User talk:Juancarlos2004/Archive 2

Photos

Dear, JC could you try to find some historical photographs relating to Colombian history for attach to the articles. - Thank you, Your friend.

Sorry for not answering earlier. Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to find useful photos yet. Juancarlos2004 17:10, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

Folkloric History

Hola JC, we are having an interesting back and forth regarding Dumar Aljure. I would write to you privately but I can't figure out your email address. Mine is paulwolf@icdc.com I have more documents about "communist infiltration of the guerrillas" in the late 50s - early 60s. However the story is far from clear. I cannot explain why Aljure is not a part of FARC's history, by any Colombian historians, of any political persuasion. Likewise, Plan Lazo has been confused with Plan LASO which was something related to Cuba, not Colombia. Of course Lazo means "lasso" in Spanish and that was the reason for the name of that program. I have many documents about this online, for example: http://www.icdc.com/~paulwolf/colombia/lazoreview.htm

A lot of things in Colombian history need to be cleaned up. Bogota had long had the largest CIA station in the world (now Baghdad has the largest, they say) and there has been a lot of CIA influence in Colombia for a long time. This is one reason Colombia is such a disaster area. Don't get me wrong though, I love the country and the people and someday I want to return there to work in Colombia's archives.

---

Saludos. This reply is mainly to acknowledge that I've read your message. I will try to send a longer reply to your e-mail momentarily. In the meanwhile, I'll state that I can now better understand where you are coming from. Thanks for clearing up the Plan LASO/LAZO bit. As for Aljure, he continues to be somewhat of an ambiguous figure, even for the FARC themselves if their webpage is to be trusted (within the limits of what can be reasonably expected, I must say). Your position on the CIA's role in Colombia is interesting, and while I lack the knowledge necessary to fully agree or disagree on that particular point, I can definitely imagine some of the things that may understandably lead one to share your conclusions.Juancarlos2004 04:36, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

CNE

I noticed you modified the page Consejo Nacional Electoral and may be working on an article related to Colombia. Please check out this move request first. Thanks Spaceriqui 21:18, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

Desperatly need your expertise

Re: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Colombian_Armed_Conflict (Hypothetical Colombia Peace Plan)

I came up with a rushed hypthetical peace plan.

Unfortunatly I found out that my paper was due on March 7th, so I am forced to rush things and really put my neck out and say things that are probably very ignorant and naive. Please be brutally honest about my suggestions. The four of us have to come up with a viable peace process soon.

I archived the other comments, not standard practice, but since I am inviting my classmates to this site, and they have never used Wikipedia before, this will make their transaction into Wikipedia less difficult to learn.

No harm no foul right?

I figure if you don't care no one else will.

After march 7th, or sooner, I could always just cut and paste the info in the archive back onto the talk page.

thanks for all of your help. We are planning to meet with some Colombian ex-pats here and get their ideas about a viable peace process too. Stating that no peace process is viable right now is not an option, even if it may be the most realistic assessment right now.Travb 02:51, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

I'll see what I can do. Yes, no peace process may probably be the most realistic assessment, at least in the short term, but I understand that isn't an option. Your plan is a bit interesting, even if it clearly is rushed, as you've stated. But since it's only a hypothetical one, I suppose it'll be enough for your current paper (though being forced to comply with such a short deadline sure seems quite a bit bothersome, at least at first sight). Juancarlos2004 03:53, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

It is 12:30 am here, I just saw your detailed response. Thank you so much. I need to read it in detail, it is to much to absorb and contemplate in one setting.

What, as an American, can I do to get more people interested in your fate and the detremental effect that the US has in Colombia?

i.e. can you suggest any spanish or english videos which summarize the plight of your country and the detrimental effect that the US is currently having there? I say videos, not books because in my experience, it is painfully obvious that americans have short attention spans--as you probably know--and don't really read much. I can send it to my congressman and I have some very active friends who are interested in latin american rights. Travb 06:43, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

Once again, sorry for the delay in responding to your query. I thank you for your concern and interest in this complicated and often tragicly misunderstood matter. You ask as very important but also very difficult question, which deserves a lot of thought.

At the moment I wouldn't be able to honestly and fully "endorse" any specific video, especially because I am not particularly convinced by those I've noticed to be available online; it seems that those videos that I like on some level, I actually dislike on another one...for example, the video available on http://www.plancolombia.org/ is good as far as showing the failure of the current drug war policies and their effects, but on several other issues it has incomplete or very outdated information (when dealing with the conflict at large, for example, I disagree with some of their generalizations). Can't have everything, I guess. Perhaps it may work for you, despite its relatively controversial nature, though it would preferrably need some additional context or another video to make up for its failings.

As far as written materials go, you're right in that a book might be too much for the standard American attention span...but there's a fairly good account of the issues surrounding current US involvement in Colombia, including a very good one page "Executive summary" (pg 2) of many of the changes that future US policies AND aid to Colombia should have, here: [1].

It's also a bit outdated, though less so (it was prepared by CIP and other organizations around March 2005), and it's actually much more constructive. Some of the recent factual details that are missing are available elsewhere on the CIP website and on that of another institution called the CERAC (a summary of recent trends [2] and the numbers/specific facts it's based on [3]). Juancarlos2004 19:25, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

I appreciate your expertise, tommorow I will devote the entire day to this project. It is a national holiday: presidents day--therefore no school.Travb 23:12, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

I had seen the video http://www.plancolombia.org/ advertised, but have not yet watched it. thanks for the wonderful suggestions.Travb 05:39, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

If you find some time

Talk:Colombian_Armed_Conflict I got a new peace plan. Sad thing is, it appears like the biggest stumbling block is my own government. Bush would never go for UN control of a new Plan Colombia.Travb 05:40, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

Who are all these people addressing you as "Dear friend"? LOL...the same person? Kind of interesting. You seem like the expert on Colombia. You should write a book, your english is good enough. If a union member can write "the profits of Extermination" you could write a much better, more balanced book.Travb 05:43, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, I'll go look at it. That might well be true, but the thing is that any equivalent plan most likely won't be feasible at least until the ongoing presidential terms have finished.

I'm not exactly sure who that person was either. Doesn't seem like it could have been someone I know in real life, though I could make a few random guesses...in any case, it was kind of curious, wasn't it?

Thanks for the compliment. I've also contemplated the book idea myself, so hopefully that will be possible sometime in the future. Juancarlos2004 23:02, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

New Template for you

To say thanks for your continued help, I made this template to combine all of the work of yourself and your compatriots. When gringos like me come searching for information about the Colombia crisis, we can easily find several pages on the crisis. Please savagely modify this template as you see fit. I am going to add it to the armed conflict site right now. Please add or take away certain pages. After you are done, I will gladly add it to all of the other sites listed in the template:

Signed: Travb 06:25, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

Well, I too must thank you for your efforts; it's definitely a nice template. I'll be modifying it and/or adding to the list soon. Juancarlos2004 23:06, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

Hey

Hey man, Thank you so much. I had class tonight, and I blew away my classmates about the depth of my knowledge on the subject. They were so impressed that I had been talking to you and I already had a second draft of a peace plan. Thank you, thank you, thank you.Travb 03:59, 22 February 2006 (UTC)

Nice job, added new link with photos, graphs, statistics etc.

You gave me a new depth of understanding in the formation of Plan Colombia. I appreciate your new input. I assume you translated the book from Spanish? Thanks again.Travb 06:31, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

Added new link with photos, graphs, statistics etc:

• "Information about Colombia". From three books on Colombia (Inside Colombia: Drugs, Democracy, and War; Colombia: Inside the Labyrinth; Walking Ghosts: Murder and Guerrilla Politics in Colombia). Retrieved February 25, 2006. Photos, statistics, graphs, and maps

It says that I have exceeded my data limit for the day... :(

Yes, I had to try to translate those excerpts from the book. That site's quite interesting, btw, since it contains a lot of relevant pictures and information. And yeah, Geocities does tend to be pain in the butt, what with their data limit and all that... Juancarlos2004 17:32, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

What do you mean by this: I had to try to translate those excerpts from the book You mean you want to translate exerpts from the book? See my message below also.Travb 10:54, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

Sorry for not saying this as clearly as I would want. I was speaking in past tense and referring to what I already did (that is, translating the excerpts I already added to the article). Juancarlos2004 16:41, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

Question about Palace of Justice siege

I posted a question on Talk:Palace_of_Justice_siege, if you get some time.Travb 00:19, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

Nice edits

Nice edits on plan colombia, thanks again.Travb 05:17, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

So what do you think?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Justice_siege#The_disappeared

http://bailey83221.livejournal.com/65293.html

Interesting, where you aware of this story?

Let me know what you think...Travb 10:51, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

It seems fair enough. I haven't read Carrigan's book and wasn't aware about the tape. The tale sounds plausible, in light of what was already known and several of the things about the matter that the mainstream Colombian press reported last year, during the 20th anniversary of the events. Admittedly, I am far from being an expert on this particular matter.

Though one wonders whether such a thing as "dissident B-2 agents" really existed at the time, given that the two individuals on the tape almost seem to be justifying and defending what they allegedly did, only complaining about some of the more brutal procedures employed. It seems a bit curious, don't you think? Even if it doesn't necessarily mean that they are lying, no, there probably is/was more to the tape than meets the eye. Juancarlos2004 16:59, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

Thanks again for the response, I was wondering if you had become "disappeared". The "dissident B-2 agents" were complaining what the other agents were doing. The "dissident B-2 agents" never actually tortured anyone, they simply rounded up the people. We gave our report, 50 power point slides. It went well. I have another class were I am going to write on Colombia. So three classes in all now. In my law class I am going to focus on the Drummond and Coca Cola cases. More soon! Travb 18:19, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

You may want to read the footnote to this information I provided, which is a link to my live journal page. I typed a good portion of the book (about 2-3 pages) and added it there. Hope all is well, writing a paper about the UN tonight. Travb 04:12, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

Sorry for the delay, I've been busy these last few days. Nothing major, but still...it kept me away from Wikipedia, with a couple of sporadic exceptions. I've checked the link you provided, thanks. Good luck with your further work. Juancarlos2004 17:12, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

nice edits on: Álvaro Uribe I have two more papers I am doing on Colombia this semester, so you will see me around!Travb 15:08, 1 April 2006 (UTC)

Consulta: Wikimedia Colombia

Hola, Juancarlos2004:

Desde hace un tiempo he venido cabilando con la idea de fundar un capítulo Colombiano de la Wikimedia Foundation, y para esto necesito de los comentarios y de la ayuda de los posibles interesados.

La idea del capítulo es formar una organización sin ánimo de lucro dentro de la legislación colombiana. Muy probablemente una Fundación sea el tipo de entidad más acorde a los objetivos planteados.

La invitación es para inscribir su nombre en la página de la propuesta sin ningún compromiso. También recibo comenentarios allá o en mi página de discusión sobre cualquier inquietud que tenga lugar.

En la página de la propuesta también se podrá encontrar un borrador de los posibles estatutos de la Fundación, los objetivos planteados, etc. y está abierta a cualquier tipo de contribuciones e inquietudes. Las ideas incluyen desde la canalización de fondos para la Wikimedia Foundation (los found raisings) hasta varios proyectos de promoción del conocimiento libre en Colombia (tanto por medio de los proyectos de Wikimedia, como por otros proyectos basados o no en tecnologías Wiki). Sin duda un objetivo interesante será la promoción de las lenguas indígenas colombianas con el objetivo adicional de empoderar a las culturas que las hablan de herramientas informáticas que no sean percibidas como alienantes.

Si conoce de algún otro colombiano que pueda estar interesado, no sólo wikipedistas o colaboradores de Wikimedia, agradezco la difución de este mensaje.

Gracias por la atención.
— Carlos Th (talk) 18:28, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

thanks again

nice edits on Palace of Justice siege I just love the power of colaberation on wikipedia.Travb 03:03, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

would I sound like a broken record if I said thanks for your contributions on the RAND study @ Plan Colombia? I just found a second earlier RAND study, 1988.... Will post soon. Good point that Plan Colombia didn't exist at the time.Travb 03:45, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

Thanks to you too. Your contributions are also useful and informative, so our work on Wikipedia is definitely a good example of what community collaboration can achieve. Juancarlos2004 04:19, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

COLOMBIAN

This user is a proud Colombian and encourages you to try the best coffee in the World!

--Don Quijote's Sancho 00:07, 16 April 2006 (UTC)

RE: Talk:La Violencia

I see you are online, or were recently online. Can you See my question?: Talk:La Violencia.Travb 05:08, 16 April 2006 (UTC)

Cases before the International Criminal Court

Thanks for adding those links to this article - I was looking for them and couldn't find them! AndrewRT 22:42, 16 April 2006 (UTC)

Sorry

Sorry for forcing you to learn the new "ref" footnote system--I like it better but it took a little bit of time for me to learn.Travb 00:39, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

Need a vote on Article is up for deletion

I would like to ask a favor, sir.

I would like your comments, someone put my article up for deletion: Wikipedia:Categories_for_deletion#Category:Organizations_and_people_who_predicted_the_collapse_of_the_USSR On every page I post this on, many people start passionate conversations about this. Travb 05:02, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

Sorry for not being able to help you with that, I guess I missed your message that day. Juancarlos2004 02:38, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Hey Juan

Hey Juan, interested in reading my law school paper? I am about 70% done. It is 10 pages single spaced, 16 pages with footnotes. (In law school, every sentence needs to be footnoted). It is on Colombia, entitled "America's Other War: Terrorizing Colombia" after the book of the same name. I think I am going to write over the 6000 word limit--I need to to be able to include everything. I will just email you the text. Travb 02:25, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Nevermind. I clicked the "E-mail this user" button, and you don't have an email address listed. Want to e-mail me your email address?

It is located below the search box on my user talk page, in the toolbox box, 4th link down.

Signed: Travb 02:27, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Hi, the title sounds a bit radical (though there's also some well-deserved merit to it, I don't deny that at all), but I would certainly be interested and maybe even honored to read it too, if possible. I just noticed that I didn't have an e-mail address listed too, but I'm adding one to my preferences right now. In any case, I'll send it to you by e-mail. Please tell me if you haven't received it yet. Juancarlos2004 02:42, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Hey Jaun

Thanks for all of your help. I was wondering what you thought we should do with the terrible article: U.S.-Colombia relations. I don't think that any article should be deleted, no matter how bad. As you probably noticed I started to rewrite the article but gave up. Actually, I think I am going to try something radical Wikipedia:Be bold, which may piss off the author.Travb 19:03, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Well,that's probably what the article needs. Rewriting it in a "bold" manner could be a better starting point than leaving it in its current state. The current Plan Colombia redirect you've made might work as a temporary measure, but not much else. Juancarlos2004 21:43, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Taking myself off of several Colombia watchlists

I am going to take myself off of several Colombia page watchlists for now, adding them to my user page. This is the first time I have ever done this to such controversial pages which I care so much about.

But I really trust your judgement, more than any other wikipedian on wikipidia. I will continue to monitor your changes to U.S.-Colombia relations because I am interested where you will take this article, and I would like to continue to contribute to this article as it develops.

As soon as it is NPOV enough with your skillful edits, I will post links to it on other Colombia related pages, but I have not done this yet, because I do not want an US apologist to put it up for deletion, because it is so admittedly argumentative in its current form.

I will continue to contribute to Colombia pages, but I trust that you will be a wonderful gate keeper, upkeeping the high quality of the Colombia wikipages for both of us.

As I become an attorney, I hope to use my power and influence to help the Colombian people. I think with my current social position in life contributing to Wikipedia is the absoute best thing I could have done for the Colombian people, raising American awareness of the US's detrimental role in Colombia. Any person in the world who types in "Plan Colombia" the 6th link will be the link that we worked on together, which I contributed a lot too. I mailed away several copies of Plan Colombia: Cashing-In on the Drug War Failure to my brother to give to local advocacy groups and to mail to his leaders. I also mailed one to my Congressional and Senate reps. (no response at all).

Last year, I remember visiting Austin, the state capital of Texas, and seeing five lone American protesters, standing in the shadow of the capital building holding banners protesting Plan Colombia. Most Americans ignored such signs, but it stuck in my mind. Why would these people be protesting? Now I understand why. I believe in the idea of "national guilt", unlike many of my American brotheren. (I define national guilt differently than what I have read on the net: national guilt is the guilt a person feels for the negative actions/history of your native country)

How do you know english so well--I have wondered that often? Mixed marriage? Colombia and native english speaker? Are you Colombian?

Laters.

Signed:Travb (talk) 06:04, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

I must express, once again, my sincere thanks for your compliments. I wish you the best of luck in your future professional practice.

Hopefully I will be able to do justice to the trust and confidence you have given me. Making all the necessary contributions, as you know, will nevertheless continue to be a long process, but that's what community work usually implies.

One can only hope that your ongoing efforts will result in positive developments, not only for either of us but for both our countries as a whole.

Sometimes, however, there may be a fine but noticeable line between the precise conclusions that stem from our individual perceptions, but I trust that we will continue to have a constructive relationship in spite of that.

Btw, I agree with your definition of "national guilt", since it's pretty much one of the things that most people never feel, except on an individual basis.

As for me, well...I tend to think that my English is above average, frankly, but far from perfect. Pretty much just learned the basics at school (a good school though, but surprisingly not an expensive one) and gained some additional improvements through personal experiences and the passage of time, nothing much more than that. I do have a few native English speakers in my family though (sons of legal immigrants), but I don't interact with them that often. Juancarlos2004 23:41, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

I'm back

A user unbooted me. So I am back, at least temporarily. Did you get the books yet?Travb (talk) 17:36, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

Good to know you're back. No, I haven't. Might want to inquire about that if it doesn't get here by next week or so. Juancarlos2004 18:17, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

I didn't insure the books (It would have cost much, must more). So once those articles left my hands, they are at the whim ofthe Colombian and US governments. I am sure you will get them.Travb (talk) 22:03, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

Oh, I'm not criticizing you. They are also in the hands of any other entities involved in the shipping and handling. It wouldn't be rare for things to get stuck here or there, but likely they'll just take a week or two more than usual. Juancarlos2004 00:55, 3 June 2006 (UTC)