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Colombia's bull fighting custom under fire for animal abuse
Colombia's bull-fighting is hugely popular, but some politicians want it banned and have submitted a bill to parliament looking to do so.
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A Garrrochero, horse rider, uses a pole to spin a bull during a Corraleja, in Arjona, in Bolivar state on March 20, 2015. (AFP/Joaquin Sarmiento)
Eliecer Molina climbs the stands to receive his monetary prize after excelling in a corraleja in Colombia's Caribbean north.
This form of bull-fighting -- a relic of Colombia's colonial Spanish heritage -- is hugely popular but some politicians want it banned and have submitted a bill to parliament looking to do so.
Unlike regular Spanish-style bull-fighting, which takes place elsewhere in Colombia, the animals are not killed and spectators are invited into the ring to engage with the bulls.
"This is the risk of a bull-fighter," said Molina, nursing a cut close to his left eye, the result of a miscalculation.
A 37-year-old odd-job man who goes by the nickname "coconut brain," Molina is one of many such bull-fighters who take part in these corraleja shows at the start of every year.
In Guaranda, a town of 15,600 in the northern Sucre department, the bullring has been custom-made for the occasion and 58 bulls borrowed from wealthy local ranchers.
Some young people make a name for themselves by going from town to town defying death in corralejas.
