ARTICLE FOR CBS NEWS ON DATING APPS
Dating apps turn finding love into a video game — and lots of people lose
Watch the CBSN Originals documentary, "Speaking Frankly: Dating Apps”.
FULL TEXT HERE.
Piece for Columbia Journalism Review
Beaten, knocked down, dragged: A Venezuelan journalist flees country but not the story.
Published: August, 2017
VETERAN VENEZUELAN REPORTER ELYANGÉLICA GONZÁLEZ’S 20-YEAR CAREER in journalism came to an inflection point in late March, when covering her country’s ongoing crisis unexpectedly turned her into the story. González, a reporter for Univision and Colombia’s Caracol Radio, was covering a protest in Caracas where thousands of students had gathered in front of the Supreme Court, calling on the government to respect the constitution. The National Guard began pushing the students away, and a group of pro-government civilians, known as colectivos armados, started attacking the students.
At that point, González received a call from her radio station asking her to go live on her cell phone to cover the attacks on the students. A female National Guard officer overheard González reporting and started screaming at her to leave.
What happened next was captured on a video that quickly went viral across Latin America. The footage not only showed a fearful González being surrounded and manhandled by the Venezuelan military simply for trying to do her job, it revealed the dangerous escalation of violence against Venezuelan press covering weekly (sometimes daily) mass protests that have left more than 100 people dead in a country teetering on the brink. The situation has gotten so dire that the Committee to Protect Journalists published a special report for Venezuela with a comprehensive list of specific threats and precautions for media covering the disintegrating state.
The recent rise in attacks on local and foreign press is an ominous sign. According to the National Press Workers Union, in the first four months of this year, there were more than 200 attacks on journalists in Venezuela. And that doesn’t even include the four journalists recently detained and arrested, and several other journalists who were attacked during the controversial installment of the National Constituent Assembly on July 30.
“I explained that I had press credentials, and that I was on air, but another officer came and ripped the phone from my hands,” González recalls. “The female officer grabbed me by my hair, knocked me to the ground, and began kicking me repeatedly.”
FULL ARTICLE HERE
Sotheby's Jewllery Star, Andrés White Correal
An in-depth profile on Andrés White Correal, the man that sold the most expensive white diamond ever. He is Senior Director for International Business Development Jewelry at Sotheby's.
FULL ARTICLE HERE
Natalie Portman Interview for Diners Magazine (Colombia)
OpEd for The World Post - The Huffington Post
Published: March, 2016
PEACE, IN COLOMBIAN, MEANS DIVISION
First, some background: Colombia’s armed conflict is the longest running in Latin America and, some say, the world. The Marxist guerrillas and the Colombian government started a peace process two years ago. They agreed on a deadline for a final peace accord: March 23, 2016. Such deadline, proclaimed by the country’s president in the past United Nations General Assembly, was not met. Instead, a profound debate about how to achieve peace has dived Colombians further.
Polarization inevitably became a trademark for Colombia’s upcoming peace deal. Sadly, and maybe unavoidably, political differences between the country’s leaders obscured the mere fact that peace between State and rebels might actually be signed this very same month. Such, one might say, is the Colombian way.
Pessimism stalked peace negotiators right before the original deadline agreed by both government and guerrillas for signing the final peace accord. The deadline was Wednesday March 23rd. The actual date may or may not have a meaning; being given that even Barack Obama planned his historic trip to Cuba on the same week. But, the true connotation and impact of these missteps rely on the cloud of doubt that overshadows the country’s view of a future sans political violence.
FULL ARTICLE HERE
Profile for Bocas Magazine (Colombia)
Published: June, 2016
An interview with Diego Rodríguez during his time as FBI's Director in New York.
In Depth Feature for SoHo Magazine (Colombia)
Published: July, 2016
HISTORIA HUMANA DE UNA REMESA
Así vaya de Queens hacia Armenia, el viaje de esta remesa verdaderamente comienza en un río de la frontera entre México y Estados Unidos. Ahí, donde el paso de ilegales es cosa diaria, está Leonardo Jaramillo. Es 1985, y a sus 14 años este colombiano, cagado del susto, tiene a pesar de todo su meta fija: comenzar una nueva vida en Norteamérica. Leonardo recuerda que después del fin de la relación de sus padres, su papá había decidido volarse hacia el país del norte e incitó a su hijo a que hiciera lo mismo un tiempo después. Según las historias que le contaron de niño, pudo llegar en 1979, en una avioneta que salió de Medellín, pasó por una de las islas de Carlos Lehder para luego aterrizar en La Florida. Fue su padre, cuyo nombre prefiere no mencionar, quien lo puso en contacto con las personas que organizan esos infernales trayectos desde Colombia hasta Texas, para después llegar a lo que parece ser un "felices por siempre". Leonardo lleva una hora sentado a las afueras de Ciudad Juárez, en medio de la nada y chupando arena. A su lado está Antonio Duván, su hermano mayor, oyendo música en un viejo walkman. Andan escondidos detrás de una piedra y esperando señal para correr hacia el siguiente punto de encuentro.
Esta seña, un chiflido usualmente, viene de un mexicano que se dedica a traficar personas en esta frontera, uno de esos que llaman 'coyotes'. De cuerpo todavía endeble, para poder cruzar uno de los ríos entre Ciudad Juárez y la frontera con Texas, Leonardo tiene que sentarse en los hombros del coyote, cuyo nombre real nunca conoció pero que les cobró la segunda tajada de los 4.000 dólares que les costó el viaje completo. El proceso que llena a Estados Unidos de inmigrantes ilegales transcurre sin percance alguno para los hermanos Jaramillo. Del miedo que sienten los que entran por el hueco, también llamados 'mojados' entre los hispanoamericanos, le queda a Leonardo una lección: desde ese día se da cuenta de que ayudará a su familia viva donde viva, a la distancia que sea, haga lo que haga. Cree, igual que el resto de mojados, que entrando a este país podrá tener lo que en Armenia no tuvo, y dar lo que en su ciudad natal nunca pudo dar.
FULL ARTICLE HERE