Tag Archives: colombia

Do I live in the “Most Criminal City in the World?”

12 Sunday May 2013

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Apparently, according to German daily newspaper Bild Zeitung and the finely chosen words of scribe Ralf Schuler, I do indeed live in the “most criminal city in the world.”

Bogota skyline

Bogota skyline

How unfortunate for Mr. Schuler that during his press trip to Colombia he narrowly escaped being kidnapped by criminal gangs stepping off the jet way upon arrival at the shiny new El Dorado terminal, that he had to hole up in the Bronx where the only respite from the chilly high altitude nighttime bite was the bazuco offered in place of café Quindiano, that he dodged anti-aircraft fire from the FARC as his trip with German President Joachim Gauck took him from the capital to Medellin.

Now the Colombian press has gotten hold of Mr. Schuler’s article. And we like them are asking many of the same questions: “where and what are your sources for this article Mr. Schuler?”

from the German newspaper

from the German newspaper

Sunday’s article in El Tiempo is clearly meant to enrage, and it is working, with 541 comments and counting racked up at the base. There are 191 comments presently on the same article on the El Espectador site.

Mr. Schuler, What Have You Done?

Colombians are incredibly sensitive about the sort of criticism that now threatens to sully the careful branding that the country has been harvesting for nearly a decade. Converse with any Colombian and after lauding their country, the food, the people, the beaches and varied attractions, they will also be the first to complain about the insecurity, the corruption, the pollution and so on.

I would like to know how much Mr. Schuler actually knows of Colombia and whether he has been here for longer than the fleeting visit as part of the German President’s press corps. Colombia for a journalist is a hard sell as a good news item and there’s no knowing how long it will take to reverse the negativisms of the past 30 years. But, do we really need another piece of lazy reporting decanting virulent untruths?

So long a byword for cocaine and kidnapping, Colombia is now………. [fill in as you see fit].  

But, as one journalist addressing another Mr. Schuler, wouldn’t it have been more challenging and ultimately more satisfying to buck the odds and write about today’s Bogota? Yes, you may be going out on a limb to write well of gritty Bogota, a city not without her problems. But, now you will forever be remembered in the same breath as writer Thomas Kohnstamm (he of the Lonely Planet guidebook scandal).

Thomas Kohnstamm's book about travel writing

Thomas Kohnstamm’s book about travel writing

Now you have scores of resident expat journalists (sensitive pedants) and Colombians on your case. We can all assure you that Bogota is far from being the “most criminal city in the world.”

No Mas Uribe: No More Uribe

03 Sunday Mar 2013

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No Mas Uribe: No More Uribe. Graffiti on the Carrera 7 in Bogota

No Mas Uribe: No More Uribe. Graffiti on the Carrera 7 in Bogota

No Mas Uribe or No More Uribe! Clearly emblazoned on the makeshift walls thrown up about the new construction on the Carrera 7 in Rosales. Love him or loathe him, former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez will remain a divisive figure in the nation’s political landscape for some time to come. His forward and warrior-like style of governance will always be subject for dispute, but Colombia has been put on the right path. We can debate until blue in the face about links to traffickers, paramilitary groups and so on. What remains to be seen and discussed is the more theoretical nature of President Uribe’s tenure.

In “Cutting Losses: Reflections On Appropriate Timing, Christopher R Mitchell suggest there may exist a “ripeness” for the resolution of a conflict. Personally, I feel that here in Colombia that time has arrived. Of course, the equation that was the Uribe administration has provided for this level of “maturity” in the conflict. This is not say I do not harbour serious doubts about the former president’s actions, policies and politics…there were terrible decisions and actions taken. But, it is perhaps due to some of these that we are able to suppose that perhaps the FARC guerrilla wish to end their warring at the negotiating table.

Colombia is tired, she has reached a level of exhaustion due to so much violence that this conflict must come to an end soon. This conflict resolution must not be at any cost, the negotiating team of President Juan Manuel Santos must not be cowed into a makeshift and ill-fitting agreement.

It is unfortunate that Alvaro Uribe’s immediate and domestic legacy is one of a spoiler and poison pen twitter author. He is welcome to an opinion, and clearly his stance is not a surprise, but his insistence on and success in publishing violent rhetoric is becoming quite tiresome. This anger and unrelenting vitriol has made Uribe a figure for parody. For Colombians, his reputation is tarnished, for the international press, Uribe will remain “bookish”, presumably because he wears glasses.

 

 

 

 

Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro’s Legacy?

27 Sunday Jan 2013

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What will be Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro’s legacy? On the surface nothing too groundbreaking at all if we look at the obvious. There are three elements of note such as the complete failure to address Bogota’s transport problems, a hugely embarrassing lapse in judgment regarding the city’s waste recollection system, his own health issues and seemingly precious little else.

I thought these were outlawed? Another half act by Mayor Petro

I thought these were outlawed? Another half act by Mayor Petro

In February 2012 I wrote in a blog that Gustavo Petro could conceivably be building a case for a run at the Presidency in 2014, but only if he could achieve anything of note as the capital’s mayor. My argument was that, if Mayor Petro could sort out Bogota’s mobility crisis, then he would perhaps be seen as qualified to bridge the gap from the capital to the regions that would make this political animal a potential president.

Almost exactly one year later, and it seems that I couldn’t have made a more farfetched prediction.

No, I had not swigged the Kool Aid, I just had this feeling that if Petro as a former M19 guerrilla could achieve Colombia’s second most important position, then, why couldn’t he go one step further? After all, he is a costeno by birth, raised in the altiplano and then moved on to Bogota. This would surely have given him greater strengths in the political landscape of the nation’s much divided regions, say than, former Mayor and two-time presidential hopeful (2006 and 2010), Antanas Mockus.

And while Mockus was an incredibly effective Mayor for Bogota, Petro despite all of the initial promise, has been a protest vote that has gone decidedly askew. Petro has been unable to adapt to winning and still behaves as a politician in opposition staggering through his tenure as a welterweight in a mismatch with a heavyweight.

Bogota Anti Taurina

Bogota Anti Taurina

But Petro will have a positive legacy despite the best efforts of his enemies. His is a legacy that far exceeds his small populist victory of outlawing bullfights in Bogota and the progressive breakthrough of the installation of CAMAD (Centro de Atencion Medica a Drogadicto) centers about the city.

Of course, Gustavo Petro’s legacy is that of becoming Mayor of the capital city and showing Colombia that it is indeed possible for a former guerrilla – albeit of a relatively lightweight, at least politically speaking, rebel group – can pay his dues and become a relevant and legitimate political actor within legal boundaries.

And so, despite his failures, it is absolutely imperative that Mayor Petro holds on to power for the remainder of his tenure and that Bogota’s citizens see his role as one of balance and compromise. We the citizens of Bogota needed a strong mayor to see us through the trying times post the pestilent mayoralty of Samuel Moreno. Petro’s ticket as it always has been, was one of protest and billed as anti-corruption.

That is what Bogota wanted.

As a mayor he will have failed, but, if permitted to continue, Gustavo Petro’s term sends a message to the political wings of all of the warring factions out there within Colombia’s borders, that, a return to mainstream politics and legitimate nonviolent participation is not only a possibility but an actual reality in 21st century Colombia.

“To Medellinizar”

17 Thursday Jan 2013

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To Medellinizar:

verb (used with object)

1. To make a city or to make a city appear as violent and dangerous as the city of Medellin in its heyday of crime and murders in the 1980s and 1990s.

2. To make a city or to make a city appear as efficient, progressive and smooth running as the city of Medellin, Colombia.

Origin:

2013, created and made popular on social networking sites but used openly by the Commander of the Bogota Police force Luis Eduardo Martínez when describing and likening the violence in the northeast of the capital to that of Medellin’s communas. Subsequently corrected in an apology by aforementioned Police chief and used to laud Medellin as a city of the future.

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A Botero sculpture in Medellin

A Botero sculpture in Medellin

Medellin is city worthy of much praise, indeed, the way that the population has been able to create a thriving industrial and touristic hub from the burnt shell of the ruined city of yesterday is nothing short of miraculous and represents the hardworking and dedicated nature of the people of Antioquia. And yes, the paisas can and must rise up in unity and anger at Commandante Luis Eduardo Martínez’ statements from January 11 2013 and they must point at how far their city socially and economically has progressed.

But, leave it at that.

Medellin is currently at its zenith and has every reason to enjoy this moment but important decisions need to be taken and acted upon to ensure that this city of eternal springtime can remain in the headlines for all the right reasons. There has to be more than the metrocable and the much eulogized escalator.

Anibal Gaviria's, the Mayor of Medellin's response to Bogota's police Chief's comment

Anibal Gaviria’s, the Mayor of Medellin’s response to Bogota’s police Chief’s comment

Speaking to a few inhabitants of Medellin over the high season it was interesting to view their pride in their city and their belief in what the future may hold. But, there is a niggling and underlying truth about which many are aware, and that is that the city is outgrowing its defined skin.

Deep in the Aburra Valley, Medellin has been sheltered in a geographically stubborn region, but its expansion both planned and forced is placing significant pressures and these must be addressed right away. Apparently there is an action plan to ensure that Medellin continues to grow along the length of the valley into the municipalities Sabaneta and beyond, but, while the plan may be effective on paper, how can you ensure this is going to happen.

With people continuing to flee the countryside due to continuing violence in Uraba, Cordoba, Choco and other parts of the department of Antioquia, how are you going to house them where it suits the city planners and urbanists? These people are going to go where they can find an edge of land, in many cases a teetering precipice, and set up their homes.

Medellin works now and it is fantastic that a Colombian city should be in the Final 3 for the Wall Street Journal’s Most Innovative City award and in such prestigious company as Tel Aviv and New York. Bogota can learn much from Medellin, but Bogota’s troubles are only just coming to the surface. For Medellin there’s still time.

Progressive and Inclusive buildings in Medellin

Progressive and Inclusive buildings in Medellin

Hopefully Medellin stays this way, and knowing the paisas and their spirit they will not be content to rest on their laurels and they will keep striving to maintain theirs as a forward thinking and progressive urban center. But there are issues that need addressing right away.

With any luck the verb “to Medellinizar” will remain as the second definition in the aforementioned blurb and will not slip back to the violence and terror found not only in the city’s communas and downtown as described in the first definition. Apologize and swallow those words Commandante Martinez.