On July 20, when Colombia commemorated its 202th year of independence, netizens published various opinions with respect to the event. The country began the day with various debates on the situation regarding the indigenous population demanding the disarmament of their territory, the production of narconovelas (television dramas focusing on social injustice) on national channels, and mining. Additionally, there was a parallel between posts that expressed pride for the holiday and those that posed the question, “Is Colombia a truly independent country?”
In the blogosphere, historian Ángel Ortiz [es] says the independence of Colombia was not a messianic act:
El proceso de independencia se dio en realidad porque las grandes familias descendientes de españoles y nacidas en predios americanos, querían disponer de los recursos, administrarlos y repartirse las cuotas de poder.
Geraldine expressed her concern upon seeing that there aren't that many people who waive the Colombian flag anymore [es]:

Picture of the Colombian flag in Geraldine's post, used with permission.
Hoy me levante temprano por el calor, la luz se había ido y el ventilador, pues no servía. Eran casi las 9:00am, y cuando salí al balcón, ya la bandera estaba ahí, enrollada en su propia asta por el viento. Fui, la organicé y me percaté de cuántas banderas más habían: Era la única del edificio y las de la calle se podían contar con los dedos de una mano. ¿Qué pasó con esos días en que la gente no se había levantado y ya estaba colgando sus banderitas?
She also adds:
No somos independientes. Por lo menos no económicamente. Pero eso no quiere decir que no debemos celebrar una fecha importante en la historia de nuestro país. Como digo yo “Feliz día de la Independencia de España, las otras vendrán después”.
On Twitter, various hashtags that expressed patriotism, in addition to those that questioned whether Colombia was truly independent, became local Trending Topics. These tags were: #TierraQuerida [#BelovedLand], #SoyColombiano [#IAmColombian], Orgullosamente colombiana [Proudly Colombian], and Feliz día de la independencia [Happy Independence Day].
Juan Gossaín (@DonJuanGosssaín) [es], a journalist that has become renown over the course of the past few years, wrote:
@DonJuanGosssaín: Estoy seguro que llegará el día en que celebremos nuestra segunda libertad: vivir en paz. Feliz 20 de julio #TierraQuerida
User @DanielitoBang [es] ironically addressed those Colombians that were ranting about the indigenous populations in Cauca:
@DanielitoBang: Un feliz día a todos esos patriotas que hace un par de días despotricaban de los indígenas colombianos.
Sergio Serrano (@sergio_serrano_) [es] responded to the greetings from the United States embassy in Colombia (@USEmbassyBogota) [es]:
@sergio_serrano_: Cómo así? Ya se van?
User @donnyrossoff [es] reflected as follows:
@donnyrossoff: O aprendemos algo, sufrimos suficiente o nos cansamos de lo mismo… ¡Salvemos a esta
#TierraQuerida! http://pic.twitter.com/LpzANnra
On her part, Silvia Restrepo (@silviarpo) [es] called for remembering those that are kidnapped:
@silviarpo:Feliz Dia de la Independecia! recordemos a todos a quienes les han quitado lo mas preciado… La libertad! Orgullosamente COLOMBIANA
Vallenato singer Felipe Peláez (@Felipe_Pelaez) [es] also made a heartfelt comment:
@Felipe_Pelaez: Desde USA, feliz día de la independencia a mi bello país… A mi tierra colombiana!! No hallo mi vida sin ti Colombia!!
Much like him, Juli (@hopeyoufind) [es], who also expressed her pride of having been born in Colombia, commented:
@hopeyoufind: Soy Orgullosamente Colombiana y me vale lo que digan de mi hermoso país, estoy muy orgullosa de haber nacido acá, TE AMO COLOMBIA.
Netizens shared various images on Facebook, such as that Anonymiss Colombia [es] reposted, in which they criticize the presence of multinational corporations [es].

Map of Colombia with logos of multinational corporations, reposted by Anonymiss Colombia.
Finally, the Facebook group Amo a Colombia [I Love Colombia] shared an image in which homage is made to the Colombian flag, the yellow representing [es] gold, the blue representing the richness of Colombia's seas, and the red representing those who fought for Colombia's freedom:

Happy 202th Birthday Colombia
1 comment
Crap page with rubbish biased information.