• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
John Elkington

John Elkington

A world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development.

  • About
    • Ambassador from the future
  • Past lives
    • Professional
      • Volans
      • SustainAbility
      • CounterCurrent
      • Boards & Advisory Boards
      • Awards & Listings
    • Personal
      • Family
      • Other Influences
      • Education
      • Photography
      • Music
      • Cycling
    • Website
  • Speaking
    • Media
    • Exhibitions
  • Publications
    • Books
    • Reports
    • Articles & Blogs
    • Contributions
    • Tweets
    • Unpublished Writing
  • Journal
  • Contact
  • Show Search
Hide Search

In Memory of Jaime Garzón

John Elkington · 31 October 2013 · Leave a Comment

A Halloween lunch and walkabout

Jaime Garzón photos in background Jaime Garzón photos in background On the threshold On the threshold 1 Corner Colours Even the doors have eyebrows Church Storm clouds Birds and cage The birds and the cage Graffito Graffito Juanita's T-shirt Juanita’s T-shirt Aerial figure Aerial figure Wings Wings Palm Palm Kimono Kimono Halloween llamas Halloween llamas Photograph Photograph Disappearing tram tracks Disappearing tram tracks Where the revolution began Where the revolution began Aping Fidel Fidel gives the finger Halloween cakes Halloween cakes Shot from a speeding car Shot from a speeding car, airport-bound

Worked at a fair pace this morning in the hotel, taking a number of phone calls including one with Amy (Birchall) from London and another with a headhunter from New York. Then by car to El Patio Restaurant for a lunch hosted by María López, and including Margarita Marino de Botero, Felipe Arango, Juanita Rico and Marco Volpe of Coca-Cola Colombia.

Couldn’t resist telling Marco that I hadn’t drunk Coca-Cola since I was in a school bus in Cyprus in the late 1950s when it was driven off the road by a truck and ended up crashing through the wall of a Coca-Cola factory.

The café-restaurant had a number of photographs and press cuttings in memory of the murdered Colombian and humourist journalist Jaime Garzón–a powerful, moving reminder of the 50-year war that the country has endured. Hopefully there will be a definitive peace agreement next year.

Then Juanita and Felipe took me for a walkabout through the streets of the city, which was full of people in Halloween costume. Impressive to see the Plaze de Bolívar, the scene of so much history, including the M-19 siege at the Palace of Justice. Came away feeling I need to read more about Simón Bolívar.

Then back to the Sheraton to pick up my things and on to the airport. As I finished Of Love and Other Demons as we winged back to Frankfurt, I found myself pondering the history of Colombia and its prospects for realising its dream of becoming a developed economy by 2050. Although Colombia is intensely hierarchical, I can just about imagine the dream happening.

Blog

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Introduction

I began this blog with an entry reporting on a visit to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod, on 30 September 2003. The blog element of the website has gone through several iterations since, with much of the older material still available.

Like so many things in my life, blog entries blur the boundaries between the personal and the professional. As explained on this site’s Home Page, the website and the blog are part platform for ongoing projects, part autobiography, and part accountability mechanism.

In addition, my blogs have appeared on many sites such as: Chinadialogue, CSRWire, Fast Company, GreenBiz, Guardian Sustainable Business, and the Harvard Business Review.

Recent Comments

  • PATRICK DICK on Reminder of Glencot Years
  • Milton Marino Gómez Ortiz on Tickling Sharks
  • John Elkington on Green Swans A “Must-Read”

Journal Archive

About

John Elkington is a world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development. He is currently Founding Partner and Executive Chairman of Volans, a future-focused business working at the intersection of the sustainability, entrepreneurship and innovation movements.

Contact

john@johnelkington.com  |  +44 203 701 7550 | Twitter: @volansjohn

John Elkington

Copyright © 2025 John Elkington. All rights reserved. Log in