The new Colombian presidential administration began last month, August 2018, with new president Iván Duque immediately challenging the notorious El Guacho. (Guacho can mean "abandoned" or "evil" in Colombian Spanish.) El Guacho is/has been known as the narcotrafficking drug leader in southern Colombia.
This month, according to pronoucements by Colombian high officials including Duque and the president of Ecuador, police/military action severely wounded El Guacho. According to the announcements, El Guacho was hit by two bullets .. and his men promptly medivacked him to a safe area as the authorities attempt to close in on him. During the first week of his new presidency, Duque said El Guacho must be eliminated.
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The story at the southern border area tells only a part of the security mess affecting parts of Colombia. Read up at www.colombiareports.com if you want the grisly details of the attacks on community leaders. The New York Times published an extensive report this week detailing paramilitary and delincuente-groups' efforts to fill the FARC power vaccuum in the wake of the FARC "peace" agreement. The Times article shows a large array of photos that the Times took at a secret guerilla camp north of Medellín to which its reporter and photographer got invited.
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The effects of these activities on the daily life of Expats trying out Poblado sector, Medellín, and other Estrato 5 and 6 neighborhoods may not be noticeable. Life in the Paisa capital, the biggest Expat-location magnet in Colombia, goes on -- distant from the El Guacho hunt and the unseen movements of guerillas and paramilitaries in more rural zones.
The police, the military and thousands of private security men known as 'vigilantes' can protect El Poblado, Laureles and upscale parts of Bogotá. But they cannot be everywhere in Colombia.
We'll pick up with a look at how Expats can conduct themselves amidst the above realities.
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Ways to Stay Safe During Colombia's Current Era of Instability
10. Stay away from the Southern border area with Ecuador. The one exception is staying inside the city of Ipiales, Nariño, Colombia, within several miles of the border.
9. Stay away from the Northern border at Cúcuta, near the mess in Venezuela that has spilled millions of desperate refugees into northern Colombia .. most of them then heading south.
8. Stay in the toniest, best-secured area of any city. This is where the most security is. The malditos choose targets in the same way as wolves in the wild -- looking for the easiest, weakest-appearing potential victim. Travel or go around with a friend or adult family member when possible.
7. Become known by your neighbors, known as a friendly and visible person who makes an effort to speak to them in their language .. and does not disparage Colombia's problems or its generally tasteless arepas.,) Being known to the community assists the locals in protecting and advising you.
6. Avoid exploratory trips and visits to unknown or reportedly dicey places, sectors and municipalities.
5. Do not challenge weaponized maliantes if you ever encounter them on the street. Presume that they have paramilitary training and may be desperate. Give up your cash on hand if it is demanded .. so you can go on with your life.
4. Consider the Coffee Zone. Some bad guys have weekend places there, but the zone has historically been peaceful. One reason is that the dependable coffee economy has given local men income so they are not attracted to the guerrilla life.
3. Learn about body language, taking advantage of widely available guidance on the Internet and Kindle Books. When out in public, stay alert and show it. If waiting alone at a bus-stop with obscured vision due to the logistics of the spot, stand don't sit. Keep your eyes moving around and your hands in your jacket or coat pockets (does not apply to steamy lowlands areas where no Expat would wear a coat).
2. Do not wear bling or a fancy watch .. nor show that you have electronics on your person beyond possibly a flip-phone. Use any phone outside of public view when practical. Carry any laptop or other web-ready device in a bag that does not scream 'there are electronics inside this bag'.
And the number-one way to handle yourself as an Expat or visitor in Colombia....
1. Stay off the intercity roads at night. If you do not want to read about how an Expat's life can be threatened if he or she violates this nighttime advice, do not click on the link below .....
https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=634337
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