Colombia: The only risk is becoming too relaxed

As mentioned in our previous post, you can never drop your guard in Colombia. It’s up to you, naturally enough really, to be responsible for yourself and your belongings. 

Be that as it may, it still doesn’t, or at least shouldn’t, make it more acceptable if you do happen to have something stolen while having ‘a moment of weakness’.

Scene of the crime: Oma may be upmarket, but that doesn't mean it's safer.

Que pena 

That such things happen, as they do across the globe, doesn’t mean that we should just shrug and accept them. Disappointingly, this is often the reaction of many people in these parts.

It’s the whole ‘dar papaya’ mentality, that it’s the victims' fault for allowing themselves to be robbed. ‘Silly you.’ This is linked in with the ‘que pena con usted’ expression, ‘isn’t that awful for you, but I don’t really care.’ ‘Eh, thanks, guys.’ 

Personally, having been based in Bogotá for three years now, I feel relatively comfortable in my environs and I am usually clued in to any potential threats. 

Yet, there is always the risk that you can become too relaxed. My excuse for the latest incident where I let the city’s ladrones (thieves) get one over me was that I’d just donated blood (for the first time in my life it must be said) and perhaps I wasn’t my usual shrewd self (don’t laugh).

Now, this time around the scene wasn’t your typical Wrong Way working-class venue, but rather a much more upmarket Oma café (the newly opened one in Torre Bicentenario on Carrera 4 with Avenida Jiménez), equipped with a security guard and cameras.

However, therein lies the danger; the feeling that you and your possessions are a little safer in such a place. 

In fact, it could be argued that the sheer volume of security guards employed in this country dilutes each individual one’s impact. I certainly wouldn’t be relying on many of them to have my back in a tight corner.

The "fatal" errors on my part were not having my bag in eyeshot or tied around something secure and not taking notice of the movements around me; the intense conversation I was having with an old friend was occupying my mind.

Whatever the case, the relatively well-dressed ladrones saw their opportunity and seized it.

'On the ball' security. Well, not quite ...

Thankfully, it was far from spectacular the booty they got. Basically, there was the bag itself, a few USB sticks, an old jacket (of sentimental value albeit) and a pocket-book of Spanish grammar along with an English-Spanish dictionary – at least those latter items might help our pilferers overcome their illiteracy problems.

Predictably, when we reported the robbery to the building’s administrator, her initial reaction fell firmly into the ‘dar papaya’ mindset. 

To her credit, though, she eventually showed some morsels of taking affirmative action, agreeing to set in train the process of reviewing the premise’s security cameras.* Perhaps next time she'll realise that this should be her first response.

You see, as official Colombia grapples with a potential peace agreement with the Farc guerrillas, real peace and security must come from the people, ‘el pueblo Colombiano’, each and every part of it. Taking a strong stand against all who jeopardise this is what’s needed.

There are positive signs in this regard, but by its very nature, it’s a never-ending process, consisting of many different, overlapping strands. This country, however, has too many decent people to let a thuggish minority dominate the landscape.

Yet, turn a blind eye to that minority’s behaviour and the vicious cycle will continue.
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*That process is still ongoing. Hopefully, if and when the cameras are reviewed, we’ll have a good picture of the thieves, something that we can publish.

Bogotá's 'dark side' rises

There is no doubt that Colombia's image has changed, in a positive sense, over the last number of years. 

Not only has this happened from an external perspective, where this naturally stunning country was once seen as a war zone and best to be avoided, but also internally. 

Many Colombians now have a desire, and more importantly feel safe enough, to travel around and see the many sights this land has to offer; and on that front it has few equals.

Above is as good as it gets for some of Bogotá's homeless.

From a personal perspective, a few minor-ish incidents aside, I've generally felt largely safe here, be that living in Bogotá or travelling independently to various parts of the country.* 

Of course, at times it can be a case of ignorance being bliss. In terms of the capital city, since my first arrival in 2009, I've wandered about in areas that many longer-term residents, with memories of a not-too-distant deadly past, wouldn't let a rat roam in. 

For sure, I've heard the stories, but I find it best to judge from personal experience in the here and now, along with my gut instincts. Such an approach generally sees me right.

To this end, I had always found Bogotá's historic centre, La Candelaría, as safe as any inner-city neighbourhood can be. 

However, since returning to live there after a spell in some different sectors, it seems that there has been a growth in "less-desirable" types floating about the area. And, at the risk of being biased, their focus appears to be on the ubiquitous extranjeros (foreigners) in this part of town. 

That's largely due to the mistaken (on this writer's part anyway) belief that many of us have lots of cash to spread around. Not unlike many things here, they're honing in on the wrong targets really. How about trying to get the city's and Colombia's wealthy ruling classes to start doing something meaningful for you?

So while huge strides have been made to make downtown Bogotá more welcoming to both locals and foreigners, there is a danger that authorities are taking their collective eyes off the ball. In fact, I'm beginning to feel safer in what is generally recognised as much more of a crime hotspot, La Perseverancia barrio.

One of the potential reasons for this noticeable increase in insecurity in the centre is linked to the attempts to clean up the notorious Bronx barrio a little further to the south. Despite the optics and political backslapping, it really has been a case of just scattering a deprived, disgruntled and potentially dangerous bunch of people across the city. 

The real social problems at root are what need to be addressed. City and government policy thus far is akin to spraying a shot of air freshener into an overflowing sewer. 

Now, lest I be accused of always finding problems but rarely offering solutions, here are a couple of simple things that could offer at least some modicum of improvement.

Bogotá: Getting 'darker' and more dangerous by the day?

For starters, provide some basic shelters across the city for the many homeless to rest, wash themselves, go to the toilet. It's not the most welcoming environment for tourists and residents alike to witness homeless people relieving themselves in public in broad daylight. 

With time these shelters could even be turned into something like soup kitchens – the costs shouldn't be excessive. Once established and, hopefully, being utilised, such places could start providing basic education and other training programmes, as well as offering drug-addiction services.

Furthermore, for the moment at least, a more visible police presence, especially at nighttime, would be helpful. And on what should be a less-taxing note, ensuring all street lights are in working order would aid in reducing the number of dark corners for ladrones (robbers) to hide behind.

Whether the political will exists to undertake such modest measures is questionable.

What is certain, however, is that the heretofore favoured policy of ignoring or just moving the problem won't make it go away. 

Come on guys, get those heads of yours out of the sand. If not, the shiny new positive image will continue to fade.

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*For a previous post detailing one of these previous incidents, see Fighting for 'Free Bogotá'.

In defence of hoping (and fighting) for, at least, a 'Freer Bogotá'

We came in for a bit of criticism in the wake of our Fighting for 'Free Bogotá' piece a few weeks back. 

Now, this didn't come from Colombians but from fellow expatriates. The main grievance was that we were painting a stereotypical negative, dangerous picture of Bogotá and Colombia in general. The fact that we were writing about particular incidents in one notorious barrio of the country's capital seemed to go over our critics' heads.

The darker side -- entering La Perseverancia.

We did, of course, point them in the direction of previous posts we've written, detailing how we find the external perception of Colombia and how dangerous it is a little frustrating and very often inaccurate, to say the least.* 

Also, the amount of solo travelling we've done around this physically stunning country, most of it detailed on this blog, is, we hope, sending out a positive message that this country is very much open for tourism (and, for some, business) and generally safe.

However, as pointed out in Fighting for 'Free Bogotá', it would be remiss of us to write that there is nothing dangerous at all about this country. A message some of our detractors seemingly wish we would portray. 

There are, though, plenty of other English language websites and blogs about Colombia that set out from the onset not to include one negative word about the place, even if that means bending reality at times.

In any case, what we wrote wasn't inherently negative about Bogotá. In every big (and small) city in the world there are dangerous neighbourhoods where, as a taxi driver once told us about a particular part of Dublin, 'even the dogs hang around in packs and watch each others' backs.' 

Also, we tend to, especially owing to the types of places we like to drink in, take more risks than most other visitors/foreign residents who come to this city.**

We are where we are, we do what we do, and we have our beliefs, likes and dislikes. Right now, for convenience, price but above all, the friendliness of the locals (part of that being the free beers we often get) we find ourselves socialising regularly in La Perseverancia. As stated in previous posts this area is, at this moment in time, as the locals put it, 'muy caliente' (literally 'very hot' i.e. dangerous).

In the last number of weeks, this view has only been further reinforced in our minds. For if we're being honest, we put the minor early morning incident mentioned in Fighting for 'Free Bogotá' down to stupidity on our part. 

Plus, very often when Colombians tell us certain areas are dangerous our first reaction is to shrug it off, believing that they're still thinking of rougher times in the not-to-distant (but distant all the same) past.

However, the kind of things we've encountered over the last few weeks give an idea of this 'darker side'. 

There was the pretty lame attempt – but an attempt all the same – by two young thugs to rob us in broad daylight in the area; the friendly locals insisting they escort us home for our own safety at night; police officers standing guard outside a tienda we were drinking in, in the afternoon, because we were foreigners and 'at risk' (we find this a little hard to believe, but it's what we were told); plus, being witnesses to two local women getting mugged, again in the middle of the day. 

All of the above have firmly illustrated the real dangers that exist in this part of the city, day and night.

Officer 'Wrong Way'.

That last incident was particularly annoying, angering even. We figured had we been a little closer and quick-thinking that we may have been able to intervene in some way. Then again, perhaps it was better we didn't? 

There were people closer to it than us who seemed content enough to let the damn delinquents get their booty; a 'thank god it's them instead of us' kind of thinking and certainly not unique to Colombia.

Yet, this could be one area to, literally speaking, start a fightback. If enough people, particularly the locals, those who might be seen as community leaders (it's debatable if such figures exist in certain lower-class barrios, or if they do, to what extent they encourage a law-abiding lifestyle), confronted such scum rather than turn a blind eye, it might evoke some sort of change of behaviour, for the better.

From what we've witnessed and anecdotally, few assailants, especially in these daytime raids, are carrying firearms. Usually, if anything, they just have knives. And, usually, you don't have to look too far on Bogotá's streets to find some sort of a stick that could be used to confront anyone carrying a blade; something to put more than an arm's length between you and the would-be attacker.

More police on the beat is another deterrent and at times they can be hard to come by in La Perseverancia, but it's not a panacea.

Of course, there are a range of social issues that must be tackled as to why some people get involved in criminality and, for one, with such a huge disparity in incomes in this city and questionable priorities by the ruling classes, Bogotá and Colombia in general have a long way to go in addressing those.**

We're not looking for an unattainable utopia (although it's not a bad goal to aspire to), we just want things to improve; and there's certainly scope for that.

Those who would like us to believe that Bogotá/Colombia is a peaceful paradise are plain delusional. Nowhere is. They're also helping nobody by peddling such a notion.

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*For a start see Dangerous Colombia Part III.

**On both fronts i.e. an idea of the places we like to socialise in and the inequality issues, check out No somos Colombianos, pero... (We're not Colombian, but...).

For some other issues that need addressing in Bogotá read Bogotá's 'broken windows'.