Nation, City, and Public Transportation: a Case of Latin American Hegemony
6 Nation, City, and Public Transportation: A Case of Latin American Hegemony Héctor D. Fernández L’Hoeste Georgia State University During his first period of government (2002–06), Colombian president Álvaro Uribe Vélez centered much of his success on a policy called seguridad democrática (democratic security). For the most part, the Orwellian moniker describes a series of measures designed to recover the government’s control of crucial segments of the national highway network, which, during the previous administration of Andrés Pastrana Arango, had fallen by and large in the hands of guerrilla groups such as the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC). The measures centered then—for the most part—on matters of space, reinstating the presence of a national administration in the countryside, a sizeable job given Colombia’s total landmass, equivalent to slightly less than twice the size of Texas.1 In the urban sphere, represented by Colombia’s capital, Bogotá (pop. 7.8 million), as well as other metropolitan areas, like Medellín (pop. 3.3 million) and Cali (pop. 2.5 million), Uribe’s measures have centered on the strengthening of public institutions and a more active engagement of the civilian population. Namely, Uribe has aggressively sought an increase in the profile of the national government, granting it a significant role in the elaboration of national identity. Following ideas by Brazilian theorist Renato Ortiz, who problematizes the construction of public space amid national and transnational spheres, this text argues that
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