Tribute to Jorge Oñate in his land - Other Cities - Colombia

“The fact that all the people love me is a pleasure that life gives me, that many would like. The one that all my friends are filled with infinite tenderness, with my songs”.

The chorus of the song ‘El Cariño de mi Pueblo’, by the composer Gustavo Gutierrez, It is part of the musical compendium performed by the emblematic Vallenato music singer, Jorge Onate.

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Along with this bouquet of songs, many composers, such as Aurelio ‘Yeyo’ Núñez, Rosendo Romero, Efraín Calderón, found in the costumbrista style of ‘The Goldfinch of America‘, one of the best voices, to interpret the poetry of vallenato folklore.

“Despite being an empirical singer, I found in Jorge Oñate a vocal technique that seemed to have come from a European conservatory. He handled his tessitura with an impressive musical solvency. In addition, the authentic feeling to interpret the romantic and folkloric vallenato was interesting in interpreters like him”, highlighted Rosendo Romero, Vallenato composer.

Today, when the first anniversary of the death of Jorge Oñate is commemorated, his work remains more relevant than ever in all corners of the country and in many latitudes abroad.

This is the stamp that was launched in tribute to Jorge Oñate.

The history of his musical journey will be exalted in the conversation ‘Juglares of yesterday, today and always’, which took place this Monday morning at the Roble Room in La Paz (Cesar), the artist’s homeland.

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“He was the pioneer of the vallenato singers. In addition, it is the largest cultural heritage that our municipality has, because its music transcended borders. During this event we will highlight his discography, his contribution to this rich folklore”, he explained. José Enrique Ferias Manjarrez, Secretary of Culture of La Paz.

Recital with piano and guitar

The verses of classic vallenatos such as ‘The Strongest’, ‘I did not understand your Love’, ‘Night without Luceros’, ‘Paisaje de Sol’, ‘Nobody Consuelas Me’, ‘For Seeing You Again’, Nightingale of my Valley’ , ‘My poetry was born’, ‘Paisaje de sol’, which were performed by the singer, will be part of the recital with piano and guitars, scheduled by the government of Cesar.

His legacy will be jealously guarded at the Vallenata Music Cultural Center, a project underway in Valledupar

“It is a way to honor the life and work of one of the most outstanding artists of Vallenato folklore. His legacy will be jealously guarded in the Vallenato Music Cultural Centera project underway in Valledupar, conceived to safeguard the origin and essence of this folkloric expression and where the history and evolution of our fertile musical wealth will rest for generations”, stressed Andrés Meza, Governor (E).

The event will start at 6:00 PM, it will take place in Plaza Olaya Herrera, in this town.

The composers will be present, Aurelio ‘Yeyo’ Núñez, José Alfonso ‘Chiche’ Maestre, Rosendo ‘Chendo’ Romero, Ivo Díaz and Fabián Corrales, who expressed their desire to honor the late performer.

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“Jorge took in his heart the song ´Por la Puerta Grande’, a composition that we made between the two of us, pending recording. He talks about the precise moment of retiring from the music scene. It hurts a lot because he did not expect the difficult moment that finally extinguished his life, “he stressed. Aurelio ‘Yeyo’ Núñez, vallenato composerfor whom Oñate recorded several songs.

the ceremonial acts

A ceremonial act is planned in the cemetery of that municipality, where a floral offering will be placed on the tomb of the outstanding vocalist. A religious service will be held afterwards. Olaya Herrera square.

As special guests, in addition to Jorge Oñate’s wife, children and relatives, there will be the accordion players who were part of his musical history: Emilio Oviedo, Miguel López, Emiliano Zuleta Díaz, Raúl ‘Chiche’ Martínez, Álvaro López, Julián Rojas, Gonzalo Arturo ‘Cocha’ Molina, Fernando Rangel, Cristian Camilo Peña and Javier Matta.

“We miss him a lot, but we know he is in a better place. I will dedicate the unpublished song ‘Your Legacy is still alive’ to him, the lyrics are allusive to what he represents for all of us”, specified the vallenato singer, Jorge Antonio Oñate Dangond, one of the interpreter’s sons.

The invitation is open to the followers of ‘El Jilguero de América’, who wrote his story in traditional vallenato music with golden letters.

“Jorge received 25 Gold Discs, 7 Platinum Discs, 6 Double Platinum, 9 Congos de Oro and a Latin Grammy for Musical Excellence, awarded in 2010 by the Latin Recording Academy. Everyone will be able to remember his legacy this afternoon in his homeland,” Meza stressed.

Ludys Ovalle Jacome
Special for Weather
Valledupar

Antioquia: Government acquired land for reincorporated projects - Medellín - Colombia

“With the stubbornness of those of us who remain, it can be achieved much easier”, with this phrase Jamies Valle Macías refers to the coffee production project that he will be part of in Ituango.

This, after the National Government formally acquired the property, already close to two years after the old ETCR San Lucía was transferredfrom Ituango, to the municipality of Mutatá.

He is part of the 47 ex-combatants and their families who advance their reincorporation process in Ituango and of those who, against threats to their safety, made the decision to remain in this municipality in northern Antioquia.

Valle indicated that right now, since the space is a reality, they hope to continue advancing in carrying out their project.

“We look at this site here in the village of El Río, in the Las Mercedes farm and we are very happy to have been able to get here and we hope to continue advancing to be able to make our project a reality, what we want,” said Valle.

It refers to the estate of the Las Mercedes hacienda, of which the National Government acquired the 50 hectares for the consolidation of the productive projects of the 47 ex-combatants and their families.

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We are very happy to have been able to get here and we hope to continue advancing to make our project a reality.

Andrés Felipe Stapper Segrera, director of the Agency for Reincorporation and Normalization (ARN) explained that 30 hectares of this property will be used for planting and renewing coffee plantations, 10 more for planting bananas and the remaining 10 will be used for the construction of a housing project.

On this last point, he clarified that the houses will be for 12 ex-combatants and their families who were part of the former ETCR Santa Lucía who decided to stay and not be part of the concerted transfer process to the rural area of ​​Mutatá advanced in July 2020.

This housing project will be built with resources from the Government of Antioquia.

Precisely, this was one of the issues that Governor Aníbal Gaviria exposed on February 9, during his agenda in Bogotá, before Carlos Ruiz Massieu, UN Representative and Head of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia.

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“In the Ituango ETCR, now in the transfer of 12 families of ex-combatants to a farm in Ituango, they will not only have the houses but also the productive projects, with the support of the Mayor’s Office, the Government and the ARN, so we will continue working in conjunction with the United Nations from all fronts,” said Gaviria.

In his turn, Ruiz Massieu stated that one of the concerns of the UN Mission was also that after the transfer, efforts will be made to continue accompanying those who remained in that areaas well as the communities that live in Ituango.

Through @AgenciaTierras The national government acquired 50 hectares of the Las Mercedes estate, in #Ituangofor the consolidation of the productive projects of the 47 ex-combatants and their families who today carry out their reincorporation process in this municipality. pic.twitter.com/mIKfZg6TvR

– ARN Colombia (@ARNColombia) February 15, 2022

“The governor was telling me about the efforts being made to support the ex-combatants who stayed in Ituango, for us it is a concern and the work they are doing seems very important to us,” added Ruiz Massieu.

And it is that in June 2020, to the concern for their safety was added that of how to be able to execute the productive projects that they had been carrying out.

“For us it is a very important achievement, since when the people went to Mutatá, we were left without knowing what was going to happen. So, what we did was start to ask, to manage and ask the people who have more knowledge, how to do it, how are we going to do it”, the ex-combatant recalled at his turn.

A special coffee clustering project will be carried out at the Las Mercedes farm, which will also benefit 33 ex-combatants located in other municipalities and in the city of Medellin.

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They will produce, transform and market the grain produced on the farm under their own brand.

The ARN reported that this project will have its technical and financial support, in alliance with the National Federation of Coffee Growers, the Departmental Committee of Coffee Growers, the Government of Antioquia, the Antioquia Secretariat of Agriculture and the Seine.

In Anori they acquired two other properties

Overall, the National Government acquired 100 hectares of extension between the Ituango property and two more that are located in the municipality of Anoríso this impacts 160 people in the reincorporation process.

For now, it is known that the deeds for the La Manga and La Rinconada properties were signed in Bogotá in the first week of February, in addition to the Ituango property, where the old ETCR La Plancha is expected to be relocated.

“In the La Manga and La Rinconada properties, which together add up to 52.34 hectares, we are waiting for the start of the pre-feasibility studies to determine the feasibility of building a definitive housing project, which will allow us to move the old ETCR La Plancha , also located in Anorí, and to benefit about 100 people in the process of reincorporation and their families”, explained Stapper.

We are waiting for the start of the pre-feasibility studies to determine the feasibility of building a housing project

While the studies are being carried out, productive agricultural units will be developed on these two properties.

The reason for this is that being located just 15 minutes from the urban area of ​​Anorí and 300 meters from the road that connects this municipality with Medellín, will improve the marketing of the products obtained.

Currently in Antioquia, 1,319 ex-combatants are advancing their reincorporation process.

Of these, 96 are in the municipality of Anorí and 72 of these live in the former ETCR La Plancha and 24 more in areas surrounding the municipality.

MELISSA ALVAREZ CORREA
Editor of THE TIME
kelcor@eltiempo.com

In a poor rural town they promise land titles in exchange for votes - Other Cities - Colombia

In the eye of the hurricane is the candidate for the Chamber for La Guajira, Juan Loreto Gómez Soto, after learning of alleged pressure from officials of the mayor of Uribia to invaders of a propertyto whom they would be promising land titles in exchange for votes.

The denunciations of the demands of the vote this March 13 in exchange for property deeds, also cover Senator Mauricio Trujillo, who aspires to repeat a seat, both represent the Conservative Party.

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They are the candidates that the team supports for the ‘Transformation of Uribia’, which brought the current president Bonifacio Henríquez to the mayor’s office.

Property was donated by the Ministry of
Defense to the municipality of Uribia

The complaints are related to the ‘Flor del Campo’ property, which until a few weeks ago was owned by the Ministry of Defense, but was ceded free of charge to the municipality through Resolution No. 0225 of January 25, 2022.

Said property is made up of some 366 hectares and according to what was indicated by the Municipal Planning Secretary, René Lindarte, It is inhabited by some 3,200 families: 14,000 people including older adults, adults, youth and children.

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The mayor’s office had made the request, through the official letters of February 23 and May 6, 2021, in order that the property be transferred to it, which since 1943 was declared vacant at the La Guajira Special Police Station and made available to the Army. , but it is no longer used and is not necessary for the development of its institutional mission.

Living conditions are deplorable there

The District’s purpose was to provide housing solutions for local and migrant families who have informally settled on the site for about eight years.

However, in the settlement the housing conditions are deplorable, most of them are built in mud and yotojoro, a material extracted from the cactus. It does not have public services since, due to lack of ownership, the municipality could not invest in the area. Of course, the area is full of posters of the two candidates.

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However, the municipality defends political propaganda in the midst of misery.

For the secretary, political advertising with posters is just normal, “we are in a campaign process where there are candidates making political proselytism in the country and then there must be people who are identifying with a candidate,” says the official.

He reproaches that they want to damage the work they have been doing with signs like these, so they will continue, “that is not what is going to stop us so that we can continue with that social work that we have outlined and that is going favor of the community. Our government has an expiration date and we cannot stop,” he said.

They denounce that individuals asked for
600 thousand pesos for deeds

Lindarte assures that the information they received was that they were being scammed, they were asking for 600 thousand pesos for the deeds, so the network of leaders was activated to keep people informed of how the process was going to be carried out.

“We received that complaint demanding money, not political proselytism,” said the Secretary of Planning.

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It clarifies that there is a process prior to the granting of the deeds, such as carrying out a soil study, a characterization process and promoting an urban development model, since eight neighborhoods would be created.

The candidate’s defense

The candidate for the House of Representative for La Guajira, Juan Loreto Gómez, who was on the run in Alta Guajira, was surprised by the complaint, since he had never visited the settlement, so he asked the competent authorities to do the relevant research.

Also, he invited citizens to denounce any irregular situation of any person or group offering gifts in exchange for votes since they do not agree with bad political practices.

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“Perhaps it is a story poorly told with particular political interests that generates this type of reaction and that I would also react in this way, but I want them to be clear that we do not do rigged practices,” said Gómez.

He also assured that he has more commitment to go to that community, “knowing that there are supporters there means that the proposal has echoed in the department, even in the popular sectors it has generated good acceptance,” said the candidate.

It should be noted that Juanlo aspires to occupy the seat currently held by his mother María Cristina ‘Tina’ Soto, who is being investigated by the investigation chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice.

Soto, was called for investigation for her alleged participation in a complex network of electoral corruption that would have been forged for her arrival in Congress in the 2018 elections.

The congresswoman is criminally investigated to answer for the crimes that accuse the voter of corruption, conspiracy to commit a crime, falsehood in public and private documents and procedural fraud.

reactions

The candidate for the Chamber for the Liberal Party, Jarlen Garrido Weber, asked Gómez to clarify the situation, because it is a very delicate accusation, which is not good for democracy, nor for the department of La Guajira, which is going through a difficult situation.

“We have had experiences in the past with the removal of former governors and there is an investigation in the Supreme Court of representative María Cristina Soto for precisely the same crime and we want the department to have enough clarity so that we are not involved in a new traffic scandal or of buying or exchanging votes for privileges,” Garrido said.

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This is a story that was portrayed for the first time by Caracol Radio’s 10AM program, who toured the area and revealed audios, photos and videos.

Eliana Mejia Ospino
Special for Weather
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Afghan Refugees Navigate Legal, Cultural Challenges in Unfamiliar Land

The man dubbed a leader of newly arriving Afghan refugees in Wausau, Wisconsin, was profiled in the local media as a U.S. ally and someone who had been persecuted by the Taliban in Afghanistan. He had plans to open a restaurant to give his new community a taste of Afghan cuisine.

But less than two months after settling into a rented apartment with his wife and six children, the refugee was arrested on charges of sexual assault in the fourth degree.

The unidentified victim, according to Wausau police department, was a woman who was helping the family’s resettlement.

Although he has been released on a signature bond, the 40-year-old has not spoken about the criminal charge against him and did not respond to VOA questions. As with all defendants in U.S. courts, he is presumed innocent until convicted.

Tens of thousands of Afghans have been evacuated to the U.S. since the collapse of the U.S.-backed Afghan government last August because of fears they could be targeted by the Taliban.

Aid agencies say many of the newly arrived refugees face primarily housing and employment challenges as they resettle in communities across the U.S.

Some also experience cultural shock as they navigate through the intricacies of life in America.

“[We are] aware that there are cases of Afghan evacuees allegedly committing acts of interpersonal violence,” Emily Gilkinson told VOA. She is a spokeswoman for the Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC), which has helped the resettlement of some 6,000 Afghan refugees in Wisconsin and other states.

Three aid agencies involved in the resettlement of Afghan refugees in the U.S. said they have no records of such incidents. VOA found public reports of four Afghan refugees allegedly arrested on violence and sexual assault charges since September 2021.

Mohammad Attaie and his wife Deena, newly arrived from Afghanistan, get assistance from medical translator Jahannaz Afshar making a doctor’s appointment at the Valley Health Center TB/Refugee Program in San Jose, California on Dec. 9, 2021.

Cultural education

Resettlement programs are funded by the U.S. government and one key requirement is cultural orientation.

“We provide robust cultural orientation classes to newly arrived refugees,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS).

Classes take 30 to 60 minutes and deal with health care, employment, personal finance, transportation, safety, education and other topics.

“The curriculum and process of delivering cultural orientation is something that ECDC continues to improve in order to better prepare newcomers for success in American society,” said Gilkinson.

One Afghan refugee in Wisconsin who asked to remain anonymous said his cultural orientation classes were short and mostly dealt with hypothetical situations.

“I think practical learning can be more important. Some of us will need cultural advising even after we settle in our new homes,” he said.

Resettlement agencies say they will continue to assist refugees in finding jobs and learning the necessary skills and knowledge to thrive in their new life in the U.S.

FILE – Afghan refugees walk alongside temporary housing in Liberty Village on Joint Base McGuire-Dix- Lakehurst in Trenton, N.J., Dec. 2, 2021.

Hate crimes

Refugees and aid agencies applaud what they call a generous influx of support for the newly arrived Afghans from individuals and groups all over the country.

“I’ve never seen as generous and kind people as the Americans,” said Attaullah Rahmani, an Afghan refugee.

But the Afghan refugees are arriving in the U.S. at a time when the FBI is reporting a surge of racially inspired hate crimes, especially against people of Asian origin.

Although there is no aggregated data about instances of hate crimes involving Afghan refugees, there are isolated reports.

In late January, the FBI started investigating an alleged hate crime incident involving two Afghan refugees in Owensboro, Kentucky, local media reported.

In another incident, stickers with the message “Afghan refugee hunting permit” were seen at a university campus in Michigan last year.

Two refugees who spent about two months at Ford Dix in New Jersey as their resettlement cases were processed said they received lectures on racial and religious sensitivities in the U.S.

“They showed us signs which represent white supremacy and said we should avoid those people,” Ahmad Mohib, one of the refugees told VOA.

FILE – Afghan refugees board a bus taking them to a processing center upon their arrival at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, Sept. 1, 2021.

Domestic violence

Isolated incidents of domestic violence were first reported in refugee processing centers at U.S. military bases.

Afghanistan ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which prohibits and criminalizes gender-based violence, in 2003. In 2009, Afghanistan also enacted a law on elimination of violence against women. However, human rights organization say violence against Afghan women remains prevalent and the Afghan justice system often fails female victims.

“Domestic violence happens in every community,” said Naheed Samadi Bahram, U.S. director for Women for Afghan Women, a nongovernmental organization advocating for the rights of Afghan women and girls. She told VOA that interpersonal relations among the refugees are particularly strained because of the traumas they have experienced.

Other resettlement agencies have also tracked extreme stress and trauma among the Afghan refugees.

“The impact of losing the only home you’ve ever known, of leaving family behind, cannot be overstated,” said LIRS’s Vignarajah.

Bahram said her organization has offered awareness to some refugees about the consequences of domestic violence here in the U.S., which is different than how it’s dealt with in Afghanistan.

“Our main problem is language,” said Tamana Kohistani, who resettled in Virginia with her husband and three children in December. “Not knowing English here is like we don’t know anything and we can’t say anything as well.”