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This paper aims to debate the new paradigms of international development aid, with a specific focus on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and their implementation within the context of Latin America. The paper will start drawing both the conceptual framework and the international environment, and afterwards will provide readers with an analysis of a success story occurred in the Department of Antioquia (Colombia). A further analytical approach will be proposed to appraise the potential of the North-South and South-South developmental co-operations. These may be linked one to each other with the first strengthening and widening up the second, thus creating innovative enabling environments for fruitful exchanges between local actors and organized civil societies of the North and the South of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 1910 and 1915 the American Museum of Natural History carried out several expeditions in Colombian territory. Taking into account recent studies on U.S. cultural imperialism and science and imperialism, this paper analyzes the collections of birds from these expeditions to explore the role of North American imperialism in science, as well as the role of North American science in the expansion of the United States in the first decades of the twentieth century. The paper illustrates how theories of race and migration shaped the way in which North American naturalists appropriated and comprehended Colombian nature. Likewise, the paper explores the perspective of Colombian naturalists towards the expeditions, concluding that, far from being mere puppets of North American interests, Colombians used the relationship with U.S. naturalists to pursue their own agendas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper analyzes the physical factors controlling the recent morphology of major deltas along the Pacific and Caribbean coasts of Colombia. The study considers the fluvial, coastal, and oceanographic contributions to changes in delta morphology and uses different approaches, including (1) remote sensing techniques; (2) time series analysis of river discharge, sea level, wave climate and tidal variability; (3) analysis of the relationship between monthly mean sea level anomalies near the deltas related to the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO); (4) development of a database of key physical variables; (5) series of correlation calculations to examine which environmental factors control delta morphology; (6) analysis of shoreline changes for the 1986–2000yr-period; and (7) classification of each delta system based on the relationship between water and sediment discharges and wave and tidal energies. Overall, Colombian deltas are built under destructive physical conditions. The Pacific deltas, San Juan, Mira, and Patía, are tide-influenced deltas although they exhibit definite characteristics of wave-dominated systems such as the presence of barriers and beach ridges. Also, these deltas exhibit the highest marine energy conditions of all Colombian deltas (marine power values between 9.1 and 11.6) due to the interplay of (1) moderate wave conditions as a result of the effect of swells from the SW with a significant height varying from 1.7 in the San Juan delta to 3.0m and 3.1m in the Mira and Patía deltas, respectively; (2) meso-tidal ranges; (3) steep subaqueous profiles; (4) low attenuation indexes of deep-water waves; and (5) strong oceanographic manifestations associated with the ENSO, causing regional sea level rises of 20–44cm during El Niño events. The Caribbean deltas, Magdalena, Sinú and to a lesser extent, the Atrato, are wave-influenced deltas. The Magdalena, with deep and nearshore wave power values of 45×106 ergs−1 and 35×106 ergs−1, respectively, and the lowest attenuation index of deep-water waves, is the most wave-influenced delta of Colombia. Statistical relationships show that the area of Colombian deltas is best predicted from average discharge and bank-full width of river entering the delta. The number of distributary channels is explained by the marine power index and the gradient of the delta plain. The average and total width of distributary channels are largely controlled by the tidal range. Further analysis of shoreline changes indicate that the retreating behavior of the western part of the Magdalena delta has been due to anthropogenic causes, including the construction of jetties in 1936. By contrast, processes of rapid erosion in the San Juan delta have been the result of 2.6mmyr−1 long-term relative sea level rise due to tectonic induced subsidence coupled with a eustatic rise of sea level. Overall, the other deltas are experiencing prograding phases with rates of accretion of 100myr−1 in the artificial delta of the Canal del Dique. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article seeks to examine the implications that the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTAA) between the United States and Colombia would have particularly in the situation of Colombian women. The recent contributions that gender studies have provided to the social sciences and more specifically to economics, allow elaborating new ways of understanding issues concerning the national welfare and sovereignty from a usually marginalized perspective. The fact that there are not many studies that relate the gender factor with free trade, makes this paper a catalyst of the debate in this issue, which attempts to contribute in the analysis of the social impacts, standing specifically from a gender perspective, the implementation of the trade agreement would have. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]