Of the People, By the People, For the People

Colombian Senator Jesus Pinacue wants to represent his people in the government. His people are Paez Indians. But the tribe was none too happy with Pinacue’s first decision: he voted for Liberal party presidential candidate Horacio Serpa. Tribal shamans decided on a suitable punishment for their representative: they led him on an hours-long trek into the mountains, stripped him naked, and tossed him into an icy lake to “purify” him. The “sentence” was a light one: some of the shamans had wanted to string the senator up in a tree and whip him. (Reuters) ...Somehow, that sounds much more effective than the jail sentences meted out to U.S. senators.