Colombia holds major export event in Miami

[Judi Lynn]

Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Colombia holds major export event in Miami
November 16, 2009

Blame it on Hugo Chavez: Colombia is rushing to boost sales to North America, now that political disputes with Venezuela have slashed hefty trade with its South American neighbor.

The largest Colombian export mission ever to the United States is in Miami this week for two-days of match-making sessions with pre-selected importers. High on the agenda for sale: women's lingerie and other clothing, processed foods, books and other manufactured goods, Colombian officials said.

Venezuela's leftist president, Hugo Chavez, has been lashing out for months against Colombia's conservative leader, Alvaro Uribe, even ordering Venezuelan soldiers to prepare for war. Chavez rejects Uribe's decision to allow U.S. military aircraft and warships greater access to Colombian bases.

The political dispute has pushed Colombian sales to Venezuela down 56 percent in October from the same month last year, Colombia's Trade, Industry and Commerce Minister Luis Guillermo Plata told a news conference in Miami on Monday morning.

To help offset that drop, Colombia is accelerating its drive to diversify sales abroad. More than 360 Colombian exporters are visiting Miami this week for pre-arranged meetings with more than 240 importers from the United States, Canada, Mexico and Caribbean islands, said Maria Elvira Pombo, president of Colombia's export promotion agency Proexport.

Read more: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-colombia-trade-20091116,0,7012373.story

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They should remember to bring "The Amazing Dancing Kid:"

http://media1.danceruniverse.com.nyud.net:8090/images/t/81C475CC-831B-4A5D-BE8A7B50F902504B/thumbnail-147.jpg
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tiNkdFtKvk

[martymar64]

1. Did they include an exhibit on cocaine or mary jane?

Besides coffee, those are the two products I associate with Colombia.

[Arctic Dave]

2. Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

If you like his books.

[Judi Lynn]

4. A cocaine exhibit would be appropriate, or even a Coca-Cola display.

A lot of Colombian union workers have been murdered in order for Coca-Cola to keep its very cheap labor and not feel obligated to extend any benefits to them, of course.

http://dissidentvoice.org.nyud.net:8090/July2004/CocaCola2.JPG http://www.killercoke.org.nyud.net:8090/CokeKillsColombia.jpg

http://images.businessweek.com.nyud.net:8090/ss/06/01/coke_colombia/image/coke_pistol.jpg http://www.killercoke.org.nyud.net:8090/icecold2flyer.jpg

[martymar64]

5. I didn't know about Coca Cola's actions there. Thank you!

I'll never drink it again.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Colombia: secret police agent gets mobbed, guerilla suspect "unarrested"

Colombia: secret police agent gets mobbed, guerilla suspect "unarrested"
Submitted by WW4 Report on Tue, 11/17/2009 - 00:42.

The chief of the DAS, Colombia's secret police, says a mob assaulted three of its agents as they tried to arrest a suspect with guerilla ties Nov. 15. DAS director Felipe Muñoz says Ivan Danilo Alarcon, wanted for rebellion and drug trafficking, was detained near a university in the city of Cali. Muñoz says Alarcon cried out he was being kidnapped and 100 people surrounded the officers. The crowd detained the agents for over an hour, threatened them with death and took their weapons and armored vests. They freed Alarcon from handcuffs, and he fled. Muñoz charged that Alarcon posed as a human rights activist but was in fact giving logistical support to the FARC. (AP, Nov. 15)

In a rare display of a long-promised crackdown on the right-wing paramilitaries, a team from Colombia's elite Judicial Police (DIJIN) arrested 46 alleged members of Aguilas Negras in southern Nariño department Sept. 9. DIJIN director Gilberto Ramírez Calle called it a major blow against the paramilitary network—while admitting that one DAS agent was among those arrested! (El Espectador, Bogotá, Sept. 9)

The DAS, for Administrative Security Department, has been plagued by scandals in recent months, and President Alvaro Uribe is said to be considering disbanding it.

http://ww4report.com/node/7949