Images of the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol are seared into many Americans’ minds and remain especially vivid for members of Congress who witnessed the riot. One congressman has been especially forthcoming about the mental trauma he has been experiencing months after the riot. VOA’s Carolyn Presutti spoke with the lawmaker and filed this report.
The victims of the country’s armed conflict see in the Special Transitory Circumscriptions of Peace (CTEP) the opportunity to achieve political participation, in addition to making visible the tragedy that they have lived through for years in their territories.
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That is why for the communities and social organizations, of victims and peasants, these peace seats are the space to obtain political representation in The congress that allows them to mark out resources that help their territories.
“It is a way to restore the full exercise of their political, economic, social, cultural and environmental rights,” he says. Luis Trejos Rosero, teacher-researcher from the Universidad del Norte Luis Trejo, PhD in American Studies, and director of the UNCaribe Thought Center Observatory.
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It is a way to restore the full exercise of their political, economic, social, cultural and environmental rights”
In one of his recent texts, Trejo in the company of his colleague Reynell Badillo, in which they analyze the risks of peace seats in the Caribbean, recalls that in 2017 the Congress of the Republic established that 167 municipalities in the country would host the 16 constituencies. Of these, 40 are in the Caribbean region, located specifically in the departments of Bolivar, Sucre, Cesar, La Guajira, Magdalena, and Cordoba.
“In other words, the region would have four representatives for the CTEPs: one for C8 (Montes de María), one for C12 (Sierra Nevada, Perijá and Zona Bananera), one for C13 (Sur de Bolívar) and one for the C14 (South of Córdoba)” specifies the text, in which they indicate that these seats are transitory in nature (they would work for the periods 2022-2026 and 2026-2030) and would be added to the 166 seats that currently make up the House of Representatives.
The risks in the region
Trejos and Badillo highlight the benefits of these peace seats for the leaders of these hard-hit territories to achieve their representation in Congress, but they do not hide that there are serious risks to guaranteeing transparent participation, given the conditions of the municipalities: violence associated with the armed conflictillegal rents and patronage political dynamics.
In the Caribbean, these special zones are located in the Montes de Mariasouth of Bolívar, south of Córdoba, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and Serranía del Perijá and the Banana Zone.
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The researchers highlight the report of the Electoral Observation Mission (EOM)which warns that of the 40 Caribbean municipalities that will participate in the CTEP elections, 25 have registered acts of political violence between 2016 (signing of the Agreement) and 2021.
Violence has not ceased in these territories
Among the main obstacles that threaten this process is “the violence that has not ceased in any of the subregions,” say the researchers.
In their analysis of the region, they detail that the expansion of the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AGC), the presence of the Conqueror Self-Defense Forces of the Sierra Nevada (ACSN) and the Eln, and the arrival of dissidents from the FARC-EP “they threaten to make these elections marked by violence and the impossibility of campaigning freely in rural territories,” they underline.
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Another risk that surrounds the election of the representatives of these peace seats are the traditional parties, which could use these constituencies as ways to put their political allies.
Although the registered persons must prove their status as victims, this does not mean that they represent the interests of the victims of the armed conflict.
“Although the registered persons must prove their status as victims, this does not mean that they represent the interests of the victims. victims of the conflict armed or from their territories, so there is room for legality, but not legitimacy in the seats”, indicates the analysis of Trejos and Badillo.
Lastly, academics warn of the very large distance in several municipalities between the electoral census and the number of registered victims.
“This can give rise, again, to the fact that, due to the low number of votes, the local machinery moves to support a candidate who can easily win. The inexperience of social organizations in matters of electoral logistics and voter mobilization can also work against it. The scenario can become diffuse considering that they must compete with illegal groupspolitical elites and against themselves”, the report points out.
BARRANQUILLA
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Health professionals and entities related to Alzheimer’s disease have demanded in the Congress of Deputies a greater political commitment that translates into an increase in the allocation of research resources to improve access to early diagnosis
The speakers at the Conference “Early detection and early diagnosis. New paradigms in Alzheimer’s disease”, held at the Congress of Deputies/Courtesy photo
The conference ‘Early detection and early diagnosis. New paradigms in Alzheimer’s disease’, has urged the establishment of biomedical research, key in detecting possible symptoms when there is still no brain damage, as a political priority to achieve a comprehensive approach to the pathology.
At the opening of the event, organized by the Spanish Alzheimer’s Confederation (CEAFA) in collaboration with Biogen, the president of the Health and Consumption Commission, Rosa María Romero, opened “the doors of Congress” to a series of “awareness” days of a disease that affects more than a million people in Spain, according to their estimates.
The president has determined that an early diagnosis means “better understanding of Alzheimer’s disease in its early stages” and has described research as the “great challenge for Spain” regarding the provision of resources and support for these professionals.
Along these lines, the medical director of the Ace Alzheimer Center Barcelona, Mercè Boada, has stated that early detection is necessary to “establish a life plan for the patient”, since their ability to reverse the process is “less and worse” without detecting the first symptoms.
Currently, 40% of the patients who arrive at the Barcelona entity have mild or very mild cognitive impairment, while thirty years ago, all the patients showed very advanced symptoms of this disease.
For this reason, Boada believes that Spain must increase its efforts both in financing science and in attracting talent in a scenario in which national research is “very small” and will cause us to “be left behind”.
The speakers also demanded a greater budget allocation for the ‘Comprehensive Plan for Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias 2019-2023’ with which to guarantee the quality of life of those diagnosed and their families.
“What we are requesting is that the plan be financially endowed in an adequate way, that it not go in the General State Budgets as an item within other sub-items, but that it have the entity it deserves,” he claimed, in statements to Efe , the president of CEAFAMarilo Almagro.
The adequate economic resources for the care of a patient are, in his opinion, “very high” and account for up to 3% of the GDP of Spain, according to a study by the center.
From the Ministry of Health they report that the budget allocated to this strategy, through the distribution of funds to the autonomous communities, was 1,409,035 euros in 2021.
Although there are still “unmet” needs in the community, the director general of biogene in Spain, Sérgio Teixeira, points to a favorable environment for collaboration between all the agents of the health system so that the management of the pathology is as “sustained and agile” as possible.
Globally, each year 10 million new patients are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, responsible for 60% of diagnosed cases of dementia and, according to estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO), these figures will triple to reach 139 million cases in the year 2050.
Little or nothing is defined for the new Congress of the Republic (2022-2026), whose candidates will submit to the elections on March 13. However, among the candidates for the House of Representatives by the Atlantic there is one who would have his position assured.
(Also read: 18 polling stations in Barranquilla present electoral risk)
This is the head of the list of the Comunes party (former FARC), Germán Gómez, thanks to one of the agreements reached in the peace negotiations, which they finally signed with the Santos Government in 2016.
It must be remembered that a total of 10 seats were established in the Havana process, of which five are for the Senate and another five for the House of Representatives.
In the previous period, that Atlantic seat, the only one for the Caribbean region, was assigned to Seuxis Pausias Hernández, known during his militancy in the guerrilla with the alias of Jesus Santrich.
But it ended in an ’empty chair’ in the Chamber, due to the arrest of the sucreño for alleged cocaine trafficking, escape, joining the dissidents and subsequent death in the Serranía del Perijá.
From seven to eight: the department adds one seat
That seat could balance forces. For more than 15 years there has been no representation in the Atlantic by a left-wing party
In this electoral process, Comunes decided again to retake the seat for the Atlántico, so the department would go from seven to eight seats in the new period of the lower house of Congress.
This party presented a closed list headed by Gómez, who, regardless of the number of votes he obtains next Sunday, March 13, would have a seats directly product of the Agreement.
According to the political analyst, Alejandro Blanco, this seat has two special characteristics: the first is that it would change the balance by adding one more quota for the department, and the second is that this electoral exercise of the Commons is financed by the State.
“That seat could balance forces. For more than 15 years there has been no representation in the Atlantic by a left-wing party. This could change some dynamics between the representatives”, said the also professor at the Free University of Barranquilla.
He added that another element that would require one more seat is that it could open the debate on the building a culture of peace in the department, “under the understanding that the Atlantic for different reasons has been far from the dynamics of the implementation of the Agreement.”
The ex-combatant who is on the run through municipalities
One is the quality of public services, mobility in transport with the Transmetro crisis
The candidate Germán Gómez was born 58 years ago in Sincelejo, but since he was 8 years old he went to live in Barranquilla. In the 80s, being medical studentfrom the Metropolitan University, joined the Communist Youth, went to the UP, later joined the Farc, until laying down arms in 2016.
“It is an interesting situation that the citizens of the Atlantic can count on an alternative seat, that is, a spokesperson that will make visible all the problems and the possible solutions that they deserve, for the steps that we can make before the state organisms, in the process of to obtain resources for the development of this region”, said Gómez.
During this campaign, according to what he said, he has visited the municipalities of Santa Lucia, Repelon, SabanagrandeSabanalarga and the metropolitan area of Barranquilla, where he has identified five “among many” problems that must be addressed by Congress.
“There are a number of problems that overwhelm the Atlantic people, but we have detected five: one is the quality of public services, transport mobility with the Transmetro crisis and inter-municipal transport, the other issue is unemployment, hunger and lastly, insecurity”, he pointed out.
(You may be interested in: This is how the campaigns for peace seats in the Caribbean move)
Likewise, he lamented “the impasse with justice” of Jesús Santrich, for which the ’empty chair’ was decreed for this seat.
“The Atlantic could not enjoy the management in these four years of this seat. Today we are thinking that, although time does not recover, we have the mission of positioning ourselves as that alternative seat that the common people of the department can enjoy, with an agile, effective and committed management to manage to rescue the right that corresponds to the Atlantic”, closed the applicant.
Deivis Lopez Ortega
Correspondent of EL TIEMPO Barranquilla
On twitter: @dejholopez
Write me at deilop@eltiempo.com
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New complaints were learned about situations of insecurity that candidates for the Congress of the republic in the department of Magdalena.
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This time, Claudia Vázquez, a candidate for a peace seat, assured that as an applicant it has been impossible for her to promote her name in the upper parts of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, due to the presence of armed groups.
He found some armed men on a motorcycle on the trail that leads to the corregimiento and they prevented him from entering
According to Vázquez, in this territory he is only allowed to enter Rodrigo ‘Yoyo’ Tovar Vélez, son of alias ‘Jorge 40’, who through alleged intimidation is pressuring the population to vote for his proposal.
“My running mate Daimer Dangond was going to the village of Doña María, in the upper part of the Sierra, and found some armed men on a motorcycle on the trail that leads to the village and they prevented him from entering,” Vázquez said.
This situation was reported to the authoritieswho did not give him the relevance he demanded, according to what he said, because they did not have enough evidence.
However, the issue became more relevant after another politician, also in the same area, announced a similar fact.
In this case, the armed men intercepted him and they disarmed their scheme of security. Subsequently, they were forced to withdraw from the territory.
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Authorities are investigating both cases.
Based on both situations, an investigation was initiated into what is happening in specific points of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.
This testimony reinforces the version of the legal adviser of the government of Magdalena, José Humberto Torres, who warned that in that department there are armed groups that accompany the application of Jorge Rodrigo Tovar, son of former paramilitary leader Rodrigo Tovar Pupo, alias ‘Jorge 40’.
“In Magdalena, the GAO (Organized Armed Groups), heirs to paramilitarism, are forcing voters to vote for alias Yoyo, son of paramilitary chief Jorge 40; Everything indicates that the heirs of the parapolitics will also return to Congress,” the departmental official warned at the time.
Roger Urieles
For THE WEATHER Santa Marta
@rogeruv
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Some of the campaigns that aim to fight for culture and the defense of animals.
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The Comunes party denounced the murder of Luis Elver Caicedo, UNP bodyguard and member of the security scheme of the candidate for the House of Representatives, Jair Torres.
The crime occurred on the night of this Thursday, February 24, in Tuluá, during a shooting.
The community assures that everything would be an attack against the candidate for Congress, a version that was later discarded by the Valle Police.
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“With pain, rage and indignation from the Comunes party we denounce the attack that comrade Jair Torres, candidate for the House of Representatives for the Valley, was subjected to,” said Luis Alberto Albán Urbano, political adviser of the Comunes party.
He added: “Fortunately the companion was unharmed, but in this incident the bodyguard Luis Caicedo Caicedo was killed. We denounce before the world the Colombian State and the government of President Iván Duque for their inability to guarantee the lives of Colombian citizens, in particular the members of our Comunes party.”
Meanwhile, Colonel Nelson Dabey Parrado Mora, commander of the Valle Police, explained that the events occurred at 8 p.m. in the Santa Cruz neighborhood of Tuluá, when the three escorts were outside a residence in which the candidate was at a private event.
“The victim was approached by five people who were on three motorcycles, who hit him with a firearm and later stole his endowment weapon,” adds the uniformed officer.
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Faced with the complaint that this fact would be part of an attack against the candidate, the uniformed officer stated: “The protégé was never at risk according to the analysis, since this person was inside the residence. The hypotheses suggest that the fact would be related to the theft of the escort’s endowment weapon.
“In an articulated manner with the Attorney General’s Office, a specialized team was available to capture and prosecute those responsible for this act,” he concluded.
CALI
Moments of tension and discussion were experienced during a debate of candidates for Congress organized by the Universidad San Buenaventura.
The candidate of the Radical Change party, Juanita Catañoverbally confronted students, including other candidates.
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The event was proceeding normally, but when the issue of the national strike was brought up, the discussions began.
Former deputy Cataño ignited the spirits when she described the strike as “a guerrilla takeover.”
“In the social outbreak as you call the guerrilla takeover, alias 19 gave orders from prison to damage, burn and destroy not only the infrastructure of Mio and the Police, but many other things that affect the Colombian people. Yes, even if they prick their conscience, it was a guerrilla takeover that the country suffered”, said the candidate.
Immediately, some of those attending the event complained about her words and the candidate immediately attacked: “Respect because what happened in Colombia was a guerrilla takeover, even if you don’t like it… with bandits and political accomplices.”
(Also read: The controversies of leaders of the Democratic Center for security in Cali).
Despite the moderator’s intervention, tempers heated up even more, Cataño challenged the students to try to get her out of the auditorium.
At the moment of tension, the candidate Tejada also intervened, whom he described as a “bandit.” Given this situation, the candidate expressed his intention to withdraw, but after mediation by the moderator, the event continued.
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CALI
Moments of tension and discussion were experienced during a debate of candidates for Congress organized by the Universidad San Buenaventura.
The candidate of the Cambio Radical party, Juanita Cataño, verbally clashed with students, including other candidates.
(You may be interested in: Cali takes urgent measures for the recruitment of minors)
The event was proceeding normally, but when the issue of the national strike was brought up, the discussions began.
Former deputy Cataño ignited the spirits when she described the strike as “a guerrilla takeover.”
“In the social outbreak as you call the guerrilla takeover, alias 19 gave orders from prison to damage, burn and destroy not only the infrastructure of Mio and the Police, but many other things that affect the Colombian people. Yes, even if they prick their conscience, it was a guerrilla takeover that the country suffered”, said the candidate.
Immediately, some of those attending the event complained about her words and the candidate immediately attacked: “Respect because what happened in Colombia was a guerrilla takeover, even if you don’t like it… with bandits and political accomplices.”
(Also read: The controversies of leaders of the Democratic Center for security in Cali).
Despite the moderator’s intervention, tempers heated up even more, Cataño challenged the students to try to get her out of the auditorium.
At the moment of tension, candidate Tejada also intervened, describing him as a “bandit.” Faced with this situation, the candidate expressed his intention to withdraw, but after mediation by the moderator everything continued as normal.
This discussion on social networks unleashed a large number of comments that support and criticize the Radical Change candidate.
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CALI
With the same spirit that the athletes Jackeline Rentería and Érica Castaño managed to achieve heroic medals with which they played the national anthem in different sports venues in Colombia and other countries, they will seek to reach Congress.
For both, this new challenge is as complex as the competitions themselves, but they are confident of achieving one of the seats in the elections on March 13.
(You may be interested in: The controversies of leaders of the Democratic Center for security in Cali)
The inequalities and difficulties that many Colombians have in their day-to-day lives, but especially in sports, have not been unrelated to former wrestler Rentería, who since she was little, in the Lleras Camargo neighborhood (Siloé), was already fighting her first life battles.
Jackeline Renteria
Despite the obstacles, he managed to get ahead and bring joy to the country. Despite the challenges he faced, he believes that from politics can improve the conditions of many athletes so that they can bring more happiness than she gave to Colombia.
This is detailed in his campaign proposals, among which he seeks a new, more inclusive Sports Law.
(Also read: How would the seats for the House of Representatives for the Valley look?)
“One of the main flags that I have in my campaign is the transformation of the Sports Law into a law that goes hand in hand with the needs of sports and the community”, details the Olympic medalist.
Other of his proposals focus on the creation of the School Sports Federation aimed at promoting sports from early childhood. This implies “having a teacher qualified in Physical Education at all educational levels”.
Erica Castaño, from tragedy to sporting glory
Double silver medalist at the World Paraathletics Championships in London 2017. Fourth place and Paralympic diploma at Rio 2016 and silver and bronze medalist at the Toronto 2015 Parapan American Games, are part of the long list of achievements and sports titles that the athlete has achieved Erica Castaño in her career.
Behind these successes there was also the drama of being confined to a wheelchair, but the joy of overcoming obstacles and achieving triumphs for the country.
He remembers that his life changed on December 8, 2008 when in confusing events he was shot that caused a spinal cord injury at the T12 level that compromised his spine and prevented him from walking again.
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His spirit and strong character allowed him to overcome adversity and consecrate himself in the javelin and weight throwing at a national and international level.
Erica Castaño is also a double silver medalist at the World Paraathletics Championships in London 2017.
Now Castaño, who is also a lawyer specializing in Criminal Procedural Law and in Sports Direction and Management, seeks to reach the Chamber with the Radical Change party to continue fighting for sports and the region.
Among her proposals, the former athlete seeks the creation of a university sports league, as well as the tax treatment of incentives received by athletes as financial support.
He also wants to work for the chair of financial intelligence, access to sports as a tool for resocialization and redemption of sentence for the population deprived of liberty. For this he seeks to create the Prison Sports League.
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CALI
President Joe Biden is ordering the release of Trump White House visitor logs to the House committee investigating the riot of Jan. 6, 2021, once more rejecting former President Donald Trump’s claims of executive privilege.
The committee has sought a trove of data from the National Archives, including presidential records that Trump had fought to keep private. The records being released to Congress are visitor logs showing appointment information for individuals who were allowed to enter the White House on the the day of the insurrection.
In a letter sent Monday to the National Archives, White House counsel Dana Remus said Biden had considered Trump’s claim that because he was president at the time of the attack on the U.S. Capitol, the records should remain private, but decided that it was “not in the best interest of the United States” to do so.
She also noted that as a matter of policy, the Biden administration “voluntarily discloses such visitor logs on a monthly basis,” as did the Obama administration, and that the majority of the entries over which Trump asserted the claim would be publicly released under the current policy.
A Trump spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision.
The Presidential Records Act mandates that records made by a sitting president and his staff be preserved in the National Archives, and an outgoing president is responsible for turning over documents to the agency when leaving office. Trump tried but failed to withhold White House documents from the House committee in a dispute that was decided by the Supreme Court.
Biden has already made clear that he is not invoking executive privilege concerning the congressional investigation unless he absolutely must. Biden has waived that privilege for much other information requested by the committee, which is going through the material and obtaining documents and testimony from witnesses, including some uncooperative ones.
The committee is focused on Trump’s actions from Jan. 6, when he waited hours to tell his supporters to stop the violence and leave the Capitol. Investigators are also interested in the organization and financing of a Washington rally the morning of the riot, when Trump told supporters to “fight like hell.” Among the unanswered questions is how close organizers of the rally coordinated with White House officials.
Investigators also are seeking communications between the National Archives and Trump’s aides about 15 boxes of records that the agency recovered from Trump at his Florida resort and are trying to learn what they contained.
Meanwhile, White House call logs obtained so far by the House committee do not list calls made by Trump as he watched the violence unfold on television on Jan. 6, nor do they list calls made directly to the president.
That lack of information about Trump’s personal calls is a particular challenge as the investigators work to discern what happened what the then-president was doing in the White House as supporters violently beat police, broke into the Capitol and interrupted the congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory.
There are several possible explanations for omissions in the records, which do not reflect conversations that Trump had on Jan. 6 with multiple Republican lawmakers, for example. Trump was known to use a personal cell phone or he could have had a phone passed to him by an aide. The committee is also continuing to receive records from the National Archives and other sources, which could produce additional information.
With the same spirit that the athletes Jackeline Rentería and Érica Castaño managed to achieve heroic medals with which they played the national anthem in different sports venues in Colombia and other countries, they will seek to reach Congress.
For both, this new challenge is as complex as the competitions themselves, but they are confident of achieving one of the seats in the elections on March 13.
(You may be interested in: The controversies of leaders of the Democratic Center for security in Cali)
The inequalities and difficulties that many Colombians have in their day-to-day lives, but especially in sports, have not been unrelated to former wrestler Rentería, who since she was little, in the Lleras Camargo neighborhood (Siloé), was already fighting her first life battles.
Jackeline Renteria
Despite the obstacles, he managed to get ahead and bring joy to the country. Despite the challenges he faced, he believes that from politics can improve the conditions of many athletes so that they can bring more happiness than she gave to Colombia.
This is detailed in his campaign proposals, among which he seeks a new, more inclusive Sports Law.
(Also read: How would the seats for the House of Representatives for the Valley look?)
“One of the main flags that I have in my campaign is the transformation of the Sports Law into a law that goes hand in hand with the needs of sports and the community”, details the Olympic medalist.
Other of his proposals focus on the creation of the School Sports Federation aimed at promoting sports from early childhood. This implies “having a teacher qualified in Physical Education at all educational levels”.
Erica Castaño, from tragedy to sporting glory
Double silver medalist at the World Paraathletics Championships in London 2017. Fourth place and Paralympic diploma at Rio 2016 and silver and bronze medalist at the Toronto 2015 Parapan American Games, are part of the long list of achievements and sports titles that the athlete has achieved Erica Castaño in her career.
Behind these successes there was also the drama of being confined to a wheelchair, but the joy of overcoming obstacles and achieving triumphs for the country.
He remembers that his life changed on December 8, 2008 when in confusing events he was shot that caused a spinal cord injury at the T12 level that compromised his spine and prevented him from walking again.
(Also: Cali: citizens have not collected more than 30,000 processed IDs)
His spirit and strong character allowed him to overcome adversity and consecrate himself in the javelin and weight throwing at a national and international level.
Erica Castaño is also a double silver medalist at the World Paraathletics Championships in London 2017.
Now Castaño, who is also a lawyer specializing in Criminal Procedural Law and in Sports Direction and Management, seeks to reach the Chamber with the Radical Change party to continue fighting for sports and the region.
Among her proposals, the former athlete seeks the creation of a university sports league, as well as the tax treatment of incentives received by athletes as financial support.
He also wants to work for the chair of financial intelligence, access to sports as a tool for resocialization and redemption of sentence for the population deprived of liberty. For this he seeks to create the Prison Sports League.
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CALI
America’s elite colleges are facing growing calls to end the decades-old tradition of giving an admissions boost to the children of alumni — a practice that critics say is rooted in racism and bestows an unfair advantage to students who need it least.
Fueled by the national reckoning with racial injustice, opponents say they are gaining momentum in the battle over the contentious policy of legacy preferences.
Ivy League students are pressing administrators to abandon the policy. Yale’s student government took a stance against the practice in November. A recent vote of Harvard students found that 60% oppose it. Hundreds of students and alumni across 30 colleges have promised to withhold financial donations over the issue.
Civil rights groups are increasingly adding their support, including the American Civil Liberties Union, which is tackling legacy preferences as part of a campaign against systematic racism.
And a bill in Congress aims to eliminate the practice.
The proposal from Democrats would outlaw preferences for children of alumni or donors at colleges that receive federal money. It’s being pushed by the party’s progressive wing but has gained support from some conservative activists who want college admissions to be based on merit alone.
Legacy preferences give an extra boost to predominantly white and wealthy legacy students, while “leaving out millions of Black and brown kids,” said Representative Jamaal Bowman, a Democrat from New York, a sponsor.
“There has been a shift in the consciousness of the country around issues of inequity and inequality,” Bowman said in an interview. “There’s a real yearning to right the wrongs of our past.”
In the heavily guarded world of college admissions, it’s hard to know exactly how many legacy students get a nudge. But at some of the most selective colleges, students with family ties make up 10% to 20% of the latest incoming class, according to data released by colleges in response to an Associated Press request.
On many campuses, the opposition is being led by students of color and those who are the first in their families to attend college. They say legacy status is one more advantage for students who are already more likely to have access to tutoring, test prep and other help applying to college.
Zoe Fuad, a junior at Brown University, said it reinforces a “cycle of inequity” that was designed to serve wealthy white men.
“By perpetually giving advantages to their descendants, we’re ensuring that those who were systemically favored continue to be favored,” said Fuad, 20, who leads a student group that’s challenging the practice at Brown.
Many prestigious colleges defend legacy admissions, saying it helps build an alumni community and encourages donations. Officials at Harvard and other schools argue that legacy status is just one of many factors considered in admissions, along with grades, test scores and pursuits outside school. At most, they say, it can provide a slight tip in a student’s favor.
Still, two colleges have ended the practice recently, giving opponents hope that others will follow.
Amherst College in Massachusetts dropped the policy in October, saying it “inadvertently limits educational opportunity.” Johns Hopkins University announced in 2020 that it had phased out legacy preferences. Since then, the school has drawn growing numbers of Black and Hispanic students, along with those from low-income families.
The pushback against legacy preferences is advancing amid a broader debate over fairness in college admissions.
Last month the Supreme Court agreed to review whether colleges can consider applicants’ race as a way to expand diversity. The court will take up lawsuits alleging that Harvard University and the University of North Carolina discriminate against Asian American applicants in favor of Black and Hispanic students.
In a rare moment of bipartisan unity, the conservative strategist behind those suits voiced support for the Democrats’ bill against legacy benefits. In a statement, Edward Blum said too many colleges “lower the admissions bar for the children of their alumni.”
Senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, a sponsor of the bill, said it aims to level the playing field for minority students and those from working-class families.
“More and more of the good-paying jobs in America require a college education,” he said. “It’s important that ordinary students from regular backgrounds have a fair chance to go to these institutions.”
Most schools are not required to disclose how many legacy students they enroll and many keep it private. Among the nation’s 30 most selective colleges, only eight provided basic data on the subject in response to an AP request.
At those colleges, the share of legacy students in this year’s freshman class averaged 12%. The lowest share was at Rice University in Houston, where 4% of this year’s first-year class had legacy status. The University of Notre Dame said legacy students have averaged 23% of the student body over the past decade.
Legacy students outnumbered Black students in freshman classes at four schools: Notre Dame, Cornell, Dartmouth and the University of Southern California. At Brown, the share of legacy and Black students was about even.
Harvard refused to disclose details, but data made public during its trial over affirmative action showed that family ties carry outsize weight. From 2014 to 2019, the acceptance rate for legacy applicants was 34%, compared with 6% for applicants without legacy status, according to an analysis by the suit’s plaintiffs.
Critics of the practice say it contributes to persistently low numbers of Black students at top colleges. During the racial reckoning following the killing of George Floyd by police, hundreds of students at Georgetown University signed a letter calling for an end to legacy preference, saying it “relegates qualified Black students to second-tier status.”
Historians have traced legacy preference to the 1920s as elite colleges sought to limit the number of Jewish students. It continued for decades at a time when the majority of college students in the U.S. were white men.
At many schools with legacy preferences, Black students were not admitted until the 1960s, said Michael Dannenberg, a vice president at the Education Reform Now think tank.
“White applicants have between eight and 16 generations of ancestors on which to establish an alumni connection,” said Dannenberg, who has opposed the practice since he was an aide to Sen. Ted Kennedy, the late Massachusetts Democrat, two decades ago. “For the vast majority of Black and Latino applicants, there’s maybe one or two generations.”
On college campuses, student activists say they continue to face resistance from school leaders who defend the policy. But at a time of rising populism in the United States, colleges are unlikely to find allies in Congress and other halls of power, said Richard Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, a progressive think tank in Washington.
Especially in the wake of the Varsity Blues admissions scandal, he said, it’s becoming more difficult for colleges to defend policies that benefit the wealthy.
“They are clearly vulnerable on this issue,” he said.
In the wake of that scandal, Colorado became the first state in the nation to outlaw legacy preferences at public colleges. California lawmakers required colleges to disclose how many legacy students get accepted.
Among campus activists, there’s a driving desire to change the perception that top colleges are ivory towers reserved for the wealthy. When Viet Andy Nguyen applied to Brown University as a low-income, first-generation student, he knew he was competing against wealthier students with alumni connections. It made him question whether Brown was really a place for people like him.
After graduating from Brown in 2017, he launched the nonprofit EdMobilizer with the goal of expanding access to college and ending legacy preferences. He has orchestrated a donation boycott at schools across the U.S., and he’s helping students fight the practice on scores of campuses.
It isn’t lost on him that he’s challenging a policy that could benefit his future children. He has faced resistance from some students of color who wonder why he wants to end it now, when campuses are more racially diverse than ever. But to him, the goal is to open doors for students who have been excluded, not to create “an elite lineage of people of color.”
“My kids will be fine,” he said. “They don’t need an additional bump just for being my offspring.”
Legislation has advanced in the U.S. House of Representatives to impose sanctions on Ethiopians committing human rights abuses, blocking food aid delivery, or taking other actions that are worsening the country’s 15-month crisis. It would also sanction those providing training, weapons, or financial support to those involved in the conflict.
The proposed Ethiopian Stabilization, Peace and Democracy Act was voted out of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday. It can now be voted on by the full U.S. House. A similar bill is being considered in the Senate.
If enacted, the bill would sanction individuals as well as suspend U.S. security and financial assistance to the Ethiopian government until certain human rights conditions are met. It would also require the U.S. to oppose loans by international agencies such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Congressman Tom Malinowski, a Democrat from New Jersey who co-sponsored the bill, said urgent action is needed.
“The war in Ethiopia has created one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, and all the combatants, along with their foreign backers, are responsible for horrific abuses of basic human rights,” he said.
“Today, Congress is coming together to say that the conflict must end, and to hold accountable all those responsible for perpetuating it.”
The bill follows September sanctions and the November decision to suspend Ethiopia from the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which allows African countries’ exports duty-free access to the U.S. market.
One of the issues of ongoing concern to Congress is also the mass detention of Tigrayan civilians in several cities across Ethiopia, including the capital, Addis Ababa. Rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, say ethnic Tigrayans have been targeted since the start of the conflict in November 2020, citing reports of forced disappearances and arbitrary arrests among other human rights violations.
“The mass detention of Tigrayan civilians in unlivable conditions is a human rights violation so outrageous that it demands a forceful U.S. response,” tweeted Congressman Brad Sherman of California, calling for action on what he called an atrocity.
The bill calls on the State Department to determine whether war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide has been perpetrated by any party to the conflict. It also asks State to report on the role of foreign governments including those of China, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey in fueling the conflict.
The bill has drawn condemnation from the Ethiopian government and supporters in the global diaspora.
The American-Ethiopian Public Affairs Committee, a nonprofit diaspora organization that has supported the government during this conflict put the blame squarely on the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front, which the government has designated a terrorist group, and armed forces in Tigray.
“This bill ignores the millions in Amhara and Afar … who were victims of the TPLF’s attacks,” the AEPAC said in a tweet.
The group further criticized the impact it would have on ordinary Ethiopians. “It will do nothing to repair the lives of those who have been left without loved ones or who have suffered serious injuries.”
Others in the Tigrayan diaspora have, however, supported the bill and previous U.S. sanctions on Ethiopian and Eritrean officials, including Omna Tigray, a nonprofit group consisting of Tigrayans residing in the diaspora who see the move as a way to protect the lives of civilians caught in the conflict.
Other analysts point to the effectiveness of earlier sanctions. Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said that “the praiseworthy design of the sanctions regime avoids typical pitfalls.” She said that implemented sanctions are meant to give “legal exceptions for humanitarian relief delivery.”
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has emphasized the goal of targeted sanctions is to ensure perpetrators are held to account.
“These sanctions authorities are not directed at the people of Ethiopia or Eritrea,” a White House official said in September during a call with reporters. “The new sanctions program is deliberately calibrated to mitigate any undue harm to those already suffering from this conflict.”
The United Nations has said thousands have been displaced by conflict in the country, and more than 6,000 Ethiopians, mostly from the Tigray region, are seeking refuge in neighboring Sudan. The U.N. estimates that about 9.4 million people in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray, Amhara, and Afar regions are in dire need of humanitarian assistance.
On the eve of a new election for the Congress of the Republic, the streets of Medellin they became scenarios where the different candidates not only tour the city, but also install billboards, parades and banners on public roads.
However, this last strategy is being affected by acts of vandalism against such advertising.
This has been denounced by two candidates for the House of Representatives from Antioquia, who indicated that in recent days their respective fences were damaged.
Last Friday, Jorge Gómez and Víctor Correa denounced that the fence they had located in the north of Medellín near the headquarters of the Prosecutor’s Office was attacked.
“To knife! They attacked today in Medellin the fence that we have with Jorge Enrique Robledo and Víctor Correa. It is unacceptable that these attacks continue to be used to controvert us. We ask the national and local government for democratic guarantees to be able to participate on an equal footing,” denounced Gómez, who aspires to the Senate.
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To knife!! attacked today in Medellin the fence that we have with @JERobledo Y @VictorJCorreaV. It is unacceptable that these attacks continue to be used to controvert us. We ask the national and local government for democratic guarantees to be able to participate on an equal footing. pic.twitter.com/lBKed24f3t
– Jorge Gómez Gallego (@JorgeGomezG_) February 4, 2022
For his part, Correa, head of the House list for the Centro Esperanza coalition, indicated that about 10 days ago this same fence had already been vandalized.
“Initially they did great damage and damaged the aluminum panels, using tools and terrible violence. And this time it was with a knife,” said the candidate.
On the other hand, Congressman Juan Espinal, who seeks to repeat a seat in a formula with Senator Paola Holguín, denounced that a fence they have installed in the city has been damaged seven times.
The fence, which has the faces of the candidates and a large message that says “Let’s defend Medellín from Quintero,” was vandalized in the photos of Espinal and Holguín.
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“Serious, this is how our electoral propaganda dawns in Medellín, this fence has been vandalized seven times, in our city there are no guarantees”, denounced the Representative.
It should be remembered that in recent days, while walking the streets of Medellín, the two congressmen were victims of an attempted robbery, which was foiled by the escorts.
Esteban Restrepo, Secretary of Government, recalled that in the Emergency line 123 cases of vandalism to electoral political propaganda can be reported.
“We reject any type of vandalization of the electoral propaganda of the candidates for Congress. We have all the complaint channels open for information that leads us to the capture of those who commit these crimes,” the official trilled.
MEDELLIN
With President Joe Biden’s broader domestic agenda stymied in the Senate, Democratic leaders in Congress have begun looking for legislative victories elsewhere, with a new focus on improving the U.S. ability to compete with China.
Democrats in the House of Representatives are attempting to come to agreement on legislation that would provide large financial subsidies to the semiconductor industry as well as generous research and development grants to support supply chain resilience, buoy domestic manufacturing operations and underwrite new scientific research.
The effort in the House follows a push in the Senate last year, which resulted in bipartisan passage of the United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021. That bill proposed $52 billion in assistance to the semiconductor industry as well as nearly $200 billion more on research and development projects meant to bolster U.S. competitiveness.
The House is likely to pass its own version of the legislation, meaning the two chambers would have to come to an agreement on final language before a bill could go to the White House to be signed into law. It remains unclear whether an eventual House bill would garner any Republican support in that chamber, or whether compromise language would continue to attract the Republican support that helped the Senate’s original bill come to the floor for a vote.
But in a statement this week, the president made it clear that he would like to see the legislation on his desk.
Biden praised the “transformational investments” that the legislation would make. With the proposed legislation, he said, “We have an opportunity to show China and the rest of the world that the 21st century will be the American century – forged by the ingenuity and hard work of our innovators, workers, and businesses.”
Countering Chinese subsidies
In Congress, even among conservative lawmakers who generally shy away from government intervention in the economy, there is recognition of a need to balance the scales for U.S. companies that frequently find themselves in competition with Chinese firms that receive subsidies and other preferences from the government in Beijing.
When the Senate passed its version of the bill in June, Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said, “This type of targeted investment in a critical industry was unthinkable just a couple years ago, but the need for smart industrial policy is now widely accepted.”
That comes as a surprise to many observers of U.S. policymaking.
“There is somewhat of an ambivalence, or confusion, in D.C. where, on the one hand, people want to say that China’s industrial policies are both very unfair, and also very important in explaining China’s competitive success,” Gerard DiPippo, a senior fellow in the Economics Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told VOA. “But then, they also seem reluctant to actually engage in those policies because they think those policies are actually very distortionary and ineffective. So, it sort of cuts both ways.”
Semiconductors in focus
Despite strong economic growth in the U.S. over the past year, a persistent shortage of semiconductors has caused some sectors of the economy – the automobile industry in particular – to lag behind. Supply chain disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic have been difficult to resolve, leading many members of Congress to propose funding to “re-shore” domestic production of semiconductors.
Both the Senate bill and the version being considered by the House of Representatives would funnel $52 billion in grants and subsidies to the industry.
However, China is not a major competitor of the United States when it comes to semiconductors. While China does make some semiconductors, the largest manufacturer in the world is TSMC, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. in Taiwan.
‘Decoupling’ seen as troubling
Some American companies that do business with China are concerned about the long-term efforts of both countries to achieve economic independence from each other.
“China is upset with efforts to increase export restrictions on U.S. goods, block Chinese companies from accessing certain U.S. goods, and restrict some direct investments in China,” Doug Barry, a senior director with the U.S.-China Business Council, told VOA in an email exchange.
“They worry about incentives to relocate production of some critical goods back to the U.S. At the same time, China is working to reduce dependence on certain goods like advanced semiconductors, while slow-walking promised market access reform and opening,” Barry said.
“Our members worry that these efforts signal mutual economic decoupling that’s not in the long-term interest of either country,” he said. “Both governments need to engage in direct talks to better manage differences, adhere to WTO principles, and ensure that Phase One Agreement commitments are fully met.”
Government interference ‘misguided’
Ryan Young, a senior fellow with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told VOA that efforts by Congress to mimic China by trying to manipulate the U.S. economy are “misguided” at best, and at worst destructive.
“This falls into what I think of as the ‘But they do it, too,’ argument,” Young said. While it is indisputable that the Chinese government creates all sorts of advantages for certain sectors within its economy, he said, it doesn’t follow that the answer is for the U.S. to do the same.
Despite government support, large Chinese tech firms are burdened with substantial debt, operational inefficiencies and political meddling, he said.
Further, Young noted that the semiconductor industry, which the legislative efforts target above all else, has already taken steps to bring some of its production into U.S. territory, with chip giant Intel expanding a $50 billion complex of chip manufacturing facilities in Arizona.
