The role of social media has played an integral part all around the world, including Colombia. Partly due to drug trafficking, Columbia has been in a state of armed conflict since the 60’s, but since the 80’s the violence from drug trafficking has become much worse. In “Social Media in Colombia: An Agent for Change,” Colombia’s former Minister of Telecommunications, Daniel Medina, along with Andrés Traslaviña MS Ed, will discuss how social media has “empowered the people to join the war against drug trafficking,” according to the panel.
Traslaviña’s mother was an undercover prosecutor in Columbia during the drug war during the 1990’s – this was part of his inspiration for being a part of the panel. He witnessed first hand the problems his nation faced.
“Colombia´s political realm has positively changed as a result of people having access to information not previously available to them,” said Traslaviña.
He said that what happened in Columbia is an example of how a country can go from being one of “the most feared” nations to one of the most peaceful nations. He described the current situation of Mexico to what was happening in Columbia.
Traslaviña hopes people will see that “in the same way Social Media helped Colombia is a way to empower people to make change happen.” Traslaviña believes that access to social media “in marginalized regions will improve the well-being of people.”
Medina Traslaviña will provide compelling examples of activism with the use of technology and social media. The panel starts at 9:30 am on Saturday, March 10th and will last an hour, located at the Austin Convention Center.