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Abstract: A 17kyr long pollen record from the unexplored Western Cordillera of Colombia (Páramo de Frontino; 3460m elevation) shows vegetation change and inferred climate dynamics at ~125yr resolution. The cold and wet Lateglacial showed well-defined stadials and interstadials. At the transition to the Holocene the upper forest line (UFL) shifted within 200years 700–800m upslope reflecting a temperature increase of ~4.5°C. Dead wood in the forests may have caused frequent fires. Individual taxa show clear and discrete successive expansion events, such as Podocarpus around 15calka, Quercus, Melastomataceae, Myrsine, Weinmannia, and Hesperomeles around 11.5calka, and Alnus around 9calka showing the floristic composition of the montane forest changed during its upslope migration. After forest had reached around 9calka a quasi-stable altitudinal interval forest taxa continued to change proportions showing that upslope forest migration caused significant internal forest dynamics. Forest stability is not found suggesting that an equilibrium between forest composition and environmental variables was not reached. We hypothesize trees migrated faster upslope than the shrubs causing a temporarily loss of this shrub biome. During most of the Holocene the UFL varied between 3500 and 3700m indicating warmer temperatures than today. High upper limits of subandean forest suggest that the lowermost level of significant night frost was at higher elevations than today. Driest pulses were registered ~9170 and ~8200calka since 620calka deforestation of Quercus, Podocarpus and Weinmannia in particular shows anthropogenic impact. Comparisons with other Andean climate records show a climatic asymmetry mainly related to migrations of the ITCZ. An implication of the present benchmark records of vegetation and climate variability and modeling is that new records should be analyzed at better than century resolution. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The coverage by some of the most important television newscasts of social protests taking place in Colombia during the first half of year 2004 is qualitatively analyzed in this study. Upon having established a consistent reference framework based on the democratic ideal and other researches, the author evidences that, with the exception of an spontaneous protest that happened to be successfully covered by a newscast in the proper context, this kind of coverage imitates paradigms found in other studies particularly from the United States. [all of this acting] in the detriment of democracy itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]