COLUMBIA

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 73, Issue 6306, 18 November 1946, Page 7

COLUMBIA

“A MOST DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY” PRAISE BY CANADIAN Columbia, “The most democratic country in whidh he had lived and one that deserved a great deal of attention from other nations,” was the subject of an enjoyable and enlightening talk given by Mr J. Jarema, at a meeting of the Royal Empire Society in Christchurch. Mr Jarema is a Canadian who has been in charge of constructional works undertaken by an American firm in different Latin American countries. He lived in Columbia, a big, mountainous country in the north-west corner of South America for 11 years —-from 1928 to 1939—and he speaks with warmth and understanding of that country and its people. There is, he said, no colour question in Colombia. The white and the black and those of niixfed blood live happily together. The Colombians are a fine people, quick to see a joke even against themselves, serious in some respects, happy-go-lucky in other ways, and always ready to take a holiday. Their economy is based largely on coffee, 95 per cent, of which goes to the United States. Another important export is oil, much of which is brought to the coast in a pipe-line 400 miles long. Cattle are bred for home consumption and for export, and the country is rich in minerals—platinum, gold and silver—which are found mostly in almost inaccessible places, so that the mining industry is not highly developed. ;The chief sport of the country is bull-fighting, which is attended by men, women and children. Cock fighting is also popular, but is attended only by m)en; and baseball is played to a (certain extent. Other games such as tennis and golf are played chiefly by “the foreign colonies”— American, British, Germans or Italians- Transport is either primitive or extremely modern. The principle modes of travel are by burro, or small donkey, or by aeroplane. The country is too mountainous for railways. It has several mountain I peaks more than 20,000 feet in height and the capital of Colombia, Bogota, stands 8000 feet above sea-level.

Mr Jarema concluded with an amusing description of election methods in Colombia, where the electors enjoy great freedom in expressing their views. They take their politics seriously, he says, but when the election is over there are no hard feelings.