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This will be a long and difficult struggle.
Colombia is one of the most damaged places in Latin America; one of the most turbo-capitalist, and one of the most sold out to the West.
On the other hand, its opposition is vibrant and diverse. Its people are amazing; many very brave, educated and determined people.
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My last day in Bogota, as I was falling asleep, I heard some loud gunshots right in front of my hotel.
After years in Beirut, I was used to such sounds. 'Celebratory shooting into the air', I thought, half asleep. But people were screaming, too. Exhausted, I fell asleep.
The next morning, on the way to the airport, I was told by my driver: "At night, they killed a French man, right in front of the entrance to your hotel."
'Too many corpses', I thought. 'Too many people are dying in Colombia. For whatever reasons, but dying unnatural deaths.'
At the airport, passport control check took almost two hours. Immigration officers were showing absolute and open spite towards the passengers. They were chatting with each other, banging into their mobile phones, even eating. While people waited in endless lines, like cattle. Absolute impunity.
On the Avianca flight from Bogota to La Paz, my neighbor was a typical US lady-apparatchik.
"Where are you from?" she asked me in an arrogant tone of voice, right before take off.
"Russia," I said.
"What?"
"Russia."
"What's that?"
"Russian Federation".
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