Mónica Villamizar
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Mónica Villamizar is an award-winning correspondent for Al Jazeera English based out of Washington, DC.

She holds a masters degree in political science from the Institut d'Études Politiques in Paris. Besides her native Spanish, she speaks English, French, Italian, and Japanese. In 2006 she received a Premio Nacional de Periodismo Simón Bolívar award for best TV feature or report, for a series of reports on South Africa's peace process.

Blog Entries by Mónica Villamizar

9-11 at Guantanamo Bay

Posted September 14, 2011 | 10:18:49 (EST)

"This is the war that has marked our generation," said the commander of the Guantanamo Base as he spoke to dozens of soldiers ahead of a commemorative run to honor military members killed the past 9-11 years. Some soldiers had pictures of the victims taped to their running shirts. The...

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Drug Traffickers' Paradise

Posted August 16, 2011 | 17:02:24 (EST)

"If you want to see the inner workings of the drug trafficking business, Honduras is the country" says Victor (not his real name). He was a major drug trafficker before he became a born again Christian, after being shot in the skull and surviving. Now he wants to purge all...

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Hugo Chavez: "The Tough Times Began"

Posted July 6, 2011 | 18:37:02 (EST)

Hugo Chavez took off his medical leave clothes -- wind breaker and sweat pants that often match Fidel Castro's -- and wore the military uniform once again. Hours later, he made a surprise appearance in his native Venezuela.

His health saga has had ups and...

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Egypt's Youth Gears Up for Friday Protest Against the Armed Forces

Posted May 27, 2011 | 16:26:35 (EST)

Political "street art" in Egypt has proven to be dangerous, as only hours ago Mohammed Fahmy was arrested, apparently in connection with his graffiti work.


There are more and more graffiti emerging around Cairo. Many are stencil-graffiti (done by a pre-cut model placed against the wall...

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Lockerbie Widow Hopes Gaddafi Will Be Held Accountable

Posted February 24, 2011 | 19:01:14 (EST)

Stephanie Bernstein, a rabbi in Bethesda, Maryland, has been one of the most outspoken victims of the Lockerbie bombing. Her husband Michael was among the 259 on the plane killed when Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up over the Scottish town in 1988. As she welcomes me into her...

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Rio's Pre-Olympic Woes

Posted November 30, 2010 | 19:37:26 (EST)

2010-12-01-bope_and_children1.jpg
(Al Jazeera photo)

"It's worse than Iraq here." I heard this phrase repeatedly while reporting in the Complexo d'Alemao favela. The reason was apparent from the first moment I heard about the place. The slum in northern Rio is home to four thousand...

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Meeting Chile's Miners

Posted October 20, 2010 | 12:59:38 (EST)

Edison Pena is a keen runner and even while trapped hundreds of meters below the ground he managed to keep running. He did it for hours every day to take his mind off his situation.

Edison was described as one of the most depressed men in the Chilean mine but...

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