495: Inside the NarcoFiles

This week on the Colombia Calling podcast, we speak to Lorena Estupiñán-Pedraza, a professor of international relations and political science from Boyaca, but resident in the southern city of Cali. In a far-ranging conversation, we discuss Lorena's PhD studies public policy implementation in Boyaca, local problems with global impacts and all about what it means to be from Boyaca and to understand the Boyacense idiosyncrasy and culture. Tune in to this, the Colombia Briefing with Emily Hart and subscribe to the podcast.

25 Feb 1h 10min

A new documentary, in the making, seeks to document the sacred nature of an ancient medicine. We're all familiar with vivid tales of projectile vomiting and the complete loss of bodily functions during an ayuahuasca ceremony but who, amongst us, has really explored the benefits of a ritual? This documentary seeks to educate us, through a carefully curated journey from the lands of the Taitas (shamans) in Putumayo, the process of creating the ayahuasca (also known as Yage), to the preparation of the ceremony, the ritual itself and then a reflection of the ceremony and its outcomes. The documentary maker: Sam Lipman-Stern is an Emmy Nominated Filmmaker with a passion for the visual arts that dates to his early days as a graffiti artist. In August 2023, HBO released Telemarketers, a 3-part limited documentary series created, executive produced and co-directed by Lipman-Stern. Time Magazine called it, "One of the Most Exciting Docuseries in Recent Years!" Sam Believ founded LaWayra retreat together with his wife Estefania in 2021. LaWayra was born as a passion project from the desire to drink medicine from our home and share medicine with some friends and slowly grew to become one of the best Ayahuasca retreats in the world. At the retreat they provide a world class Ayahuasca experience and stays for affordable prices. Check out: https://ayahuascaincolombia.com/ The Colombia Briefing is reported by Emily Hart View her Substack: https://harte.substack.com/ And please consider supporting the Colombia Calling podcast: https://patreon.com/colombiacalling

18 Feb 1h 5min

Jonathan Swift, "Falsehood flies, and truth comes limping after it.” … never truer than in 2025 This week on the Colombia Calling podcast Emily Hart and Richard McColl tackle the issue of disinformation and fact-checking in Colombia and fortunately, we don't have to take on this task alone but are joined by two experts in the field. Laura Sarabia Rangel is the Editor of El Detector de Mentiras at La Silla Vacia and Jose Felipe Sarmiento joins us from ColombiaCheck and we get to pick their brains about the need for fact-checking, disinformation in Colombia and how one undertakes the process of finding the truth.  There have been so many circumstances where people and politicians have been saying things that are simply untrue, in Colombia specifically, about the health reform, the stigmatisation of indigenous communities or the denialism of the False Positives, to name a few.  So, we get to hear how Laura and Jose Felipe work, put some rumours and untruths to bed and discuss what readers and consumers can do to make sure they’re consuming high quality media.  The Colombia Briefing is reported by Emily Hart.

11 Feb 1h 10min

Sometimes, it's just fun to have an agreeable conversation, and this is why I enjoyed chatting to Vivek Jayaraman. Vivek was born in Tamil, India and in the way life takes its unusual routes has ended up living in northern Bogota and with a love of mountains - he's from the plains - and a firm desire to know and understand the regions of Cundinamarca and Boyacá, Colombia. In his words: "Thus was born Project Boyacá and Project Cundinamarca. The idea being that I visit all the 123 and 116 municipalities atleast once. "People associate this part of the world with drugs, violence and the remote jungles. My attempt is to try and change this perception, taking into account that Colombia is my wife's home country. "I got fascinanted by small towns having grown up in similar places back in India. It was equally impressive to see names of the towns that can trace their origins to the indigenous culture of Muisca that dominated this region - Guachetá, Guachetá, Machetá for example - Chetá refers to farmlands. The indigenous origin is not too appreciated here I also wanted to create awareness of these. "My wife is from Guachetá, Cundinamarca which is believed the town of the Son of Sun - Goranchacha, which she did not know before I met her. "Eventually I want to have a repository of these travels in a website with photographs, Instagram being an easy way. I have made 100 posts each year 2022 onwards. I was this close to create a calendar last year with photos from specific regions, then it was too expensive and too late. This being, the idea of India through the eyes of India." What a wonderful story, you'll agree. The Colombia Briefing is reported by Emily Hart.

4 Feb 52min

In order to understand the issue of the cocaine trade in Colombia, we need to look at three factors: 1. Drugs Policy as a Geopolitical tool. 2. Markets: A Political Economic issue. 3. Narratives: the Myth of the Narco. On the Colombia Calling podcast this week we speak to Estefanía Ciro Rodríguez, expert on drug politics, the cocaine economy and the Colombian armed conflict. We discuss la Escombrera in Medellin, Pablo Escobar, Álvaro Uribe Vélez, Arms trafficking by the Sinaloa cartel and the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación to Colombia, genetically modified coca, cocaine seizures, the price of cocaine, and why Colombia as a nation needs to look in the mirror. Check out: https://alaorilladelrio.com The Colombia Briefing is reported by Emily Hart. Support her on Substack: https://substack.com/@ehart and Support us on: https://www.patreon.com/c/colombiacalling

28 Jan 1h 17min

Brendan Corrigan has had multiple jobs in his time in Colombia (dating back to 2011), and his most constant has been that of a contributing writer of acerbic observations for the El Tiempo national newspaper, with an office job in marketing thrown in for good measure and some forays into the acting world by way of a telenovela (soap opera) appearance here and there. However, there's been an ever present itch and it has been his desire to get out into the wilds of Colombia to see and experience some of the ground covered by "the forefather of human rights," Irishman Roger Casement. Aside: Who was Roger Casement? Roger Casement was commissioned to undertake a report on the reported abuse of workers in the rubber industry in the Putumayo basin in Peru. The report was published as a parliamentary paper (1911) and had considerable impact, gaining Casement international recognition as a humanitarian, his contribution being acknowledged with a knighthood. Anyhow, Brendan being an Irishman in Colombia has felt the strong urge to pursue some of the history surrounding his countryman and this led him to travel to La Chorrera in the department of Amazonas in Colombia where Casement had worked. We hear his tales from the road in Bogota, San José del Guaviare and la Chorrera. The Colombia Briefing is reported by Emily Hart.

21 Jan 1h 10min

As there are now a growing number of people considering moving to Colombia, and where better than the country's enticing Coffee Region, we decided to focus on this topic for this week. Known for its natural beauty and landscapes, lush countryside, friendly and hard-working people...it's an easy sell. But what happens when you are ready to take the next step beyond internet research and start the actual process of moving your life to the cities of Manizales, Pereira or Armenia or a pueblito nearby? This is where Erin Donaldson comes in!  A long-time immigrant to the Eje Cafetero and now resident in Manizales, Erin knows the whole area like the back of her hand and can furnish anyone with all the information necessary:...taxes - no problem, healthcare - easy days, travel and transport - piece of cake. She'll help you make that transition from expat to immigrant. Enjoy this engaging conversation and check out her website: https://coffeeaxistravel.com and there find links to all of her other social media platforms including her YouTube channel. The Colombia Briefing is reported by Emily Hart.

14 Jan 1h 1min

Have you heard of "destination duping," "rosy retrospection," "JOMO," or "trailblazer hotels?" Well, with Colombia of course in mind given that this is the Colombia Calling podcast, we leap into 2025 with an upbeat episode discussing travel trends for this year. We mull over each of the aforementioned phrases with Bruce Mclean, travel expert and owner of BNBColombia Tours. Hear us talk about how Colombia may just return to being an "emerging tourism" destination again and stepping beyond this to establish itself as a global player...there's still a way to go, but it can happen and things are looking good for both 2025 and 2026.  Oh and "JOMO," means "Joy of Missing Out!" Can you travel this way?  Check out: https://bnbcolombia.com

7 Jan 1h