[Dx-qsl] IARU-member society in Colombia to be dissolved.

[Fred Laun K3ZO]

Fitting right in with all the recent commentary on this reflector 
about the cost of QSLing, my old friend HK3DDD has just informed me 
that postal rates in Colombia were doubled as of January 1, 2003 and 
it now costs the equivalent of US$2.00 to send a letter from Colombia 
to the USA.  It now costs HJ/HK hams the equivalent of 13 cents per 
QSL to send outgoing cards through the bureau, but anyway the bureau 
won't be available any longer because the Colombian IARU-member 
society LCRA is meeting this Saturday to dissolve itself, since with 
only 200 paid-up members and  US$8000 of debt it feels it can no 
longer stay in business.  Beto says Colombian hams have stopped 
calling CQ and running stations because they can't afford to handle 
the consequences economically.   Colombian DXers are simply searching 
and pouncing these days, looking for new countries for themselves.

73, Fred, K3ZO