Colombian Paramilitary forces and the FARC Guerrillas. The shock comes when you travel east of the town and you can tell there is an ongoing war that doesn’t sounds a lot: an Ecuadorian Marine Corps checkpoint where a whole heavily armed and fully prepared battalion is garrisoned and from where you cannot go forward if you do not have an official clearance.
But if you think that the image of a fully armed and prepared for combat Marine Corps garrison is shockingly enough, think again. Despised being warned that the 15 Front of FARC and several detached paramilitary groups use the area to rest and prepare themselves for combat, the road that follows in on the contrary quite easy. The real problem begins when it’s time to go back to Esmeraldas City and the voyage continues to San Lorenzo. During the road the driver reminds passengers that San Lorenzo is off limits after 6 PM but, duty comes first and the voyage continues. Night kicks in and the runway turns dark and lonely while the driver gets jumpy and you start seeing less and less lights.
After an hour San Lorenzo is in sight. The driver explains that people strange to the area avoid spending the night in the city; San Lorenzo has 60 murders per 1000 habitants rate so people are quite right about avoiding the city at night. However this is where the Ecuadorian front of the Colombian conflict can be best spotted when you see the heavy and constant presence of the Naval, Land and Marine Forces going up and down in combat formations. On top of that habitants never stop talking about a new assassination linked to the Colombian paramilitary, insurgency or organized crime. Everywhere you look or walk to there is an ongoing war product of the spillover of the Colombian conflict.
Going back to Quito, you can’t stop thinking the situation is lost. After a hopeless and rather shocking contact with the reality of Esmeraldas, and thus of how affected we are by the conflict, there is a gripping sense of just getting rid of the province. Nevertheless, after thinking that nothing can be done you go back to some things that bring back hope to your heart. Night is the darkest just before dawn.
Title: Journey to the heart of the Colombian conflict in Esmeraldas
1. Introduction
a. A relegated threat.
b. The frontline of Colombia in Ecuador
2. A dangerous and shocking reality
a. Afraid drivers and 4 am travels
b. Poverty and Fear in Borbon-Esmeraldas
c. The Marine Corps Garrison and the unheard War
3. The heart of the conflict
a. Going through the lonely road
b. San Lorenzo: Murders, Insurgents, Paramilitary and Ecuadorian Armed Forces
c. Rumor has it: A fearful city
4. Hope
a. Coming to a shocking contact of a dangerous and discouraging reality
b. Lifting back up to hope.

Essay 3

2011-01-29T08:54:00.002-05:00

Cesar Gabriel Cedeño
English for Academic Purposes
21 ENE 2011

CAUSE AND EFFECT
Nowadays, rampant crime and insecurity are the predominant issues in Ecuador. Crime and insecurity has caused many people to focus their attention on the performance of the judiciary and the police. As a result people narrow their view of security only to its legal dimension and forget their operational dimension.
Due to this attention, many people actually believe that Ecuador will improve its security but overhauling this to institutions or by increasing the weight of sentences for certain crimes. Some examples of these beliefs take form in the demands of people in the civil society and the Legislative that claim for radical increases in sentences. Some even request the introduction of death penalty.
However, Ecuador will not improve its security with any of these steps. What Ecuador needs to do is to improve the laws regulating the intelligence, police and military operations in order to give its agencies and advantage over crime. If radical improvements in these laws take place, Security Forces will be able to seek and destroy actors who pose a direct threat to the National Security of Ecuador.
PROBLEM-SOLUTION
As societies evolve, crime and it´s organization also go under drastic changes. Nowadays crime is transnational and highly sophisticated therefore being able to cloak itself into daily and normal activities. What seems to be a healthy and respectable software company might very well be a drug cartel posing a direct threat against the lives of many people.
This is the reason why Ecuador must react now and continue the overhauling, and drastic improvement, of its intelligence system. Intelligence, which is human (espionage and covert activities)-technical (Communications, Signals, Images, Electronic, Measurements) and Financial (Cash Flows-Counter laundering activities and fiscal controls) has the power of destroying the cloak of invisibility that modern organized crime looks for. With these tools, Ecuador can gain the upper hand against crime.
Many people believe that stronger sentences, more policeman and putting boots on the ground are the only solutions to our rampant crime. They are not necessarily right, stronger sentences might be in place but they are useless if you don´t purge the judiciary from judges who are bought by crime, more policemen might help you feel protected but they only see what the moment brings and cannot distinguish crime when it has cloaked and the military might be dissuasive for a time but that effect goes by really fast. This is the reason why intelligence efforts will have a powerful effect to destroy modern organized crime.
DEFINITION
Some people tend to confuse intelligence with espionage when in fact these are different concepts that are involved in the same activity. In modern society, where information is a new and more desirable asset, these to concepts need to be really defined and distinguished.
Intelligence is the cycle of collection, production and secure dissemination of pertinent, exact and revealing information to decision makers. This cycle tends to have prospective, that is a vision of the immediate and longer term evolution, of elements that configure a threat, risk and opportunity to its consumers. Consumers are not exclusively public and, in the contrary, are also private.
Espionage on the other hand is not a cycle, but rather a covert observation and human or technical data collection activity on a specific issue. This activity is secret and covert, secret because it´s not openly known and, on the contrary, tends to be classified to restricted security levels for a long time, covert because it cloaks itself within a fiction to avoid its relevance to other people. Therefore is necessary to know that intelligence and espionage are to quite different things.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST
East and West always are able to shape different cities. This is the case of Miami (East U.S.) and San Diego (West U.S.) cities that I have visited and where I’ve been able to spot peculiar difference that are worth to mention.
San Diego is a vibrant, yet non commercial city. With restaurants, cafés, boardwalks and beaches there is and odd feeling that the entertainment industry is not rampant and evident as in Miami. It will appear as if San Diego was designed for people who were running away from the noise and entertainment of Los Angeles.
Miami on the other hand is both vibrant and commercial. Entertainment is everywhere starting in the simplest Café and reaching the most exclusive clubs in South Beach. Everything in the city seems to be design to make a powerful combination between natural attractions and entertainment. However Miami does not means permanent noise but entertainment seems to have a more powerful presence than in San Diego.

2011-01-29T08:54:00.001-05:00

English for Academic Purposes
César Gabriel Cedeño
11 Dic 2010
Expository Essay 1
Cause: Protracted War in two fronts and commercial disadvantages are undermining US elements of national power.
Effect: This undermining is harming U.S. economy and, thus, affecting it’s geopolitical power and prestige around the world.
Thesis Statement: Protracted War and Commercial disadvantages are some of the elements causing problems to the U.S. Economy and geopolitical position in the world.
Essay:
The United States has, and surely still is, admired for many military and economical feats in its history. But now days these feats are losing ground to failures and questionable actions in the US. As a result of these failures the national power of the country has also taken a toll.
The ill fated decision of diverting resources to the so Called Operation Iraqi Freedom and the later economic recession of 2008 have been questionable acts in the US that are undermining this nation’s economy. Fall on real family incomes has led to a reduction in household consumption thus affecting the Government’s tax income. With a weak economy to keep up to the pace of rising nations such as China and a weak Government that is revising its capabilities the nation has been led to a stagnant situation.
Nowadays US economy is heavily dependent on debt acquisition from nations that had been considered as third world countries. Not only is the US trapped in increasing debt but is also experiencing a waning grip on its allies. Thus we witness a dark hour in the nation’s history

Expository Essay 2
Thesis Statement: Much of the heat coming from the Ecuadorian debate about the Media and it’s regulating law are the result of a confusion of what the Covenant of political and civil rights states about Freedom of Speech.
It’s often easy to confuse freedom of speech with freedom of press. Daily debate in Ecuador assumes that “there is no freedom of speech without freedom of press” and, even worse, equals both of these freedoms. Thus it becomes necessary to compare freedoms along it’s 1966 Covenant of political and civil rights original meanings.
According to the Pact, Freedom of Speech is recognized as inalienable right that can only be limited by the compelling necessity of a national security issue. More importantly the pact does limit Freedom of Speech to the exclusive use of any means or ways of expression whatsoever. Therefore the Covenant does not says “Freedom of Speech is only such if expressed through press”.
On the other hand the Covenant never mentions Freedom of Press. Sure this freedom is linked to the capacity to express yourself but the point is that, legally; there is no connection in this treaty between both freedoms. Although freedom of press is desirable in a healthy liberal and democratic society, not always is press as sacred as expression itself.

Expository Essay 3
Thesis Statement: Rampant crime have made politicians forget what internal security means and as a result they are taking a mix of measures that are not focusing the problem in the right way.
In Ecuador there is a recent evident confusion about the concept of Internal Security. Rampant crime, impunity and a crippling failure in our criminal justice system has led us to confuse Internal Security with Public Security or National Security. Thus it becomes necessary to remember the real meaning of Internal Security.
Internal Security represents a superior echelon of what Constitution calls Human Security. It can be defined as all those conditions that secure a stable and peaceful sociopolitical situation. Thus this term makes reference to more general and national issues that, though being highly important for governance and stability are not external but rather come from domestic conditions.
This is important because nowadays rampant crime has led decision makers to mix internal security strategies with public or citizen security strategies. Organized crime, money laundering or drug trafficking are surely modern issues of internal security but theft, grand theft auto and impunity are other kind of issues.

Expository Essay 4
Thesis Statement: The solution to the public outcry in Ecuador about crime will come from an integration of criminal investigation, policing duties, prosecution and rehabilitation capacities.
Rampant crime and public outcry in Ecuador has led the nation to debate about the viability of its criminal justice system. There’s widespread rejection and condemnation to the Judiciary’s ability to fulfill its duties to society leading policy makers to propose constitutional amendments a year after approving a new constitution. Therefore public demand for a solution to the criminal justice system is high and sound.
A solution could surely come through a constitutional amendment. Proposing a criminal justice system that integrates criminal investigation, policing duties, and prosecution and rehabilitation capacities into one single institution is a solution that should be considered. This would not only improve pre and post crime investigation but would also shorten prosecution times and efficiency.
This solution renders the advantages of integration, complementation and cost reduction. It would be a simplification of the criminal justice system shortening it to prosecution, defense and judging components. However the greatest disadvantage of the solution is its lack of sustainability in a political system as unstable as the Ecuadorian system.

Essay 1

2011-01-29T08:51:00.001-05:00

1. Book 1
 100 Decisive Battles: from ancient times to the present
This book is an in depth analysis of the most influential battles in the recorded military history of mankind. Starting with Megiddo in 1469 BC to the Operation Desert Storm in the First Gulf War, historian Paul K. Davis analyses these battles and their military and political lessons for decision makers. Davis achieves this by first introducing the historical setting and context of the battle, analyzing its evolution and identifying how it’s outcome shaped the world as we know it. You can be sure you will find the most important battles in history because Davis selects only those with a profound political and military impact. An amazing book that empowers anyone with the necessary information advance national interests through any means possible.
 Current market cost:
Barnes and Noble: $17.05
Oxford University Press: $19.95
 Bibliographical data
Davis, Paul K. 100 Decisive Battles: from ancient times to the present, Santa Barbara, CA, Oxford University Press, 1999.

2. Book 2
 War Made New: Weapons, Warriors and the Making of the Modern World.
Through the ages man has searched in machine a way to make life easier and, as a constituent part of life, to make war easier. Max Boot gives us a look at how technology has played and strategic and vital role in the growth of national military power and thus national power. By setting its initial look in the Gunpowder revolution and from there stretching it to the Information Revolution, Boot makes a excellent argument that strong nations do not solely posses technology but, have also mastered its military application in order to gain an upper hand in the eternal contest of international relations. An exciting analysis recommended by the Army Times, War Made New its must read book for any President, legislative representative, Security Area minister and just anyone interested in the growth of nations political power.
 Current market cost:
The Penguin Group: $18.00
Barnes and Noble: $29.92
 Bibliographical data
Boot, Max, War Made New: Weapons, Warriors and the Making of the Modern World, New York, NY, Penguin Books, 2006.

Contacto realizado

2009-09-06T22:22:00.001-05:00

Después de un largo tiempo sin postear nada nuevo les tengo excelentes noticias. Por cortesía de Doctors Without Borders el día de mañana haré nuevas entradas detallando la situación humanitaria en Darfur así como en otras Repúblicas africanas donde los conflictos armadas están destruyendo las vidas de cientos o inclusive miles. Estas entradas, además de describir la situación actual en el terreno, también trataran de contextualizar cuales con las dificultades vividas para solucionar las situaciones que se describiran.

Hasta mañana

César

Posible contacto

2009-07-29T23:51:00.002-05:00

Hola a todos, estas semanas me he estado moviendo contactándome con varias organizaciones de ayuda tales como Africa Aid y Doctors Without Borders. Ambas son muy activas en materia de asistencia al desarrollo y contingencia de conflictos humanitarios en Africa, especialmkente en una de las areas donde actualmente toma lugar un Genocidio: Darfur.

Se que no estoy publicando nuevo material respecto al propósito de este blog pero la espera valdrá. Hoy recibí comunicación de Melanie Capiccioni de Doctors Without Borders. La Srta. Capiccioni me indicó que en la brevedad posible me enviará material de prensa pero le he solictado también contactos en el terreno para que nos ayuden a conocer las historias de las personas mas valientes del mundo: quienes esperan la ayuda de un mundo inconmovible ante el genocidio.

Hasta la próxima

César

En cocción

2009-07-12T23:23:00.001-05:00

Les comentó que en la brevedad posible estaré publicando historias de vida de los refugiados. Actualmente estoy gestionando contactos con algunas ONG en el terreno para obtner está invalorable información.

Hasta la próxima entrada!

Antes de entrar en materia

2009-06-27T23:01:00.007-05:00

Como antes lo habíamos dicho, se supone que las decenas de matanzas que actualmente están en curso (a medida que están leyendo esto probablemente ya han causado dos o cinco muertes más) deberían activar el rechazo de las NN.UU. o de aquellos paises que tanto aman (discursivamente) a los Derechos Humanos.

Básicamente, después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial (¿Han visto "La Lista de Schindler" o "El Pianista"?) la humanidad se cansó de las guerras. Entiendase guerras como las confrontaciones militares convencionales entre dos o más Estados nacionales. Para colmo, adicional a la carnicería de los campos de combate en Europa o el Pacífico, se descubrieron las atrocidades del Imperio Japones y Alemania Nazi en los crimenes de guerra de los primeros así como el Genocidio de los últimos. Si esto no fuera suficiente, para empeorar los prospectos de cualquier nueva guerra, la humanidad conoció el poderío de las armas nucleares. Definitivamente no solo nos habíamos cansado de las guerras, volver a pelear una era demasiado peligroso.

En aras de impedir mas conflictos bélicos surgen las Naciones Unidas. La idea era que las Naciones del mundo pudiesen solucionar sus conflictos económicos, políticos y sociales de una manera pacífica. Adicionalmente, esta organización debería velar por la paz del mundo a través de la plena vigencia del Derecho Internacional y de los, posteriormente elaborados, Derechos Humanos. Pero como ustedes se lo preguntarán: ¿Como rayos decenas, y posteriormente cientos, de países en el mundo lograrían eso?, bueno los poderes triunfantes de la Segunda Guerra (EE.UU., China, la Unión Soviética, Inglaterra y, llamemosle su invitada, Francia) pensaron exactamente en eso.

Esto habría sido solucionado por el famoso Franklin Delano Roosevelt unos años antes del nacimiento de las Naciones Unidas. FDR (como lo llamaban los americanos) sugirío que estas cinco naciones se constituyesen en la "Policia del Mundo"(Kissinger, La Diplomacia). Así, años después de FDR, las Naciones Unidas se eregirían sobre una piedra angular que decidiría y ejecutaría todo aquello que la Asamblea General (donde las cientos de naciones se reunen a dar discursos bonitos que rara vez se convierten en realidad) le propusiese: El Consejo de Seguridad de las Naciones Unidas (tristemente conocido como UNSEC). En este cuarto se reunen cinco miembros permanentes con votos y poderes de veto individual junto con otros diez miembros no permanentes para todo desde aprobar el dinero que gasta NNUU hasta las sanciones que un país recibirá por sus actos en la comunidad internacional.

Pero por más poco democrático que parezca, esta estructura de solución de conflictos funcionó para los aciagos días de la Guerra Fría. En un mundo donde tanto EE.UU. como la Unión Soviética construian dia a dia sus relaciones sobre lo que se conoce como Suicidio Mutuo (estrategia nuclear disuasiva basada en apuntar al otro lado con suficientes ojivas nucleares como para hacerle saber que el primer ataque sería equivalente al suicidio por la retaliación que activaría), el Consejo representó en muchas ocasiones la delggada línea entre el holocausto nuclear y la solución racional de los conflictos entre EE.UU. y la URSS. Esta estructura sería esencial en preservar la humanidad hasta la caida del muro de Berlín en 1989.

Lo más importante del Consejo durante este período sería el marco de solución de conflictos que creó. Aunque nos parezca mentira, la Carta de las Naciones Unidas atribuyó poderes tan grandes a
este Consejo que, durante casi cuarenta años, logró que Guerras tales como las de Corea, Israel-Paises Arabes y otras fuesen por, así decirlo, reguladas por sus potencias miembros. Es más, en estas Guerras se usó en gran medida las tropas de las Naciones Unidas o los "Peacekeepers" (también conocidos como Cascos Azules). Estas tropas muchas veces separaron a las partes beligerantes y tomarón el control de las situaciones por mandato del Consejo a fin de preservar sus resoluciones. Es así como durante estos años la humanidad ve como nos acercamos a ese ideal de que las Naciones Unidas, virtualmente, impusiesen la paz.

Sin embargo, nadie anticipó dos factores muy importantes. La capacidad de las NN.UU. para regular, o imponer a través del Consejo, la paz en el mundo era en gran parte respalda por el poder disuasivo y persuasivo de los tres grandes bloques formados en el Consejo (EE.UU.-Gran Bretaña-Francia, la URSS y China aunque está última con menor influencia). Esta capacidad de persuasión a su vez tenía arreglo a los fines de balance que las partes buscaron durante el conflicto. Por otro lado, cuando los Peacekeepers entraban en escena, su necesidad de intervenir activamente (es decir operaciones de combate y campañas para desarticular a las partes agresoras) se veía limitada por dos razones: sus reglas de combate que los obligaban a interponerse en el fuego cruzado y que las partes agresoras temían que el agredirlos atraiga el repudio de las dos Superpotencias (la URSS y los EE.UU.).

Estos factores son los que preconfigurarían, en gran medida, la incapacidad de las NN.UU., el Consejo y los Peacekeepers para detener los nuevos conflictos que surgirían con la caída del Muro de Berlín y el Fin de la Guerra Fría. A medida que los conflictos militares irían evolucionando de Convencionales entre Estados hacía No convencionales (todo tipo de Guerrillas, Insurgencias, Grupos Subnacionales o Transnacionales y Terrorismos Estatales o Subnacionales) las capacidades del Consejo de Seguridad irían adaptándose a los intereses del nuevo escenario de poderes mundiales en lugar de los desafíos presentados por estos nuevos conflictos. Es así como las NN.UU. empezaría ver una desconexión del tipo operativo y político entre sus intereses desde la Asamblea General hacía el Consejo de Seguridad.

Esto se materializaría en los grandes avances que, tanto conceptual como discursivamente, se irían evidenciando en mecanismos para salvaguardar los DD.HH. y el Derecho Internacional como medidas de solución pacífica de controversias entre actores estatales y no estatales. Pero la desconexión se prooduciría cuando, en las resoluciones del Consejo de Segurdad sobre conflictos, estos avances no serían reflejados ni esencial ni políticamente. De esta forma se iría formando el paraguas que viabilizarían el surgimiento de conflictos entre actores para-estatales, estatales y no estatales en Estados que se irían segmentando por cuestiones étnicas, culturales o religiosas. Prueba de esta evolución serían los conflicos de la fragmentación de Yugoslavia entre los modernos Estados Balcánicos, las Guerras étnicas de Africa o los conflictos culturales-religiosos que surgirían en los Balcanes a mediados de los 90.

Esto forma el bagaje de información que es necesario para comprender las historias que proximamente se transmitirán en este Blog. Lamento mucho haberme extendido en tantos antecedentes pero creo sinceramente que nos serviran para poner en contexto la barabaríe en la que pronto entraremos.

¡Hasta la próxima entrada!

Donde están, quienes son y por qué no son

2009-06-10T12:00:00.007-05:00

El mundo resulta un lugar muy placentero dependiendo donde estemos. Quizá no hay deleite más grande que presenciar un atardecer en las hermosas playas de Salinas, o también una farra única donde hayas bailado tanto hasta sudar tu maquillaje o tu camisa recién comprada. En fin, dependiendo del lugar, el placer del mundo tiende a variar y con esa variación también se obtiene la atención del que goza ese placer.

Pero, como un dicho lo expresa, "nada en la vida es gratis"; todas esas actividades tienen una característica: son resultados de vivir en sociedad y, a su vez, que hay Estados que las garantizan . Por ende como individuos no importa como obtengamos nuestro gozo o placer, todos tenemos la obligación de cuidar de estas sociedades y de los individuos que las forman, especialmente cuando nuestra mejor garantía para disfrutar esos y otros derechos es que sean de caracter universal. De esta forma, nuestra atención debe dirigirse a los individuos que no son capaces de obtener esos gozos, o derechos, que nosotros tenemos.

Bienvenidos al Blog que busca atraer su atención hacía lo que estos individuos quisieran o querrían decirles. Las voces perdidas es un Blog que quisiera llevar su atención a lugares remotos, casi nunca mencionados, donde vive gente con nombres que son susceptibles de las mas burdas burlas de colegio y que, contrario a lo que digan los líderes de la comunidad internacional, son terrenos donde la mantanza, la limpieza cultural y la amplia violación de los derechos humanos ya son algo sin importancia dentro de sus agendas. Pero no solo se trata de lidiar con el análisis de la problemática de estos lugares, se trata de llevar sus voces a ustedes, sus historias de como han aprendido a vivir entre la muerte, el hambre y la total falta de interés o acción de los únicos que podrían parar la matanza con la que conviven: Nosotros.

Ya sea en el cenit de la Farra en Ganesh, República o Attica siempre habrá algún entendido o estresado estudiante de Derecho, Sociología o Publicidad que soltara quejas sobre el complicado y monotono trabajo que su "teacher" o "mister" (dependiendo de en que lugar del coeficiente de gini se pare esa persona) le pidió que haga para recuperar su nota o en una de aquellas clases de relleno como "Sociedad Contemporánea". Ese entendido de repente, contando sobre la temática del trabajo, dirá que era enfocado en este país llamado Sudán donde existe una región llamada Darfur. Quizá otro individuo dirá algo mas reconocible cuando mencione que su trabajo trataba sobre la situación que vivió un país llamado Rwanda en la década de los 90 y nunca falta alguién que hable sobre la situación de una región llamada Chechenia en Rusia.

Todos estos lugares son, algunos, de los tantos focos que a nivel internacional han desatado los conflictos que, algunos, llaman "humanitarios" y otros llaman "genocidas". N0 importa que mismo sean, lo cierto es que estos, así como otros lugares, son focos de las más abruptas violaciones a los Derechos Humanos que podrían imaginar el farrero, playero, músico o poeta en Ecuador y otro país del mundo. Pero estas violaciones, no son del tipo superficial como prohibir tu movilidad o tu derecho a expresarte; en estos focos de conflicto las violaciones constituyen lo que la jerga jurídica conoce como de "lesa humanidad", es decir violaciones que representan la máxima expresión del odio u la intención expresa de destruir una forma de cultura, etnia o vida de un grupo de personas. Esta intención no es discursiva, es real y se materializa en una forma concreta: la supresión de los individuos negativizados, en sencillas palabras elliminarlos de la faz de la tierra.

La causa de la muerte de estas personas, por lo general, guarda una gran similitud con el ejemplo que hicimos previamente. Todos ellos fueron asesinados, ya sea por sus propios gobiernos o por sus fuerzas paramilitares, debido a que culturalmente eran incompatibles con la forma que sus Estados estaban adquiriendo. Tomese el caso de la imagen contigua sobre el Genocidio en Rwanda, un Estado que hasta su descolonización por parte de Bélgica fue gobernado por una facción étnica conocida como Tutsi. Pero cuando los Belgas dejaron el país encargaron, curiosamente, el poder a otra facción que había sido oprimida por los Tutsis: Los Hutus. Estos desplazaron progresivamente del poder a sus antiguos opresores hasta terminar en los eventos conocidos como el Genocidio de Rwanda. Este Genocidio acabó con la vida de entre 500.000 u 800.000 Tutsis en cerca de tres meses antes que los Tutsis recuperaran el poder de los Hutus.

Pero vale la pena preguntarse lo que aquel individuo que compartía en la farra seguramente se pregunto en el desarrollo de su trabajo. Se supone que existen las Naciones Unidas y países, como los Europeos o los EE.UU., que velan y luchan por los Derechos Humanos, las Naciones Unidas y estos países nunca permitirían que algo como el genocidio en Rwanda o el conflicto que acabó con la vida del niño a la izquierda (Darfur) pasase si generar su reacción. Pues bien, ese también es uno de los tópicos de este Blog y en posteriores entradas será abordado; por el momento cabe decir esto: estos lugares, contrario a lo que el discurso internacional haga creer, no son de alta importancia en la agenda de Naciones Unidas o de los países europeos, ni siquiera de los EE.UU. No lo son por dos motivos importantes: no son de interés de los países que "defienden" los Derechos Humanos, o sea no son parte de sus intereses nacionales, y por que son espacios donde se tranzan los intereses regionales de los países a quienes Naciones Unidas les ha encargado nuestra seguridad: Rusia, Francia, Inglaterra, EE.UU. y la República Popular de China.

Hasta la próxima entrada!