Sunday, November 27, 2022

dar la cara

Dar la cara, in Colombia at least, carries the double meaning of both face the music (acknowledging responsibility) and press the flesh (physical presence). I don't know of any way to convey both meanings in English - do you? I appreciated the discussion of the meanings of this term and how the Colombian state does and doesn't dar la cara in this episode (particularly around minute 55 and on) of the podcast Colombia calling, with Gwen Burnyeat and Andrei Gomez-Suarez discussing Gwen's new book
"The Face of Peace: Government Pedagogy amid Disinformation in Colombia."

Saturday, November 5, 2022

raspachin: coca picker

I was reminded of this term by this spectacular long read analysis in the New Left Review by Forrest Hylton and Aaron Taus of the current Colombian conjuncture, placed in the long arc of Colombian political history. I can not recommend this article enough. If you are looking for a good recent Colombia 101 piece to give someone (say students) this is a great option. Fair warning, it took me an hour and forty five minutes to read - but they were well spent!