Battles of Dependence
On july the 20th, Colombians, like their Argentine counterparts did today, and as always, in the midst of tight security measures, will celebrate their independence.
200 years ago, the people of the ‘Virreinato de La Nueva Granada’ rebelled against the Spanish king and set in motion the events that after a long process stretching over 100 years of failures, secession and disputes, would produce the terrible tragedy that later would be known as the Republic of Colombia and it’s comparably miserable sibling nations : The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Republic of Ecuador, the Republic of Panamá and Simon Bolivar’s favorite : the republic of Bolivia.
It would be 9 years later after the “Cry of Independence” of 1810 that the definitive battle, the “Battle of Boyaca”, where the Spanish were defeated took place. This battle is known in Colombia as the “Battle of Independence” and it’s celebrated the 7th of August as the “National Party” and it’s also the date on which every 4 years the ceremony in which the president takes possession is held.
It was a time in history when the South American colonies fought to be free from the control of Europeans. The Spanish were our adversaries, we fought our hardest to leave their control, they fought their best to keep us under their flag.
200 years later the roles have reversed.
Today we Colombians, in far greater numbers than those who fought to be independent, fight to be again dependent of the developed world and the European countries and be covered under their flag.
In contrast to out forefathers, we fight our personal Battles of Dependence. And we fight alone. It’s you against the world. We fight to leave, and for our right to stay alive. We are rats that escape the sinking ship. We are the horsemen of the apocalypse. Every man for himself.
Our adversaries are the same countries that 200 years ago fought to keep us, except that now they want to keep us. Out.
They fight us with road blocks and divisory walls between country borders, visa requirements, changing definitions of what a valid reason to stay is, and fees and waiting periods and separation from our families and apostilles and official translations and bank records, criminal records and actualized notarized copies of our birth certificates. Language exams, integration tests, blood tests and personal interviews.
We stand in line, we hold on the phone, we take verbal abuse but stay polite and positive, we take our picture and go where it’s required and stay there as long as needed to fetch what we are asked. Photocopies and certificates, stamps and seals and fingerprinting are second nature. Despite their best efforts, our numbers grow larger and we overwhelm them. We fly couch, we are there, and if you lift a rock n your city, out Colombians will pour and run away like cockroaches exposed to light.
The official numbers from 2005 (the last official census) very optimistically say that 10% of Colombians left the country, almost 3 and half million. A more recent study says the number is 6 million and closer to 15% percent of the total population. The NGOs say the number is actually 8 million.
In contrast, census from 1835 record the total Colombian population to number barely 1 million and 700 thousand.
The Colombians who fought to be independent are outnumbered by us who fight to be dependent and their will and resolution is our curse and our cross to burden. Their actions are our original sin.


Ann 12:43 pm on July 7, 2010 Permalink
good luck moving again! too bad we’ll *just* miss you by a couple days in holland.
Tam 1:21 pm on July 7, 2010 Permalink
That’s right, we do