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 which have all been translated into different languages (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".
Since 2018 he has been a member of the French Society of People of the Written Word (Société des gens de lettres - SGDL), a private association founded in Paris in April 1838.
He does not hide his sympathy for the Cuban Revolution, nor for the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela; he has always supported the process of social, economic and political change that was developed by President Evo Morales in Bolivia, who was the victim of a coup d'état on 10 November 2019. He has always believed that the peace process in Colombia is not only about guerrilla organisations to surrender or to hand in their armaments, since the political-military conflict is only one aspect of the violence in that country.
Bacardi Limited is one of the largest privately held, family-owned spirits companies in the world. Originally known for its Bacardí brand of white rum, it now has a portfolio of more than 200 brands and labels. Founded in Cuba in 1862 and family-owned for seven generations, Bacardi Limited employs more than 8,000 people with sales in approximately 170 countries. Bacardi Limited is the group of companies as a whole and includes Bacardi International Limited.
The National Liberation Army is a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian conflict, which has existed in Colombia since 1964. The ELN advocate 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, the European Union and Venezuela's National Assembly.
Cinema of Colombia refers to the film industry based in Colombia. Colombian cinema began in 1897 and has included silent films, animated films and internationally acclaimed films. Government support included an effort in the 1970s to develop the state-owned Cinematographic Development Company which helped produce some films yet struggled to stay financially viable. FOCINE went defunct in 1993. In 1997 the Colombian congress approved Law 397 of Article 46 or the General Law of Culture with the purpose of supporting the development of the Colombian film industry by creating a film promotion mixed fund called Corporación PROIMAGENES en Movimiento. In 2003 Congress also approved the Law of Cinema which helped to restart the cinematographic industry in Colombia.
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.
Rock Around the Blockade (RATB), is a Cuba solidarity organisation in Britain founded by members of the Revolutionary Communist Group (UK) in 1995. RATB sees the struggle to defend the Cuban Revolution as part of building a movement for socialism and communism in Britain. In this it appears to differ from the Cuba Solidarity Campaign which attempts to build a broad front, largely but not exclusively through the mainstream labour movement, in support of the Cuban Revolution through emphasising the defence of Cuba's right to sovereignty.
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.
Hernando Casanova Escobar known as El Culebro Casanova, was a Colombian actor, director, singer, and presenter. He is considered one of the precursors of comedy and one of the most important actors in the history of Colombia. His versatility as an actor led him to become one of the greatest icons of acting in Colombia. He was considered during a gap of his career as the best actor in Colombia. In a career spanning over four decades, he received multiple recognitions for his artistic achievements, including a nomination as a 'revelation actor' at the Ondra Awards in Spain and an award for 'best dramatic actor' at the APE.
William Ospina is a Colombian poet, essayist and novelist. He was born in Herveo, Tolima. He won the Romulo Gallegos Prize for his novel El país de la canela, part of a trilogy about the invasion and conquest of South America.
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 an Ecuadorian 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.
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.
The Catatumbo campaign has been an ongoing period of strategic violence between militia faction groups in the Catatumbo region of Colombia and Venezuela since January 2018. It is an extension of the War on drugs and developed after the Colombian peace process of 2016. The existence of the war was officially announced in August 2019 after a Human Rights Watch (HRW) investigation. Colombian media reports that the war has directly affected an estimated 145,000 people, with the HRW estimating this at 300,000.
The 2021 Apure clashes started on 21 March 2021 in the south of the Páez Municipality, in the Apure state in Venezuela, specifically in La Victoria, a location bordering with Colombia, between guerrilla groups identified as Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) dissidents and the Venezuelan government led by Nicolás Maduro.
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.
The presidency of Álvaro Uribe as the 31st president of Colombia began on August 7, 2002, hours after his inauguration, and ended on August 7, 2010. Uribe would be the first president in almost 20 years to win re-election, his three predecessors had They have been defeated in the electoral round for re-election, which generated great expectations regarding the Uribe administration, being by many one of the most influential in local politics.
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