Showing posts with label Colombia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Colombia. Show all posts

August 7 – Battle of Boyacá Day in Colombia

Posted on August 7, 2018



In the early 1700s, the northern part of South America - where we now see Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela - was joined together with the very southernmost part of North America - Panama - to make up a Spanish-ruled territory called New Grenada. 

And on this date in 1819, Simon Bolivar's forces won a very important battle that led to the independence of New Grenada from Spain!


The Battle of Boyacá was confusing for me to read about, because Bolivar's side - the side wanting independence - is called different names in different write-ups: the Independist Army, the Newgranadians, the republican army, the rebels, and the Patriot Army. The other side - the side wanting New Grenada to stay a Spanish colony - is also called several different names: the Spaniards, the Royalists, the Loyalists, and the Newgranadians.

Note that people of New Granada - those called Newgranadians - fought on both sides of this battle. Like other bits of human history, battles for independence don't always look like obvious good ideas, and they certainly don't look like grand moral imperatives. Different people who care about their country and their people still disagree on what is best, and even when they share a particular goal, they don't always agree on the best way to achieve that goal. 

So, naturally, some people thought it was best to be loyal to tradition and to the current laws. Others thought it was best to fight for freedom and independence from a far-away king.

Today is a patriotic holiday in Colombia. Some of the parades and festivities center on the bridge of Boyacá.

This statue of Simon Bolivar stands on a pivotal
spot of the Battle of Boyacá.

In the foreground, students make a Columbian
flag by wearing yellow, blue, and red.

Check out some of the beautiful sights of Colombia:

The amazing Las Lajas cathedral:


Charming towns, like Cartagena:



Beautiful beach landscapes:



Lush jungle landscapes:




And this amazing river, which is called Caño Cristales, and also the River of Five Colors and the Liquid Rainbow. The colors only appear during the certain months (June through November) and are caused by plants. The water itself is very clear.








Also on this date:




Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,

November 6 – Anniversary of a Chair Installation

Posted on November 6, 2016

Would you like to see 1,500 wooden chairs in a giant pile, between two buildings?

Here you go:


You're welcome!

Doris Salcedo is a Colombian artist who creates statements through “installation art.” This particular installation, called Istanbul and created in Istanbul in 2003, was supposed to create “a topography of war.” Knowing that topography means “a representation on a map of the features of an area,” what do you suppose Salcedo meant by that?

Remember, she is from Colombia, a nation in South America that has been plagued by decades of armed conflict and dangerous drug cartels. Salcedo haslsaid of herself that she is a Third World artist who creates artwork from the perspective of the victims. Of the defeated. Of the powerless.

So...all those chairs speak of humans. But there are no humans sitting in the chairs. So maybe the installation refers to a lack of humans, missing humans, humans who have fled or bled and died. One could see the haphazard arrangement of the chairs as a reference to mass graves, to anonymous, nameless victims of violence and war.

Let's check out some more of Salcedo's work. This one is called Shibboleth (it was installed in the Tate Modern, in 2007):

Shibboleth refers to a long-standing belief about a particular group of people – especially to such a belief that is now regarded as incorrect or unimportant.





This one is called Atrabiliarios (melancholy); these shoes are the discarded shoes of dead people in Colombia:





Here are a few more:







Also on this date:

Daylight Savings Time Ends






Constitution Day in the Dominican Republic 
























Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,

July 20 – Independence Day in Colombia

Posted on July 20, 2014


 On this date in 1810, people in Colombia responded to the political troubles of their colonial master, Spain, by setting up their own local government.

To set the stage, Europe was dealing with steady encroachment by Napoleon Bonaparte and periodic outbreak of wars between nations. The French Emperor had forced the King of Spain (Ferdinand VII) to give up the throne to Napoleon's brother, Joseph Bonaparte. As you might expect, many Spaniards resisted the new king's rule, and an emergency alternative government called the Supreme Central Junta was formed by some of the most powerful Spaniards.

Most of Spain's colonies in South and Central America made formal declarations of loyalty to Spain's Supreme Central Junta and to Ferdinand VII—thereby setting themselves up as NOT being loyal to King Joseph. Also, movements within the various colonies started creating their own juntas. In 1808 and 1809, local independent governments were set up in what is now Bolivia, Peru, and Venezuela. The viceroys—the representatives of King Joseph who were supposed to rule in the colonies—often tried to put down these rebellions, but because of the instability in Spain and all of Europe, they had only limited support from the mother country.

The people in Colombia who wanted to oust the Spanish viceroy made a plan that involved one patriot asking a merchant to borrow a flower vase—a request that they were sure would be refused—and another patriot would ask the viceroy for an open town meeting to discuss independence—again, a request that would certainly be rejected. I guess the merchant and viceroy played right into the patriots' hands, because apparently they not only refused the requests, they did so in a very haughty, rude way.

The patriots were able to run through the streets of Bogota (the capital city of Colombia) telling everybody about the rude rejections of these proposals, and soon enough mobs of people started protesting Spanish arrogance.

I know I would want independence if someone turned down my request for a flower vase in a rude way!

Under pressure of a rioting populace, the Spanish viceroy agreed to allow a limited independence...which later became full and permanent independence.

Colombians celebrate their independence with parades and speeches and parties.


Learn about Colombia

  • Colombia is famous for its coffee and for singer-songwriter, dancer, record producer, choreographer, and model Shakira. Shakira isn't just a pop legend; she works to build schools and community centers in the poorest neighborhoods of Colombia, and she works to convince other Latin American leaders to invest in education for little kids.

  • You have probably figured out that Colombia was named after Christopher Columbus (whose name in Italian is Cristoforo Colombo, and in Spanish is Cristobal Colon). Back when it was a colony, the territory (and Ecuador, Panama, Venezuela, and part of Brazil) was called New Granada (Grenada is the name of an important city in Spain).





  • Colombia is one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries. (I didn't realize that the U.S. is also one!) The nation has Amazon rainforest, tropical grasslands, seacoasts on the Pacific Ocean and on the Caribbean Sea, and highlands of Andes Mountains. It is considered the second most biodiverse country in the world, and is #1 in the number of species per square mile or kilometer.
  • Colombia has the most species of butterflies, orchids, and amphibians of any other nation in the world. It has more species of birds than all of Europe and North America combined! (So...yeah...MEGAdiverse!)




  • Colombia is the leading source of emeralds in the world. Like, the MEGA leading source – because 70 to 90% of the world's emeralds come from that relatively small nation!



Also on this date:









Moon Day (here and here)












"Peace and Freedom” Day in North Cyprus 







Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:
And here are my Pinterest boards for:

Posted by at 1 comment:
Labels: , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)