521: "Five Days in Bogotá," the new book by author Linda Moore

You make the Columbia Calling podcast possible. And, of course, to all of our listeners far and wide, a huge, huge shout out to Beatriz and Jeff, who came down from the United States and visited us at the Casa Amarilla in Montbos, and even painted some works of art for us to hang in the Casa Amarilla. So that is an incredibly touching detail, as we would say, detallito, as we would say in Spanish. Really, really, very kind. And if you're listening, Beatriz and Jeff, thank you so much for this kind, kind gift.

And it's a very personal gift. So thank you again. This week's episode, 521, we speak to author Linda Moore, who's in San Diego, California. She is, well, she calls herself a recovering art gallery owner, traveler, writer, author. And she splits her time between Hawaii and California.

But she's written a new book, and it's called Five Days in Bogotá. It's a work of fiction. I said a couple of times in the, in our conversation, it reads like a screenplay. It's like a car chase almost. And, like so many works of fiction, there are elements of it that are based on personal experiences.

So, of course, be sure, be sure to tune in and hear about Linda's experiences in meeting, albeit briefly, but amazing, so, in meeting Gabriel García Márquez. So the Nobel Prize winning author from Colombia. Ten years gone now. Ten years ago, he passed away. So quite timely indeed.

So we will go over now to the news, the Colombia briefing, and be back with Linda Moore on segment three of episode 521.

. Thank you again to everyone on Patreon and on Ko-fi and everything else, PayPal. You make us what we are today. And then, of course, subscribe, share, and shout from the rooftops about the Colombia Calling podcast. And some words from our sponsors.

The Colombia Calling podcast is sponsored by Latin News, a leading source of political and economic analysis on Latin America and the Caribbean since 1967. Their flagship publication, the Latin American Weekly Report, provides a behind-the-scenes briefing on all the week's key developments throughout the region. Sign up for a 14-day free trial at latinnews.com. We are also sponsored by BNB Colombia Tours, which is a leading tour operator, providing a wonderful range of exclusive small group shared tours for those over 50, along with customizable private tours to both popular and off-the-map destinations throughout this beautiful and diverse country. If you're interested in experiencing one of their unforgettable journeys through Colombia, be it a shared tour with like-minded travelers or creating a unique private package of your own, just complete the form on the Colombia Calling website, that's www.colombiacalling.co, or the BNB Colombia Tours website, that's www.bnbcolombia.com, and they'll be in touch within 24 hours to answer all of your questions and to start the planning of your exclusive Colombian adventure.

So, that's bnbcolombia.

com and latinnews.

com. Thank you for supporting our sponsors. I'm Emily Hart, and these are your headlines.

Most are killed by stabbing, and by current or former partners. In many cases, the victims have previously sought protection measures or law enforcement relating to domestic violence or abuse. A very small percentage of domestic violence, sexual or femicidal crimes go to trial. Even fewer end in convictions, though. the current government has passed legal reform focused on tougher sentences for those who are ultimately convicted for crimes against women.

These statistics have emerged in the same week that, separately, two women were murdered by former partners in broad daylight in public places in Bogotá. The city's mayor has now announced increased funds and training for related police units. Armed violence in Colombia's southwest continues. On Sunday, a massacre was perpetrated in Valle de Cauca, and on the same day, two children, six and eight years old, were killed during an assassination attempt against their uncle, who survived the attack. According to think tank Indepaz, there have been 26 massacres in Colombia this year, five of which were in the department of Valle de Cauca.

The area is experiencing a wave of violence, aggravated by the heavy presence of dissident FARC groups and other criminal organisations. Meanwhile, a local leader of FARC dissident group, the Estado Mayor Central, has been arrested. Elias David, also known as Calvito, is allegedly a leader of the Jaime Martínez Front in Valle de Cauca, and was behind recent attacks against security forces. Colombia is once again ranked the most dangerous country in the world for human rights defenders by NGO Frontline Defenders. Colombia accounts for almost half of the 300 murdered defenders registered last year, number one in the world, followed by Mexico, Brazil and Honduras.

Globally, murders of defenders are at their lowest since 2017, though Latin America accounts for 80% of those murders overall. Former President Alvaro Uribe, who was officially charged with bribery and witness tampering last week, is seeking to have prosecuting judge Gilberto Villareal replaced on the grounds of bias. This, along with ongoing attempts to annul the entire case, is among the last cards to play for Uribe's defence team, who have spent years postponing and derailing this historic trial, now in process at Colombia's Supreme Court. The crisis in the country's health system continues to deepen. One of the biggest providers, Sura, has notified the government that it will progressively stop providing health services.

Healthcare for one in ten Colombians is covered by Sura. This follows the request for liquidation of Compensar and the government intervention in seven other providers, leaving more than 30 million people unsure of their long-term access to healthcare.

Colombia's healthcare system has functioned on an insurance model since 1993.

. While some blame his mismanagement, President Gustavo Petro has said this collapse could have been avoided by his controversial health reform bill. The bill cost him his congressional coalition and was nevertheless then shelved by the Senate. He has announced a new bill for the reform of Colombia's health system, but it has yet to be presented to the legislature. Bullfighting has been banned in Colombia after the bill passed through the House of Representatives last week.

The ban will come into force in 2027, giving current locations three years to transition into venues for concerts, theatre and conferences. Though bullfighting has now been banned in countries like Colombia, Argentina, Brazil and Cuba, it remains legal in seven countries worldwide, including Mexico, Peru, Venezuela and Ecuador. Before the success of this bill in Colombia, 14 prior attempts to ban bullfighting had failed over the last decade.

In international news, Petro has ordered the opening of an embassy in the city of Ramallah in Palestine. The city, on the West Bank, is the administrative capital. The Palestinian government has also announced that it is planning a ceremony to decorate President Gustavo Petro for his stance on Israel's genocide against the Palestinian people. And in other diplomacy news, Petro has welcomed Mexico's new president. Left-wing candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum, won around 60% of the vote carried out this weekend.

The road to Mexico's presidency was a violent one. In the run-up to this election, 26 candidates and pre-candidates were murdered, 24 more were attacked and nine were kidnapped by criminal organisations. Petro said on social media, Mexico elected a progressive as the first female president in its history. It is a triumph for the Mexican people and for its democracy. We will work together to see Latin America united and progressing.

Those were your headlines for this week. Thanks for listening. And if you value these updates or want them direct to your email or WhatsApp as audio and text every Monday, you can subscribe to the Columbia Briefing. Just sign up to my substack at substack.com forward slash at e-h-a-r-t or you can sign up on the Columbia Calling Patreon site. That's all from me.

Have a great week.

She's in San Diego. There is a personal connection here. And she has a new book out. Hot off the press. It's called Five Days in Bogota.

And we are talking to author Linda Moore. Thank you so much for your time on the Columbia Calling podcast.

It's a very fast read. It's like a car chase, I think, kind of cinematic, with plenty of dialogue. But we'll get into that in a minute, because it's not everyone who writes a book about Colombia. It's not everyone who bases their book in Colombia. So I know that my audience, my listeners, a very literary bunch, very much so all around the world, mainly in the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, and then Colombia.

We want to know about you and on your bio, Linda, it says writer, traveler, author, but recovering gallery owner. Tell us about how you came to be a writer after all of this.

I have always loved Latin America. I found my way there through studying Spanish and went, when I was 15, to Mexico, the FAA, and was swept away into a world that was so different from my Scandinavian parents and grandparents. And I was loving the energy and the life that I think you find throughout the region. So I became a fan and continued to study the area. But mostly while I did study literature, I mostly studied the politics of the region.

And you're quite careful in your book. You don't go much into the politics, but again, we'll get into that in a second. But how do you feel that then, studying Latin American politics for so long, could that affect and really define the kind of art you looked for to hang in your gallery? Was it politically motivated art and so on from Latin America?

And I began to realize how ignorant most Americans were about Latin America in general. And that set me off on a sort of mission to help whether it was a physician who couldn't understand customs and culture that might relate to a child's disease and and their cures or diagnoses and and treatments. And, and that kind of set me off on a different direction. After much time and more time in the healthcare field, I, I decided that I could educate people better about the region through art, not necessarily visual art, but music and literature. And people open themselves up more, I think, to learning through that, rather than didactic presentations about history and political dynamics and so on.

And, you know, in some ways, I'm, I'm one of those people who believes you cannot separate politics from the rest of it. It comes as a package and you need to, to really understand it all. Unfortunately, we like to pigeonhole things in the US and, and it often isn't so much the global macro view of all of it. And I, I was at one point thinking, with the family, I couldn't, I couldn't do this heavy job and also manage all the rest. So I decided to open an art gallery.

And fortunately, I had a friend who was our ambassador, the US Ambassador to Argentina. And he and his wife invited me to come to Buenos Aires and stay with them in that amazing home that the US owns. And they introduced me to the cultural attaché of Argentina, and also Uruguay and, and Brazil. And I began to meet artists, they took me to studios. And I was just overwhelmed with the originality and the ideas.

and how many artists, especially at that time, that was the late 90s, late 80s. And at that time, you know, everybody was in Argentina and Uruguay, they were still reeling from the dictatorships that had, you know, been very recent, a lot of artists had basically hidden, because they feared imprisonment. So this was such an interesting story. And I loved what they expressed in their art. So that set me off on that path.

And when we think of everything that can you attribute this, this ignorance, to to anything? I mean, because it's so strange to me that, you know, it's, it's kind of like the US, Mexico, and then, you know, a bunch of countries below.

And, you know, enjoy their music. But I think beyond that, we need nudging to learn more. When I had the gallery, I printed out a map of South America, so that the people worked in the gallery would number one, know where Uruguay was and Argentina. And, and they often would pull out those maps and show the people came in the gallery, what the geography was, it was that we were starting at that basic level. And I feel good that through the art, that people have understood so much more about the region.

And I hope also that's true of Five Days in Bogota in the book, where people will learn a lot about Colombia, and maybe let go of some myths and some ideas that come from the very limited feed we get about its history, especially the recent history.

And I know that at your launch party up there, I guess, La Jolla, or San Diego, my stepmother attended and it was quite the knees up. You had dancers, you had like music, you had food.

It was. I mean, this is. this is a serious undertaking. You were you.

we had, you know, in these, these are such interesting people, because they live here. They're very much American now, but they have this Colombian heritage. And we had a faculty member from UC San Diego Medical School, who is a ophthalmologist, a surgeon, and he plays guitar, has a wonderful voice. And another harpist played Colombian harp. And, and then we had the cumbia dancers and the drummers and eating arepas.

And, you know, the only thing we didn't have was our agua ardiente, which we're concerned about, liquor liability. So we just said, Okay, there's plenty of other things to drink. So we had something called limonada de coco.

There you go. I had cumbia life cumbia at my wedding all those years ago. So I tried in San Diego, in Cartagena. Okay. Yeah, just outside.

Well, within within the walled city, towards Hezemani, a very obviously an ancient church. And we had. we shipped in our cumbia musicians from Mom boss, where I have my hotels because it's very famous for its cumbia. And they played at the reception and we all danced. cumbia, or a version of cumbia was enjoyed by all, and I truly love it.

So it sounded like from reports back from my stepmother, Paula. It was quite the knees up. And I, what I'm concerned about, Linda, is that every single launch party you're having is you're shuttling in salsa and cumbia musicians. And I mean, this is this is it. Will you be doing it this, you know, in this fashion and every single one?

But you know, the University of Texas in Austin is one of the fundamental places to study Latin America in the United States. And I wish I'd had more time to go over there, especially to the archives that they have there of Garcia Marquez's writings and some other things. But, you know, I, you know, and I suppose in defense of the United States, that there are robust programs to learn about the region. And the graduates of those programs work at in in, you know, connected to what they studied in some way. So that's, that's there.

And that's a positive thing, I think.

I was going to mention that about the University of Texas, I do know that they bought all of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's notes and diaries. And so one day I'll get through that, one day I'll get across and just get a glimpse.

There is, you know, that little museum in Aracataca, his hometown, but that was closed for many years while they tried to work out. is this his grandparents home? Or is it the Buendia home from, you know, from the Hundred Years of Solitude? Right. He, it's, it's a, it's a conflicted relationship.

Of course, he's Colombian. Of course, he never lost his Colombian ness, and his love for Colombian culture, but his politics were not aligned to those of the governments in power of turn and his, you know, he self exiled to Mexico for a very long time, came back infrequently to Colombia. But I think, more than being, he never felt at home in Bogota, even as a student, and so on. He's always, he always felt far more at home on the Caribbean coast. Of course, he is a Costeno.

He was, is, will forever be. So I think you sort of take that region, the Caribbean area, Barranquilla, Cartagena, Aracataca. His wife was from Magangue, which is in front of Momposc. She went to school in Momposc. Wow.

So all of these kind of places, oh, and the Guajira, are very much more what I would say is his identity, rather than interior Colombia. And you know, Colombia very well. It's, it's dozens of countries with but with a shared frontier is.

I tell a story in the book of meeting García Márquez in Bogotá. And I don't know if you wanted me to share.

I'm bringing this work, I'd love to show it to him. And I got a very nice letter back saying, Mr. García Márquez apologizes, he is entertaining 11 Latin presidents from Latin American countries with President Gaviria. And I thought, oh, well, I guess I understand it's more important work. And I forgot about it until I got a message from the art fair office saying, come, we have a message for you.

This is days before cell phones, right? So I went and learned that indeed, he was coming and he was coming with Gaviria. And I was like stunned. So I, you know, rushed back to my booth and try, to, you know, get my head together about how to do this. And the thing that is really clear in my memory is I'm sitting away, I can't see the door of the big convention center where this was happening.

And I hear this kerfuffle of like people coming in the door and the press and cameras and all this. And that was Gaviria. And then the next thing I hear is a roar, like Taylor Swift or in the day Madonna had entered the hall. And it was Garcia Marquez. And I thought, how can you not love a country that gets it so right that this is the president for a minute in time?

And this is an author for all eternity. And I will never forget that moment and the love that you felt in that room for Garcia Marquez. It was, I get goosebumps even talking about.

That in the back had collages of clippings from his books, Garcia Marquez's books, and Faulkner's books, where the artist had taken things that he felt connected or related to each other. And Garcia Marquez was adorable. He, he looks at the back of this, I'm explaining all this. And, you know, he puts his glasses on, and he puts them on top of his head. And he looks up at me, he says, you know, what happens is, I don't know.

I forget what I wrote.

He was so charming. And so I gave. I said, I want you to keep that painting, the artist wants you to have it. And he was so touched. And he said, Oh, when are you leaving?

You want to give you something? So he said, I know, famously, you don't sign autographs, because he probably gets mobbed by people. I said, but I have this old book from my student days in Madrid. And I would love you to sign it, would you do that for me? So he takes the book in his hand, and he stares at it, and he turns it over.

And I at first I thought he was like thinking he didn't want to sign it because he had coffee stains. I mean, it was truly a loved book from my student days, paperback, you know, whatever was the only copy I had in Spanish. So I wanted to have that with me. And then he looks up and he said, Where did you get this book? And I told him, and he said, It's a very rare copy.

He said, This was printed by Sudamericana in Buenos Aires. And when the shipment was sent to Colombia, this is in the late 60s. He said the government destroyed the entire shipment. So the only books that survived were some, of course, in Argentina, but also the ones that were shipped to Spain, in Spanish. And he said, The idea that you have brought this book is full circle.

It went from Buenos Aires to Madrid, and then to California. And now it came back to Colombia. to me. I mean, he was really touched. And he signed my book, Gabriel, which I love because, you know, people call him Gabo and all that.

But, you know, it's my husband. knows. if the house catches fire, forget the wedding photos, the kids photos, get the book and save it. Because it's one of the most precious things I own. So anyway, that's my story.

. And there's he's drawn a flower. It's pretty much the way that I wrote the scene in the book.

I've seen it exhibited in some places. It's sort of got a. there's a whole load of different, I would say, rectangles on the front with the different blue rim on a kind of cream background. Some of you will know what I'm talking about, because you will have seen it as well. But it's an incredibly rare edition.

So, yes, let the house burn down.

Amazing. It's amazing. So you got to meet Gabbo. You had a little time with it. He signed your book.

He drew a flower. That's yeah, that's something to definitely work into your your work of fiction, because it's not fiction, because it's well, he has a bit of a bigger role in the book.

And in during that time, she gets swept into some nefarious art shenanigans and has to figure out a way to extricate herself. It's a bit I would I would almost call it more suspense than a thriller, but it is a wild car chase, a romp of a book. So it reads very fast, but it takes you through some beautiful places in Colombia. And I love when the critics up here call it immersive, that they feel they are there. And that for me means I succeeded to describe and remember well what that experience was like.

I'm sure Bogota has changed a lot, but some places, Candelaria, for example, I don't imagine has changed much at all. And I hope that everyone appreciates. I'm anxious for people from Bogota to read the book, or Colombia who know Bogota, because it's always interesting to hear what you got right and what you got wrong. But I work very hard at it. It's like what color were taxis in 1990 in Bogota?

It like everywhere, like San Diego, like everywhere.

There's no way to sort of call home or get an email or a text. And, you know, it presents challenges in the way and opportunities, because it's more tension when she can at any minute reach her children and, you know, know that they're safe. So it it is both good news and bad news, but it's something you have to tiptoe around. And I think there was this feeling of tension everywhere. I stayed at the Tekendama Hotel and at that point there were armed guards outside the hotel.

There were checkpoints all over the place. I think they were trying to keep the FARC out of the capital. I don't know. I mean, a lot is, like, you know, from the perspective of a person who's not in the inner circle and really doesn't know what the purpose of things are, who's the good guys, bad guys. And the bottom conclusion she came is she couldn't trust anyone except herself, which is, you know, a good friend.

And of course, the Tekendama was owned by the military as well.

And it's kind of. it's kind of my offbeat one. But of course, you're an author and you hope for growth. And as we've been talking, is, you've got U.S. publishers and bookstores.

think that you've got two months to get the publicity out there. But I personally believe longer. if it's a quality work, then it's going to last. Of course it is. So obviously you want to sell the movie rights and you're there in California.

Who have you got playing? Ali, David and Enrique? Those are the three key players. Ali is you. I'm sure it's written about me in a different era, perhaps.

I'm getting the Ali feeling talking to you as the first one. And then David is the kind of slippery former, I guess, former lover, now involved in all sorts of different things. And then you've got Enrique, who's kind of I don't know. Do we trust him? Do we not trust him?

There's a sidekick there. You have to have an idea of who. who could be in the screenplay for this.

Do you think Ali could be?

God, what's her name?

Yeah. Diaries. Yeah. But anyway, I guess she's quite diverse. Yes, she absolutely could be Ali.

So, yeah, I think so. I'm surprised. You know, I'm nervous, actually, that some of these people might be too close to people I actually met. But I I'll leave that speculation. That's all right.

I have met Gaviria personally. I've seen, I saw Gabo speak once. No, I don't know these people. So we're OK. I think that's fun.

I think that's a fun game there. Now, I, just as we close up, because it's a big, we come to the end of. this is a big question. It's a big question from from Colombia, really, is that obviously people here are very keen to turn the page on on yesteryear. And the those dark, dark years of Escobar and the FARC guerrillas basically infiltrating the city.

that, not far from where I live, is the big private club El Nogal that was bombed. I think it's been more than 14 years now of impunity. And they're going on. So there's things that Colombians are very, very keen on turning the page. And I often say, well, you're not going to be able to turn the page completely because it's something you're going to have to address.

But at the same time, we should promote the wonders that are found in Colombia, the scenery, the people, the, the culture, the dance, the literature and so on. We should do this. But in the writing of your book, in the writing of Five Days in Bogota, did you find yourself saying, OK, I need to lighten this up a bit? Maybe there's too much, you know, of a dark Bogota here, a dark thing, because I know in the, in the like the notes at the end, you do say that you are, you know, trying to trying to tell people that Colombia is an incredible place and the food and the regions.

owns that, too, because of the way they got themselves into the middle of it didn't necessarily help. And this is such the story of the United States relations with any country in Latin America. It's never been.

Motivated by really lifting up the countries that we delusion, the delusions about helping people is is misguided. And I hope that comes through in this book, too, during that time, helping with the drug war. I suppose the best thing we had to offer was the fear that you could get extradited to the United States. And that was a motivator to try to cooperate with the government of Colombia.

And yet I don't know that we we played our role very well either. So I think there is value in revisiting the history and hearing more about the facts of what happened during that time. And the sincere struggles that the Colombian leadership and the Colombian people had to try to figure it out. They were being hit from all sides. I had the opportunity to meet one of the members of the delegation that was trying to resolve.

I'm sorry, I've forgotten. they were meeting in Iceland or Norway or someplace to solve the problems of, you know, of trying to forgive the FARC, move on and so on. And it seemed very hopeful at the time that I happened to talk with this fellow. But I am not sure where it sits now. These, these are tough things.

I visited Belfast in Northern Ireland thinking, hey, you know, they they've moved on. But yet the children in Northern Ireland still go to Protestant schools and Catholic schools. There is no public school to speak of. And until the children can play soccer together and not against each other, but on the same team, you know, how do we get on the same team? Because that's the way to move forward.

And sometimes revisiting the past, writing the history of the past in a different way than how it's shown on American television, for sure, is important to do. And if the book doesn't do it perfectly, it's OK, because what the book does do is open the conversation. Begins the dialogue to say, so, what happened and where are we now? And how do we appreciate the, the riches of Colombia and not, you know, condense it into this one horrible, evil, difficult time? And think about it from pre-Colombian artifacts and amazing cultural contributions that even the Spanish recognized.

And, you know, the history of Bolivar and what he contributed to the independence of of many Latin American regions. And I I could go on and on, you know it better than I do. But I love that. now it's in the conversation. And I have met with hundreds of people, maybe even thousands, in the last bit, where the book has come out.

And I look forward to meeting with even more people to talk about why these stories are important and why it helps us to rethink our history and have a perspective that helps us set aside what is valuable, what is worth keeping. And and that's for me, that made it worth it to write the book.

The book is available in bookstores in the U.

S.

, all good bookstores.

Go to a bookstore. Buy them there. But aside from that, thank you so much. As I said at the beginning, it's a fast read, like a car chase scene. That's how I read.

And you call it suspense. And I think of it as cinematic, with lots of dialogue and so on. So I read it incredibly fast, which is always a good sign for me. Because otherwise, if I put it down and walk away, it's because it's lost my attention a bit. So there you go.

I read it very fast. Thank you for sending over the PDF copy to read previous to this conversation. Thank you for your time. And, of course, showing us, for those of you watching on YouTube, showing us the Gabbo autograph in the book. I can hardly believe it.

I feel like I'm in the presence of greatness.

So thank you again, everybody. If you're interested, there you go. Five Days in Bogota by Linda Moore. And, of course, we support writers and we support these things. So go out and have a read, have it, and so on.

Linda, thank you so much for your time.

Thank you, everyone. The Columbia Calling podcast is sponsored by Latin News, a leading source of political and economic analysis on Latin America and the Caribbean since 1967. Their flagship publication, the Latin American Weekly Report, provides a behind-the-scenes briefing on all the week's key developments throughout the region. Sign up for a 14-day free trial at latinnews.com. We are also sponsored by BNB Columbia Tours, which is a leading tour operator providing a wonderful range of exclusive small group shared tours for those over 50, along with customizable private tours to both popular and off-the-map destinations throughout this beautiful and diverse country.

If you're interested in experiencing one of their unforgettable journeys through Columbia, be it a shared tour with like-minded travelers or creating a unique private package of your own, just complete the form on the Columbia Calling website, that's www.

columbiacalling.

co, or the BNB Columbia Tours website, that's www.

bnbcolumbia.

com, and they'll be in touch within 24 hours to answer all of your questions and to start the planning of your exclusive Columbian adventure. So that's bnbcolumbia.com and latinnews.com. Thank you for supporting our sponsors.