Dangerous times for Colombian university students

Video in three parts; click through at the end for parts #2 and #3. Spanish, with English subtitles by Tlaxcala.

The last ten years have been deadly ones for university students in Colombia. Anyone who has any grievances or disputes with the authorities and/or the government, faces death threats and persecution. At least 35 students have been murdered in this time span alone. In the face of this, politically active progressive university students have taken to hooding their faces so that the authorities cannot track them down. It is the only way they can speak out, but the media and the authorities have demonized them for it as criminals and accuse them of having ties to the FARC and ELN. They seize on literally any excuse to come down harder on the students, to the point where all opposition to the hard-right Uribe government becomes a potential death sentence.

Next time you hear Venezuelan right-wing oppos whining about a crackdown on them, bear in mind that they face nothing nearly so bad as what their Colombian leftist counterparts do.

And also, remember this: In the eyes of Washington, Colombia is a model democracy!