Colombia,
A Positive Country
Prepared by:
Affairs Coordinator
Internal and External Communications
Ministry of Foreign Relations
ON THE FRONT PAGE
• 12 COUNTRIES IN THE BOGOTÁ FILM FESTIVAL: the
22nd annual film festival has begun with 20 movies that are competing
for the prizes that will be awarded by an international jury
headed up by Pan Ruojian from China. The Festival, whose ‘guest
of honor’ is China, will conclude on October 13 with the
awarding of Pre-Columbian Circles of gold, silver, and bronze.
Germany, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, China, Colombia, Cuba, Spain,
Holland, Hungary, Mexico, and Portugal are participating. The
festival will also give awards for digital films, videos, art
documentaries, and animation, and will offer a series of conferences.
• CASTRO CAYCEDO PLANETA AWARD: the 2005 Award from Editorial Planeta was given to the well-known
journalist and writer German
Castro Caycedo, for his volume of reports Que la muerte espere
(Let Death Wait). Castro was honored for his career of more than
30 years as a chronicler and reporter. The work entitled Tristes
tigres (Sad Tigers) won the same prize in 2001, which contains
profiles of Colombian politicians. In Que la muerte espere, with
a total of 18 works, Castro offers a series of stories about
people who, in the exercise of their activities, have been at
the point of losing their lives or lost them. The author has
received 12 national awards, and 8 international.
• FAVORITES IN THE AMERICA CUP
FOR SKATING: skaters Cecilia
Baena, Alexandra Vivas, Andrés Felipe Muñoz, Kelly
Martínez, Jennifer Caicedo, Berenice Moreno, Liana Holguín,
Nicolás Zamudio, and Cristian Ruíz, members of
the Colombian skating team, are considered favorites for taking
the gold in the Pan American Club Championship, to be held in
Cooper City, Florida, in the United States, from October 12 to
16.
SOCIAL INVESTMENT
• CENSUS IN COLOMBIA: starting
on October 8 and until December 16 of this year, Colombians
will receive notification
of the day they must receive the DANE census takers. The census
began on May 22 in six municipalities, and this weekend the massive
stage begins, where close to 80% of the population residing in
urban areas will be counted. The census information will allow
the Colombian state to reorient social investment and outline
new strategies for action.
SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH AND GENERATION
OF EMPLOYMENT
• US $18 MILLION IN REAL ESTATE
DEALS IN NEW YORK: 432
pieces of property were sold by construction firms that participated
in the Where to Live in Colombia Fair, held from September 17
to 19 in the Metropolitan Pavilion, in Manhattan. This figure
was confirmed by the Minister of Foreign Relations, Carolina
Barco, the Minister of the Environment, Housing, and Territorial
Development, Sandra Suárez, and the Executive President
of the Colombian Chamber of Construction, Beatriz Uribe.
• 96.7% INCREASE IN FOREIGN INVESTMENT: this increase was revealed by the World Investment Report made
by the United
Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Total foreign
investment in Colombia in 2004 grew by 96.7% with respect to
2003, going from US $1,905 million to US $3,748 million from
one year to the next. The report indicates that direct foreign
investment in Colombia grew by 53% last year, over 2003. The
report shows that in 2004 Colombia was the seventh country in
Latin America and the Caribbean in terms of the greatest flow
of foreign investment. Brazil, Mexico, and Chile were in the
first three places on the scale.
• INFLATION OF 0.43% IN SEPTEMBER: the Consumer Price Index in September 2005 recorded inflation
of 0.43%. According
to the DANE, between January and September inflation was 4.42%,
the lowest figure since 1970, when the increase in the cost of
living was 4.31%. The result for this year as of last month was
0.48 points lower with respect to the same period in 2004, when
the CPI was 4.9%. In the last twelve months, the cost of living
increased 5.02%, the lowest growth in inflation since 1955 when
it was 0.84%.
STATE EFFICIENCY AND TRANSPARENCY
• UN CONGRATULATES COLOMBIA ON
SUCCESSFUL DRUG SEIZURES: the Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Antonio Maria
Costa, sent a Diplomatic Note to President Álvaro Uribe,
congratulating the government, the Office of the Attorney General
of the Nation, the Armed Forces, the National Police, and the
intelligence services for successful operations to seize illegal
drugs in 2005. In total, the note points out, 120 tons of cocaine
have been blocked from being exported to the international community.
DEMOCRATIC SECURITY
• IN COLOMBIA, VICTIMS WILL HAVE
THE RIGHT TO REPARATION: for the first time in the history of a peace process in Colombia,
victims will receive recognition, and will have the right to
reparation and truth regarding acts committed by illegal armed
groups. President Álvaro Uribe inaugurated the National
Commission for Reparation and Conciliation, which will be in
charge of making sure victims can learn the truth about the events
in which they or family members were involved, as well as formulating
and executing the necessary guidelines for reparation. The Commission
was created through the Law of Justice and Peace (975 of 2005),
and will be in force for 8 years.
October 7, 2005.
(FIN/JHINA/HM/CIE)
