Law 70 and the Pacifico

Skimming a recent Economist article on how change comes slowly for the people of the Pacifico, I saw the following quote:

“…as 84% of land in the Pacific region is subject to collective-title rights granted to black and indigenous groups. The introduction of such rights in 1993.” [1]

Having read several Colombian history books, I didn’t recall reading about this before so I looked it up and found out more.

From “The territorial turn: Making black territories in Pacific Colombia” [2]

As “ethnic communities” distinct from the national culture, many rural blacks who are able to demonstrate a history of customary tenure arrangements often emulate indigenous strategies for land recognition (Thorne 2001). The Pacific region of Colombia provides a case in point. In order to address calls for democratic reforms in a country torn apart by 40 years of civil war, Colombia elected a constituent assembly and changed its constitution in 1991.

Although the constitution did not set out to address ethnic issues per se, it redefined the country as multiethnic and pluricultural. Backing up rhetoric with deeds, the new constitution’s Transitory Article 55 (AT-55) required Congress to pass a law granting “black communities” (comunidades negras) of the “Pacific watershed” collective property titles to the rural and riparian areas that they occupy “in conformity with their traditional systems of production.

As a result of AT55, Law 70 (PDF) was passed two years later. Law 70 guarantees black communities of the Pacific “territorial rights.” By 1995, procedural Decree 1745 required a multitude of governmental institutions and agencies to work together to demarcate and title black territories to representative community councils (consejos comunitarios). Required by law to receive a title, the councils were newly created ethno-territorial and political entities required to solicit and administer the new territories.

Between 1996 and May of 2003, the Colombian government demarcated and titled 122 black territories. These territories enclose over 4.5 million hectares, contain 1,250 black communities, and represent 270,000 people (Figure 1). Size and population vary dramatically; one territory contains as few as 30 people living in a single community, while the largest territory contains 30,000 people in 90 different communities and encompasses more than a half million hectares. Not yet complete, the project is already among the most ambitious and radical territorial reorderings ever attempted in Latin America (Table 1).

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Colombia to eradicate deforestation

A study published October 17th revealed that Colombia lost 120.9k hectacres of natural forests in 2013, with 57% being within the Amazon region. Colombia will attempt to completely eradicate Amazonian deforestation by 2020, to promote a sustainable, low-carbon development model for the region, said the Colombian president. – Source

 

Consumerism and Conservation in Bogotá

News on the two items below came out at the same time, which I found interesting.

Eden Mall

“Just granted planning constent, Eden Mall will be Colombia’s largest shopping centre, covering an area of  320,000 m2 and 134,000 m2 dedicated to retail space.

It is located in the southeast intersection of Avenida Boyacá and Calle 13, in the city of Bogota – a strategic location in the capital and a place of major residential growth.  The location connects the Mall to the rest of the city, with immediate access from any of the major arterial roads.

USD$500 million is to be invested in the project and will include international and national brands and retailers in over 350 stores, a food court, restaurants, cinemas and approx 20,000 m2 for family entertainment, plus parking for 4,000 vehicles.

Construction is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2015, and open in 2017.  When open, the Mall is expected to attract circa 2 million visitors monthly. ” – Source

Ecological Park

“Bogota conservation authorities plan to create a bio-diversity corridor to preserve ground water and natural plant species in what would be the largest urban ecological park in Latin America.

An Environmental Management Plan has been created for the area located north of Bogota and covering regions Guaymaral, Corpas and Suba.

Regional Autonomous Corporation (CAR) has banned construction on roughly 1,400 acres of land situated on Thomas van der Hammen Forest reserve, and aims to build a huge ecological reserve which would be the largest in the whole of Latin America. The project is expected to cost around 73 million dollars. ” – Source

Café Tero vs Café de Colombia

The Café de Colombia brand, a pioneer in certificates of origin, obtained its name in 2005. Due to its particular condition, it’s under protection, and that consists of stopping anyone from registering any sign that reproduces, imitates or contains a certificate of origin. Therefore, the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce decided to refuse registration of the brand Cafe Tero requested by Inox Sentry.

“I consider the decision to be a little exagerated given that the National Federation of Coffee-growers has a monopoly on the evocations, “Colombia” and “café”. Only for having the word of the product associated with the national flag, it makes reference to the certificate of origin. I believe that it’s an incorrect interpretation on behalf of SIC”, said a lawyer specialized in industrial property, Lola Kandelaft, from the Muños Abogados firm.

The lawyer Javier Delgadillo, also a specialist in the field of law, from the firm Q&D Abogados, takes an opposite view. “I share SIC’s decision because the registration of a brand should be denied if if reproduces the concept of a protected certificate of origin.”

He also adds that “the decision was successful because the protections don’t limit themselves to signs that reproduce its name, but rather it encompasses any graphic representation or any other representation that may evoke the same concept.

A certificate of origin is the name or indication of a geographic location, that may be a country or determined region, which designates a product that by being originated from said region, and by the customs of production or transformations of its inhabitants, has characteristics or a reputation that makes it different from similar products coming from other geographic regions.

On the list headed by Café de Colombia for certificates of origin, are Café de Cauca, Café de Nariño, Café de Huila, Chalupa del Huila, Queso del Caquetá, Queso Paipa, Bizcocho de Achira del Huila, Clavel de Colombia, Crisantemo de Colombia and Rosa de Colombia.

On this occasion, the lawsuit was started against Café de Colombia on October 16, 2013, when Inox Sentry requested from SIC the registration of its brand Café Tero to distinguish its grain, which is included in class 30 of the International Nice Classification.

Once the request was published, the Federation presented its opposition citing pertanent laws. First, they say that “they are registrable signs which may mislead trade circles or the public, particularly in regards to geographical origin, nature, manufacturing process, characteristics, qualities or suitability for employment of related products or services.”

Second, “one cannot register items that reproduce, imitate or contain a protected certificate of origin.”

The opposition says “in virtue of the declaration of the protection of the Café de Colombia certificate of origin, no third party can register or use a merging of these expressions.”

Facing of the decision of the Department to refuse registration of the brand, Inox Sentry appealed. However, on appeal the denial was upheld.” – Source (ES)

Bogotá presents $7.5b plan for metro

Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro on Tuesday revealed the latest plans to construct a $7.5 billion metro line, the first in Colombia’s capital. The plans were presented after a thorough study of the soil of the Bogota high plains. According to the Spanish engineer Jose Maria Villarroel, who designed the mass transit system, the metro will be able to transport some 900,000 commuters a day and will be able to function without conductors. The engineer said the metro line will have 27 stations through which a train will pass every two and a half minute.

While at the beginning of the presentation Villarroel said the construction of the metro would cost $5 billion, the engineer then added an extra $2.5 billion would have to be spent due to the wet Bogota soil. In 2011, the Petro administration said the metro would cost $3.5 billion, less than half of what it is projecting now.

The increased costs of the metro immediately caused reserved reactions with the national government that warned that if Bogota wants to construct a metro this expensive, other major projects would have to be abandoned.

“If they want to build this metro, remaining initiatives will have to be pushed forward. The nation, due to legal restrictions, can only contribute up to 70% of the construction cost y can not begin subsidizing the metro’s operating cost,” National Planning Department director Simon Gaviria was quoted as saying by El Tiempo newspaper.

Bogota has been talking about a metro since 1947. – Colombia Reports

 

Cashing in on the .Co domain names

“The opportunity for us is to become the platform of choice for entrepreneurs around the world,” said Juan Diego Calle, chief executive of .CO Internet, a company based in Miami that operates the “.co” registry under license from the Colombian government. “To do that, we want to build massive awareness.”
……

For financially struggling governments, the sale of country code domain names is a boon. Colombia, for example, gets 25 percent of the revenue from sales of the “.co” name under its deal with .CO Internet. Last year, the company generated a total of $20 million from the sale of “.co” domains; this year, that is expected to rise to more than $30 million, Mr. Calle said.

More than 600,000 “.co” addresses have been sold, in more than 200 countries, he said. Only about 20,000 of those are actually from Colombia, with the most interest coming from the United States and Europe.

The company predicts that the total number of “.co” registrations will rise to five million within five years. Mr. Calle was hoping for a surge of interest after a prominent marketing pitch over the weekend. During the Super Bowl, the world’s largest domain name registrar, Go Daddy, highlighted “.co” in an advertisement. The spot, as is typical of the company’s TV ads, featured the “Go Daddy girls” in tight T-shirts and hot pants. But this time, Joan Rivers was one of them. Before the game, Go Daddy said it planned to introduce a new member of the team, a “ ‘.co’ girl.”

While some country codes have had a hard time attracting anything other than niche interest, analysts say the Colombian suffix may have a better chance to rival “.com” because the letters “co” are recognized in many languages as an abbreviation for “company” and are not merely seen as an abbreviation for the country’s name.

“As long as it doesn’t become well known that it’s just a bastardization of the country code for Colombia, it could take off,” said Josh Bourne, managing partner of FairWinds Partners, which advises firms on the use of domain names.” – NYT

Accord To Add 21 More Weekly US-Colombia Flights

“Colombia and the United States reached an “open skies” agreement that will enter into force on Jan. 1, 2013, and allow total liberalization of air traffic between the two countries.

“It means there will be total freedom,” Colombian civil aviation chief Santiago Castro told reporters Thursday in announcing the accord, which was reached after three days of negotiations in Bogota with a U.S. delegation. That team was headed by the acting director of the U.S. Office of Aviation Negotiations, Wendell Albright. The new agreement updates the bilateral treaty that has governed aviation operations between the two countries since 1954, Colombian civil aviation authorities said in a statement.

A transition period will be in effect before the “open skies” system goes into force in 2013, during which time each country will be allowed to add another 21 weekly frequencies on currently operated routes and create new itineraries without restriction. Between 2012 and 2013, both countries will be able to add another 21 frequencies on operated routes. A total of 200 weekly flights are currently operated between Colombia and the United States.” – LAHT