Well that was disappointing

The anti-George Bush protest at Universidad Nacional may have been a big thing at the main location. But for us here at the 73, it was a big let down. Just down the street, we have the Education Department of the university, which is actually fairly big. So, while the press is reporting tear gas and water cannons, the most we had was a bit of tear gas, overzealous and overimportant security guards, and a bit of noise on the block. Really, not much.

One thing is for sure, Colombia doesn´t like protests much. I don´t know if anything provoked the tear gas. But from my vantage point, the students just walked out of the school en mass and the cops launched the gas. That was it. No rocks thrown, no real protest started, nothing. Just a preemptory strike against a relatively peaceful group. That´s real stand up democracy right there.