Hernando Calvo Ospina (born 6 June 1961) is a Colombian journalist, author and director of various documentaries. He resides in France.
Hernando Calvo Ospina (born 6 June 1961) is a Colombian journalist, author and director of various documentaries. He resides in France.
Born in Cali, he was a student of journalism at the Central University of Ecuador in Quito, Ecuador when, on 24 September 1985 he was captured and disappeared. As he denounced later at the Court of Constitutional Guarantees of Ecuador as well as to Amnesty International and other international human rights organisations, he spent the first three days cuffed by hands and feet as well as blindfolded. During all that time he was not allowed to sleep nor was he given anything to eat and he was scarcely administered any water to drink.
From his abductors, he learned that had been captured during a joint operation of the Colombian and the Ecuadorian military intelligence. It should be pointed out that days before, a commando of the Colombian guerrilla of 19 April Movement (Movimiento 19 de Abril, M-19) had abducted a wealthy Ecuadorian business man, in response to which the security services had started a "witch hunt" against all Colombian residents which were considered to be politically left-wing. And he was a renowned critic of the Colombian government and was active on several public media.
Still blindfolded and cuffed he was transferred in the trunk of a car by his first captors who handed him over to the Police Criminal Investigation Service (Servicio de Investigación Criminal de la Policía, SIC). For five days he was brutally tortured through beating and electric shocks. He was hardly given anything to eat, apart from some bread and left-overs of the officers' canteen. On 4 October, as there was no proof of his affiliation to any guerrilla organisation whatsoever, he was sent to the García Moreno penitentiary, where he stayed for almost three months without being brought to trial.
Because of the overwhelming international pressure, the government of president León Febres Cordero had to authorise his release from prison on 28 December 1985, be it through putting him on a direct flight to Lima, Peru. After having spent two months under the protection of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR, in this nation, the government of president Alan García considered him to be persona non-grata and demanded that he should leave the country. Under the protection of the government of France he arrived in Paris on 15 March 1986.
Before resuming his profession as a journalist, and because he had to survive, he cleaned offices during the first four years of his life in Paris.
He has been a volleyball trainer and referee, as well as a passionate dancer and collector of salsa music.
He is the author of several books, all translated into different languages: Spanish, French, English, Italian, German, Dutch, Turkish, Persian, Czech (see bibliography).
As a collaborator of the French monthly Le Monde diplomatique, he participated in the production of various documentaries for television broadcasting channels, such as: the British BBC; the French-German Arte; the German ADR. Over the past years he made various documentaries that were basically distributed by the Latin American channel Tele Sur. One of them, Venezuela, the shadow agenda, [1] was subtitled in 17 different languages. Some of his productions and interviews can be found on his YouTube channel. [2]
In 2005 he was nominated for the "Lorenzo Natali Media Prize" of the European Commission, for his article "Colombia: such as in Iraq, a privatised conflict" (Colombia: como él de Irak, un conflicto privatizado), published in Le Monde diplomatique in November 2004. The award was launched in 1992 in recognition of outstanding reporting on development issues, inequality, human rights and the eradication of poverty.
He shared conferences with personalities such as the Cuban leader, Fidel Castro Ruz, and the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez Frías. He interviewed the president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, [3] and other distinguished people such as: Danielle Mitterrand, [4] the actor Pierre Richard [5] and Monsignor Jacques Gaillot France); [6] the sociologist James Petras (United States); the French-Spanish journalist Ignacio Ramonet; [7] [8] the commander of the Cuban Revolution Victor Dreke [9] and the intellectual of the same nationality Abel Prieto. [10]
As a journalist, he also interviewed commanders of the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC) - which at that time was a guerrilla organisation - Raúl Reyes and Jaime Guaracas. [11] As well as commanders of the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional, ELN), Manuel Pérez Martínez (ex-Commander in Chief Milton Hernández, Ramiro Vargas [12] and Pablo Beltrán. [13]
For the writing of his book Don Pablo Escobar, he passed various days with members of the so-called Medellín Cartel. Working on Perú: los senderos posibles (Peru: Possible Paths), he interviewed generals of the Armed Forces of Peru, as well as commanders and supporters of the Shining Path organisation (Sendero Luminoso). In Miami and in New York he interviewed leaders of organisations alleged to be responsible for crimes and terrorist attacks, such as Orlando Bosch Ávila, Nazario Sargent, José "Pepe" Hernández and José Basulto, all of them of Cuban origin. Based on these and other interviews he published Disidentes o Mercenarios? (Dissidents or mercenaries?).
In January 2005 the documentary The Secret of the Bat: Bacardi Between Rum And Revolution (El Secreto del Murciélago. Bacardi, Entre Ron y Revolución) was awarded the Bronze World Medal of the New York Film Festival. The documentary, in which Calvo Ospina also figures, was based on his book Bacardi, The Hidden War. [14] On 5 February 2009 he lectured on "Private military societies in Colombia" during the seminar on the "Privatisation of violence" organised by the Centre de recherche des écoles de Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan (CREC), at the higher education institute for officers of the French Armed Forces.
Being an investigator who denounces the state terrorism in Colombia as well as the aggressive politics of the United States, particularly towards Latin America, [15] he discovered on 18 April 2009 that he appeared on the "No Fly List" of the US authorities [16] when the flight which he was on, was prohibited to fly over the US air space "for reasons of national security". The Air France aircraft had departed from Paris and headed for Mexico City without making a stop in the United States. [17] [18]
On 6 May 2012 Calvo Ospina had to travel from Madrid to Havana with Air Europe, a Spanish company. Before receiving his boarding pass, a staff member took him to a man who presented himself as a civil servant of the US Embassy. The man was very straightforward and informed him that he could not go on that particular flight because it would be overflying the airspace of his country during 5 minutes and his name appeared on the No Fly List. [19] [20]
On 8 September 2018 he was denied his boarding pass once again. This time it happened in the airport of Orly in Paris, from where he wanted to travel to Cuba with the French company CORSAIR. The manager of the company gave him the phone number of the office from where he had received the order: it was the Transportation Security Administration, TSA, in Washington that answered the phonehttp://www.elcorreo.eu.org/De-nuevo-arbitrariedades-de-los-Estados-Unidos-prohiben-el-transporte-de-personas?lang=fr.
The case of Calvo Ospina induced the Spanish journal El País to explain the reason why the European authorities and their transport companies accepted that the United States take this kind of decisions, i.e. in order to avoid passengers to descend in their territory. [21]
On 22 September 2011 the French government denied him the French nationality. The letter sent by the Ministry of Internal Affairs says that this decision was taken because of his "relationships with the Cuban representation in Paris" and "his proximity to the castrist ideology." He was also reproached for having met members of the FARC "during his activities as a journalist" and for appearing on the "American list of persons who were prohibited to fly over the air space of the United States." [22]
He attended the World Assembly of the Encuentro Mundial de Intelectuales y Artistas en Defensa de la Humanidad (World Assembly of Intellectuals and Artists for the Defense of Humanity), which took place in Caracas, Venezuela, from 1 to 5 December 2004 and gathered more than 400 representatives from 52 countries and cultures. During this event, the idea launched by several intellectuals from Mexico and Cuba the year before took shape. Ever since he has been one of the active members of the REDH (Red de Intelectuales y Artistas En Defensa de la Humanidad).[ citation needed ]
On 18 July 2016 the Municipal Council of the Poder Popular of Guantánamo, Cuba, awarded him a replica of La Fama, the symbol of the city, as well as the Commemorative Seal on the occasion of the premiere of his documentary Todo Guantánamo es nuestro ("All Guantanamo Is Ours"). He was also honoured by the Instituto Cubano de Amistad con los Pueblos (Cuban Institute for Friendship with the People, ICAP) and received the award from the hands of its vice-president, Fernando Gonzalez Llort, Hero of the Republic of Cuba. On both occasions he was honoured for "his activism in favour of Cuba and its truths". "For contributing to making the truth about Cuba known to the world as it is being regularly distorted by the big transnational media concerns".
He is a member of the Société des gens de lettres, SGDL, a private French association. It was founded in Paris on April 16, 1838, on the idea of Louis Desnoyers, supported by Honoré de Balzac.
In France, he is a member of the Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques (SACD), founded on July 3, 1777 in Paris by Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais.
Luis Mariano Ospina Pérez, commonly known as Mariano Ospina Pérez, was a Colombian politician and a member of the Colombian Conservative Party. He served as the 17th President of Colombia between 1946 and 1950.
The National Liberation Army is a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla insurgency group involved in the continuing Colombian conflict, which has existed in Colombia since 1964. The ELN advocates a composite communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism and liberation theology. In 2013, it was estimated that the ELN forces consisted of between 1,380 and 3,000 guerrillas. According to former ELN national directorate member Felipe Torres, one fifth of ELN supporters have taken up arms. The ELN has been classified as a terrorist organization by the governments of Colombia, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and the European Union.
Telesur is a Latin American terrestrial and satellite news television network headquartered in Caracas, Venezuela and sponsored by the governments of Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.
Cinema of Colombia refers to film productions made in Colombia, or considered Colombian for other reasons. Colombian cinema, like any national cinema, is a historical process with industrial and artistic aspects.
The Cuban American National Foundation is a foundation with the aim of assisting members of the Cuban community in Miami, Florida.
Bartolomé Calvo Díaz de Lamadrid was a Colombian lawyer, journalist, and statesman, who became President of the Granadine Confederation, in what is now Colombia, in 1861 in his role as Inspector General, because no elections were held on that year to decide the presidency. He also served as Governor of Panama and Ambassador to Ecuador, and worked in a number of newspapers.
This is a timeline of events related to the Colombian armed conflict.
Ospina Coffee was established in Colombia, by Don Mariano Ospina Rodríguez in 1835. Ospina Rodríguez was one of the pioneers of coffee growing in Colombia and in Guatemala.
A Son de Guerra, sometimes referred to as Asondeguerra, is the 11th studio album recorded by Dominican singer-songwriter Juan Luis Guerra, It was released by Capitol Latin on June 8, 2010. The album contains 11 tracks, and its musical structure and production are based on Merengue, Bachata, Son, Salsa, experimenting and incorporating elements of jazz, blues, funk, cumbia, rock, reggae, rap, and mambo. Lyrical themes on the album include protest against political corruption, immigration, love and romance. Featured appearances include Juanes and Chris Botti. For many fans and critics alike, it's his album with the most social content and strong social criticism since his 1992's Areito.
Hernando Casanova Escobar known as El Culebro Casanova, was a Colombian actor, director, singer, and television presenter. He is considered one of the pioneers of comedy and one of the most important actors in the history of Colombia. His versatility as an actor led him to become not only an icon of humor but also of drama. He was regarded as the best actor in Colombia during the peak of his career. Throughout his career, he received multiple awards and recognitions for his artistic achievements, including his nomination as a revelation actor at the Ondra Awards in Spain and the award for best dramatic actor at the APE Awards.
La tragedia del silencio is a Colombian silent melodrama film directed by Arturo Acevedo Vallarino and first screened on 18 July 1924 at the Faenza theatre in Bogotá. Filmed in black and white, it tells the story of a man suffering from leprosy. It was the first Colombian film during the silent film era with a film score, which was performed during the projection and was written by Alberto Urdaneta Forero.
El drama del 15 de octubre is a lost Colombian silent film directed by the Di Domenico brothers. Considered the first feature documentary film produced in Colombia, it depicts events surrounding the assassination of General Rafael Uribe Uribe on 15 October 1914, including a reconstruction of the killing itself. It was first screened to the public on 21 November 1915 at Salón Olympia in Bogotá.
Francesco Di Domenico (1880–1966) and Vincenzo Di Domenico (1882–1955), known together as the Di Domenico brothers, were Italian film directors who played an important role in Colombian cinema.
Guillaume Jean Sebastien Long is a former politician and academic who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador and Human Mobility, in the government of Rafael Correa. He was previously the Minister of Culture and Heritage, and Minister of Knowledge and Human Talent. Long later became Ecuador's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, before resigning in January 2018 over strong disagreements with President Moreno. Since 2019, Long has been working for the Washington DC-based Center for Economic and Policy Research.
Juan Friede Alter was a Ukrainian-Colombian historian of Jewish descent who is recognised as one of the most important writers about Colombian history, the Spanish conquests and a proponent of indigenism; the defense of the rights and descriptions of the oppression of indigenous people.
On 17 January 2019, a vehicle was driven into the General Santander National Police Academy in Bogotá, Colombia. The truck forced its way into the facility, hit a wall and detonated, killing 22 people and injuring 68 others. Suicide attacks are unusual in Colombia. The car contained about 80 kilograms (180 lb) of pentolite. It was the deadliest attack on the Colombian capital since the 2003 El Nogal Club bombing and the first terrorist attack on the capital since the 2017 Centro Andino bombing. The National Liberation Army (ELN) accepted responsibility for the attack and justified it as a response to the bombings made by the Colombian government during the unilateral ceasefire.
A series of protests began in Colombia on 26 September 2022 against left-wing cross-sectoral structural reforms of the State requiring a record-breaking taxation, proposed by the government of President Gustavo Petro in order to respond to the challenges of the post-COVID-19 pandemic times. Following his inauguration on 7 August 2022, the newly installed President Petro put forward legislative bill proposals to reform the defense sector and the military police, open peace negotiations with the ELN and other armed guerrilla groups, reestablish bilateral relations with Venezuela, change the legal framework regarding drug use and narcotrafficking, and introduce tax reforms, among others.
Álvaro Uribe's term as the 31st president of Colombia began with his first inauguration on August 7, 2002 and ended on August 7, 2010. Uribe, candidate of the Colombia First party of Antioquia, took office after a decisive victory about the Liberal candidate Horacio Serpa in the 2002 presidential election. Four years later, in the 2006 presidential election, he defeated the Democratic Pole candidate, Carlos Gaviria, to win re-election. Uribe is the first president not to represent either of the two traditional parties, Liberal and Conservative.
María is a 1922 Colombian silent film in black and white, directed by Máximo Calvo Olmedo and Alfredo del Diestro.
The governments of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro have provided economic, political and military support to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) and the National Liberation Army (ELN). The support of Colombian leftist guerrillas has continued during the government of Nicolás Maduro. By 2018, the investigative group InSight Crime reported that the ELN operated in at least 12 of Venezuela's 23 states. The Venezuelan NGO Fundación Redes (Fundaredes) in 2018 documented more than 250 reports of Venezuelans who were victims of recruitment by Colombian irregular groups. Recruitment has also been denounced by Colombian media.
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