Colombia's gringo tax

One of the most frustrating things non-natives, especially those from higher-income nations, in Colombia (and other similar countries) have to put up with is the arbitrary "foreigner tax". 

This is basically the additional cost put on to a host of goods and services simply because we're outsiders. The mentality behind it is that we can afford it and/or won't know that we're being charged extra than those in the know.

Rip-off Colombia (if you're a foreigner) ...

For many tourists, short-term visitors and some long-termers here, both of those beliefs hold true. If you think the price you have to pay is reasonable, cheap even, fair enough; ignorance being bliss and all that. 

Although, it must be said that this clandestine overcharging is a betrayal of the oft-heard line that 'Colombians are the friendliest in the world.' When it comes to money, some — but not all, thankfully — are a little two-faced.

Now, after five years of having Colombia as my base — and earning a modest amount of Colombian pesos, I hasten to add — I've learnt, slowly, to always ask the price of something before committing to buy. Yet, at times the guard is dropped.

One of the most frequent of times this erratic pricing happens is when you enter a bakery, or panadería as it's called in these parts, for the first time. In your bog-standard panadería, the price of a perico — a small coffee with milk — generally ranges from $700 to $1,200 COP. So there have been occasions, even to this day, where I've not bothered to ask the price before ordering. This opens the door for a little inflation and very often the person at the till isn't shy about seizing that opportunity.

Even worse, in recent weeks I started checking out panaderías in the barrios close to my new abode. For the four or five I inspected, I was charged a standard price on my first solo visit. In the following days I returned to most of them, this time with a friend, a fellow countryman, and in two of these we were charged more for the same products I'd had on my own.

This isn't exclusive to panaderías; it happens in other restaurants where prices aren't displayed (or at times even if they are), tienda bars and also, unsurprisingly, with taxis; hence my general dislike for most of those yellow parasites. Needless to say, it's commonplace with tourism-related things, too.

This short-sightedness is understandable in some ways. For many who do it, they don't see their future being a life on Easy Street, or Calle Fácil as they might say, so it's, 'extract what you can now, to heck with the future.' 

Yet, plenty of places have lost and will continue to lose business and what may have become loyal customers by engaging in such a strategy. 'Short-term gain, long-term loss.' (It's worth noting here that in the much-frowned-upon, disorganised, neighbouring Venezuela, prices seem to be displayed in almost every café and restaurant, so you can make an informed decision before you commit.)

In further mitigation, Colombia's working classes are more screwed against than screwing (um, in some contexts anyway). Indeed, in other areas 'el extranjero', the foreigner, is treated much better. Just one example of that is in the world of film/TV extras where a foreigner can earn up to eight times more for doing the same work.

This horrible inequality, however, is not our fault. What's more, the foreigner who is willing to socialise in popular barrios is giving a greater endorsement of a now somewhat safer, less-divided country than most more well-off Colombians.

Thus, to the price inflators, you would do well to remember that not all Westerners come heavily laden with euros, dollars, pounds or whatever. We're here to contribute, hopefully in a positive way, so don't push us out.

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The Trump card

It's been quite a year so far. In the sporting sphere, people have called it the year of the underdog. 

The biggest representation of that was Leicester City Football Club's remarkable triumph in England's Premier League; from 5000-to-1 outsiders to top dog in the space of nine months. You also had unheralded Iceland, with a total population of just over 300,000, light up Euro 2016, going all the way to the quarter-finals.

Switching codes to rugby, my own province of Connacht, a region not traditionally seen as a stronghold of the sport with a franchise that was almost disbanded by Irish rugby authorities a few years back, impressively claimed the league title contested by sides from the Celtic nations of Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Will Team Trump be celebrating next month? (Picture from Facebook.)

In the political world, it's also been somewhat strange. We've had the much talked about Brexit in the UK, Colombia's 'no' vote to the historic peace deal reached between the government and Farc followed by President Juan Manuel Santos' winning of the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts despite this big setback. 

Even back home in Ireland, there was a protest vote of sorts when the electorate returned in numbers to a party that was seen as the chief culprit of everything that went wrong during and after the Celtic Tiger boom years. We're a forgiving bunch, it seems.

In such an environment, a Donald Trump US presidential victory would seem to fit the narrative, as unlikely as that now appears this late in the game. 

Nonetheless, in less unpredictable times, a brash billionaire promising to 'make America great again' (just the United States of America that is, not any other part of it and especially not Mexico) would appeal not just to rednecks but plenty of city dwellers as well.

Thus, with a strong whiff of anti-establishment air whirling around, it's easy to see how the Trump card is attractive to many. 

He represents the giving of the middle finger to the old tried-and-trusted way of doing things. The system needs a little bit of a shake-up, a shock, and Trump would deliver that, both at home in the US and abroad. 

That's the thinking (and the hope for some, the fear for others) anyway. Yet didn't the outgoing Barack Obama offer a (sort of) new approach as well? (Then again, don't they all?)

Throw in the fact that Trump's main rival, Hillary Clinton, doesn't exactly inspire confidence — even though if she is elected, as polls predict, she will become the first woman president of the self-proclaimed greatest country on the planet and therefore a significant new departure in itself — and the ingredients for a Trump triumph are clearly there. The US's Electoral College system could also work in his favour; lose the popular vote but still make it to the White House.

So as much of the rest of the world looks on with trepidation at the chances, decreasing as they are, of Trump becoming the de facto leader of the free world, is it really a huge cause for concern?

He does hum to a different beat than most politicians, but were he to take power, how much of what he says he is going to do would he actually carry out? A good bet is not much at all. 

Indeed, he's more likely to become the best-known figurehead on a stage of other political figureheads who in reality kowtow to the real movers and shakers of this world; the money men, of which Trump is one, of course, but only one.

In fact, he might find out that he was able to exert more of an influence behind the scenes than being centre stage.

In the end, by going "radical" as some see it with Trump, the US might just be opting for the 'same old, same old.' And exactly how the real powers want it to be. Plus cą change. 

Oh well, there's always sport to provide us with the novelties.
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Colombia decides: Imperfect peace or perpetual war?

In a country with such vast inequality, along with a significant disconnect between officialdom and the masses, to say Colombia's 'vote for peace' is its moment of truth might be overstretching it a little. 

 

Nonetheless, in the unlikely event of the Colombian electorate rejecting the 2 October plebiscite on the agreement reached between the government and Farc rebels, such an outcome would be met with bewilderment by a watching outside world; a people says no to peace. (Although, as written about here previously, it wouldn't be a complete surprise to those who have been following events closely.) 

It would also signal the need for a change of administration, one that would have to pursue a far tougher line on leftist guerrillas; not virgin, if largely unsuccessful ground that.

Much more peaceful times ahead for Colombia?  (Photo from Facebook.)

The opinion polls, in any case, tell us that the yes side should comfortably win the day, despite a not-insignificant no minority that appears to cross class boundaries. 

From well-to-do business people and professionals to tienda owners and hard-pressed youths in working-class barrios, in my conversations I've encountered more people who are going to vote no than yes. (Odd enough, considering the no side is polling at about 30 per cent.) 

 

I've also spoken with plenty who just won't bother to cast their ballot; a symbol of that disconnect from 'official' Colombia in what, according to the powers that be, is such a momentous decision for the country.

Leaving aside the argument that the referendum question is of a leading type favouring a yes, Colombians must ask themselves the following: Is this an agreement that will be a positive game changer for the country, a step in the right direction? 

Or is it just a coming together of a few elites, unrepresentative of the reality on the ground, and something that will change very little? A 'television peace' as one Colombian farmer put it.

You won't find many, even the most optimistic of yes voters, expecting instant change. Peace won't come overnight. We've seen that before in the likes of Northern Ireland — not that we can draw too many comparisons between the two conflicts.

Another argument from the no side is that the agreement is overly lenient towards Farc from a financial and political point of view — guaranteed senate seats for the leftist movement is one bugbear in this regard. 

 

For a country that has traditionally steered a centre-right/right path in national politics, there seems to be some fear that this deal might mark the start of a drift towards some sort of socialism, a dirty word in these parts considering the situation in neighbouring Venezuela, together with Colombia's sour relationship with that republic.

Another source of fuel for the 'no' ire comes from El Presidente himself, Juan Manuel Santos. His approval rating has been at an all-time low and it appears some Colombians just can't bear to endorse anything that he is behind. The wrong occasion for a protest vote it might be, but it carries weight.

Other points being made against the agreement include the belief that there are greater problems in the country that need to be sorted out. This may be so, but the counterargument is that by at least putting the Farc to bed, the other issues can then be tackled with more vigour. 

As for former Farc members carrying on their criminal ways under a different banner post-peace endorsement, only time will tell on that one.

Should, as expected, the yes side win on Sunday, it's not, at the risk of sounding facetious, going to be a case of peace and love from Monday onwards. However, the hope must be that it marks the start of a move to a more positive era in Colombia's story. 

 

As Santos said, and here's hoping he and his ilk mean it, 'the hard work starts now.' 

Creating a more equitable Colombia is something that requires much more than a few handshakes and the signing of an agreement. 

A sceptical Colombian public needs convincing that the times are indeed a-changin' for the better.
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Go West (if you can afford it)

As a Westerner living and working in a developing world country, earning what is considered locally a decent enough working-class wage, one of the difficulties with this is when you return to your country of origin. 

The living-within-your-means approach that can successfully be done in the adopted country — in this case Colombia — becomes nigh on impossible.

The road back home isn't that straightforward ...

We're talking here about going back for a short-term stay. 

Obviously, if you were returning on a longer-term basis you would have to find employment fairly quickly in order not to either run out of money in no time at all or eat into the rainy-day savings (if you have them that is. Or you might be lucky enough to get the government to sponsor you for a little while in the absence of employment; the joys of welfare states.)

Having just returned from a trip home to Ireland, there appear to be few pull factors to allow for even the consideration of a permanent move back just yet — family and friends excepted of course.

Granted, on this latest return, I didn't stray too much out of the west of Ireland, an important point in this 'state of the nation' revision. This is because, by all accounts, the east-west divide, which has always been a factor in Ireland, is as deep and apparent as it ever has been.

The west of the country might be OK as somewhere to raise a young family if you're lucky enough to have decent employment in the region. 

It might also be OK for pensioners to see out their lives in tranquillity, if they have public transport within range (far from a given) and/or if they have helpful family and friends nearby when transport is required.

Yet, for young (or relatively young if you like) singletons who may not want to own their own transport, most of the west of Ireland has a low-attraction value. Nice to visit every now and again but not a place to set up shop.

For sure, here in Bogotá it's not quite the pig's back existence (that cameo appearance in Narcos is deceptive*). There are a number of things that need to start showing an improvement for me to start seeing it as a true home for the foreseeable future. 

However, Bogotá or not, at this remove there are other places on the globe I'd consider before rushing back to Ireland — places that offer better value for money as well. Everything is open to revision, though.

Plus, it all depends on what you're looking for and who you are, of course. 

If you happen to be a US multinational company looking for a tax haven of sorts and a native government ready to defend vigorously your tax evasion ways (or was it merely tax avoidance?), then Ireland might just be the perfect match. 

Why help the little people when you can help big business? It's much more glamorous (and profitable).
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Colombia's Chamberlain-esque peace?

On the face of it, it seems like a no-brainer. On 02 October Colombians are going to be asked to vote either 'yes' or 'no' for peace. 

That is to say, to give their backing to a deal finally reached between the government and the leftist-styled Farc rebels to end a bloody internal conflict that has troubled the country for over 50 years. Apart from the sadistic amongst us, who wouldn't vote in the affirmative?

President Santos' peace, but not for all Colombians?

Of course, it's just not that simple, even if, perhaps, it should be. You see, there is a belief that what has been brokered by the negotiators in Cuba in many ways doesn't reflect the reality on the ground in Colombia. 

A political agreement that looks fine and dandy on paper and allows the warring leaders to come together in brotherly love (it has pretty much been male-dominated), but a deal practically not worth the paper it's written on in "normal Colombia", the very place it's meant to bring about real, positive change. That's a view you won't have to search hard to find among the masses.

We've written plenty here before about the problems inherent in this process, one of those being the idea that the Farc leaders who negotiated this deal do not speak for the majority under their control (if ‘control’ is the right word to use here at all). 

Indeed, with political positions in the offing for the few Farc dealmakers of Havana, their lives might just be about to become a whole lot easier. The same cannot be said for the foot soldiers.

This is one source of scepticism towards the whole process for Colombians; it's to be found especially among the lower classes and away from the big cities (as we mentioned in a previous post). 

The idea is that those who may fly under the Farc banner today will just continue on in criminality post this peace deal being ratified, if that should happen. 

Plus, you have those who were never Farc members, be they fellow leftists or from the right, who have made a tidy living from both controlling and living in what you could call a separate state from the elected one headed by Juan Manuel Santos. Colombia's black market can be quite profitable.

What's more, there are those, headed vociferously by former president, the hawkish Álvaro Uribe, who view this as Santos' peace, not one that truly represents Colombia at large (el pueblo Colombiano). 

With Santos' approval rating low, a protest 'no' vote is a distinct possibility to add to the other genuine causes for concern that Colombians have about the process.

Most people know that true peace is not going to come with the simple signing of an agreement and a ceasefire. There are a host of deeper obstacles before arriving at a situation where peace and stability can thrive in Colombia. 

At the heart of those is the vast inequality that exists in the country, something that, it appears, no government has been willing or able to pay proper attention to.

That aside, that some of Colombia's men of violence have decided to give peace a chance has to be seen as a positive development, better than the status quo. 

Yes, officialdom was duped before, but a Neville Chamberlain returning from Nazi-run Germany in 1938 with a peace for our time type of agreement this is not. This particular deal has some substance to it. 

For sure, it's far from perfect, but it is a step in the right direction. The hope must be that it is a modicum of peace to achieve more peace.

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Ignoring is bliss

As the old saying goes, 'Ignorance is bliss.' 

While there may be times when this is not the case, more often than not it holds true. You can't really get upset, worry, whatever, about something you are completely unaware of.

Yet these days, with information available at the touch of a button or the slide of a screen for many of us, it is difficult, in theory, to be ignorant. 

Fair enough, the information we get might not be truthful, but the fact remains that it can be rather easily found on pretty much any subject, at any time.

It's not worth it, lad! (Image from wikihow.com.)

Thus, in this information-rich age, the adage could be tweaked a little to, 'Ignoring is bliss.' 

From a news point of view, what we're getting at here is not complete ignoring per se (although, at times, this could be a good tactic), it's to be more questioning of what you read and hear. Don't take things as 'gospel' just because they come from an approved source. We've plenty of recent examples that underscore the value of such an approach.

In another sphere, ignoring isn't just a good option, it's the only option. What we're referring to here is when you're trying to move on from what has proven to be a failed relationship. 

In the past, time and/or distance was probably enough for you to more or less permanently close a chapter of your life with someone with whom things just didn't work out. 'Out of sight, out of mind', so to put it.

However, the problem today is, in the absence of taking the step to delete every social media contact you have for the person in question — a measure some of us are too, um, proud to do — putting someone you once had some feelings for completely out of (virtual) sight and, as a result, mind is very difficult to do.

Indeed, this becomes nigh on impossible when that other person makes contact every now and again, engages for a while, then disappears. (So even if you have deleted her contacts across all platforms, she can still pester you.) 

It's similar to, you could say, the old prank of ringing somebody's doorbell and then running away. It's a trait that, from personal experience and anecdotal evidence, a significant number of Colombianas display.

One can only assume they get some sort of odd enjoyment out of it, like the doorbell-ringing young children. Immature it certainly is in any case — and a lot of the time we're talking about university-educated, professionals here. (Then again, that doesn't necessarily mean much; some behaviours run deep in the blood.)

The best, nay only, defence strategy in such a silly game, therefore, is our refusal to engage — regardless of how superficially beautiful the one we're (not) dealing with is. 

That is to say, to ignore. Not to do so means we're only on to a frustrating loser.

*For a related article, see Defenders of the unfaithful.
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Lomalinda: Colombia's lost community

Most visitors to Colombia have at least heard of, if not visited, Ciudad Perdida, the Lost City. Tucked away high up in the Caribbean coast's Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, you could call it the Colombian version of Machu Picchu, one that outdates its more famed Peruvian counterpart albeit.

Lomalinda's old school, now left to the forces of nature.

While much is unknown about its history and those who inhabited it, it's pretty safe to assume that the cause for the city's abandonment was down to the arrival of those civilised types from across the Atlantic Ocean, namely the Spanish.

That exodus from the Lost City, however it transpired, could be seen as a harbinger for events much later in the land of the country we now call Colombia. 

For flights of fear from ruthless enemies didn't stop with the Spanish conquest nor the coming of the Colombian Republic. In fact, we don't have to go that far back in history to find examples of people uprooted from what they had once called home.

One of those Colombian lost communities is to be found, or not to be found as it is, in the picturesque and now tranquil setting of Lomalinda in the department of Meta, home to Colombia's plains. Now, as mentioned, forced displacements aren't novel here, but the Lomalinda case does stand out from others for a number of reasons.

For starters, Lomalinda wasn't your typical Colombian community or settlement. In fact, it wasn't Colombian at all. Founded in the 1960s, its origins began as a remote outpost for a Christian missionary/indigenous research project originating from the United States. 

The Summer Institute of Linguistics (Instituto Lingüístico de Verano in Spanish), as it was known, came to Colombia to study and put into writing the languages of the many indigenous tribes to be found here. 

As the work was going to take considerable time — we're talking decades here — the Colombian government gave the organisation unoccupied land close to the town of Puerto Lleras.

How it used to be: Lomalinda's airfield back in the day.

It was here, in what the new inhabitants named Lomalinda, which means 'pretty hill', the community grew and indeed flourished. 

Some people came specifically to work on the project, while others came to aide Lomalinda life itself. There was a need for primary and secondary school teachers for the expat children, for example. So you had a mixture of permanent- to semi-permanent residents and those on more of a temporary stay.

While the language in the community was English, some Colombians did come to settle nearby and it wasn't completely cut off from what was going on around it.

However, considering the deteriorating security situation that was to come, Lomalinda's residents might have wished they could have lived in a bubble. 

As the Farc guerrillas gained control around the area in the 1980s, it signalled the beginning of the end for what many residents had seen as an idyllic, lake-shore life. 

How could a small, defenceless Western community, however vibrant it had been, survive with self-proclaimed communists menacingly nearby in what was to became a war zone?

After threats, kidnappings and a number of deaths, the last of the expat Lomalinda residents left in the mid-1990s. 

Following their departure, the Colombian army moved in to secure the area. Thus began a process of degeneration; military personnel stationed in Lomalinda helped themselves, unsurprisingly, to some of the 'goodies' left behind.

The army, for reasons unknown, departed in the late '90s and that left the way open for the Farc, who had control of nearby Puerto Lleras, to continue the destruction of the village. Over a number of weeks the guerillas cleared out everything they could. Houses basically disappeared, bar any brick walls they had and their foundations.

Lomalinda certainly has tourism potential.

As the country's conflict rumbled on, the Farc lost control of the area. Yet, as it has been for many places in rural Colombia, until recently it was still seen as a no-go location. It's not exactly guerrilla nor paramilitary free today, but it's far, far safer than it was.

Something resembling normal life seems to be returning to Lomalinda, minus the English-speaking Westerners as residents that is. In their place, on many of the foundations they built, have come those of a more common hue for these parts. 

Some of these new arrivals were displaced from elsewhere themselves due to Colombia's conflict. That such rather desperate folk with few opportunities have taken ownership of what was left behind might be of some comfort to the departed expats.

Nonetheless, as the locals are quick to point out, this is still an area where guerrillas and paramilitaries (or paracos as they're also called) linger. Things may not be as dangerous as before, however it's hard to find anyone in favour of the peace deal that the government of President Juan Manuel Santos is pursuing in Havana, Cuba. 

For many locals here, they envisage no change to the Farc — or whatever those using that name now might call themselves post any peace deal — collecting taxes on the one hand, and paramilitaries controlling their ground on the other.

Whatever the future may hold, what Lomalinda's current residents want now is to carry on with their lives without fear of forced eviction or death hanging over them. 

Is that too much to ask? Considering what's gone before, they could be forgiven for thinking yes.
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