Armero: The Ghost Town Colombia Can't Forget (and Maybe, Shouldn't)
Okay, so another anniversary. Forty years since Armero got wiped off the map by a freakin' mudslide. Twenty-five thousand souls gone. And what are we doing? "Solemn ceremonies" and "renewed efforts to clarify what's become of town residents who went missing." Give me a break.
The Blender of History
Fernando Angarita, climbing a tree, then BAM! "Inside a blender," he says. Sixteen fractures. Survives. Why? He has "no idea." That's the money quote right there. No grand lesson, no poetic justice, just dumb luck in the face of overwhelming horror. It ain't some tidy morality play.
And then there's Omayra Sánchez, the 13-year-old stuck in the mud for 70 hours. Turns into a freaking saint because she asked her mom to pray for her? Seriously? We turn tragedy into cheap inspiration. It's gross.
The Dutch tourist, Asthar Vreeswijk, says Armero is "more moving than the petrified ruins of Pompeii." Oh, is it? Because it's "like how it was"? Newsflash: It's a mass grave, not some carefully curated museum exhibit. People died there, Asthar. This isn't your freakin' Eurotrip.
"Better Prepared"? Don't Make Me Laugh.
"If Nevado del Ruiz erupts again Colombia should be better prepared." That's what they tell us. Oh really? They created a "special agency" and installed "early warning systems." Like that's gonna stop a mountain of mud and lava.
It's like saying we're "better prepared" for the next pandemic because we have… hand sanitizer? These people are delusional.
And the missing children? 583 kids vanished. Some "likely perished." Others "quickly adopted." Oh, isn't that nice? Lost a kid in a natural disaster? No problem, just grab another one! Jesus. The "chaos reigned," they admit. Record-keeping was "shoddy." Offcourse it was. What a surprise.
The government's "pledge" to open its adoption records? Yeah, I'll believe that when I see it. Bureaucrats covering their asses, as usual.
Then there's the symbolic gesture: relatives launching model boats into a river. Tiny sails with photos of the missing. It's… theatrical. Like it's gonna bring anyone back. Is it for the families, or is it for the cameras? I can't tell anymore.
But wait... what the hell does any of this have to do with the price of dolar colombia today? Absolutely nothing. Just needed to rant.
Geopolitics and Warplanes? What the Actual F***?
Speaking of distractions, Colombia's president, Gustavo Petro, inks a $4.3 billion deal for Swedish warplanes? Seventeen Gripen fighter jets. A "deterrent weapon to achieve peace."
Is he serious?
Amidst a war of words with Trump (who calls Petro "an illegal drug leader" because of Colombia's "high level of cocaine production" -- let's be real, Trump is hardly one to talk), Petro's buying warplanes. To dissuade "aggression against Colombia, wherever it may come from." He says aggression "can come from anywhere." Colombia’s Petro inks $4.3bn deal for 17 fighter jets amid regional tension
Is he expecting a mudslide from Sweden? What? This is a bad idea. No, 'bad' doesn't cover it—this is a five-alarm dumpster fire.
It's all connected, ain't it? Disaster, corruption, political posturing. The search for missing children fades into the background while the government buys shiny new toys to play with.
So, What's the Real Story?
It's a cycle, people. Tragedy, denial, empty promises, and then… more tragedy. Armero is a ghost town, alright, haunted by more than just the dead. It's haunted by the living, who keep repeating the same damn mistakes.
