🚀 go-pugleaf

Anybody who reads a newspaper is familiar with the violent aspect of
Colombia. Violent and beauty is so intertwine in Colombia that one
tends to feed on the other. Nearly 30,000 victims of violent crime are
buried annually. Colombia has more criminals per population than any
other country in South America.

Authorities warned of increasing violence against elderly people. In 
Medellin a 73 years old grandmother was brutally violated while taking
a stroll near her home. The body of another woman was found so destroyed
that medical crew had to scrape-off body parts from the pavement. She
was 78, victim of a hit and run driver. Not a rare incident, hit and
run is quite common in Colombia. 

Since the first of the year, 27 old people have been killed by cars in 
Medellin alone. In Colombia, drivers rarely take pedestrians into account. 
Pedestrians cross the streets at their own risk. Traffic lights and stop
signs are often ignored by drivers. Drivers in Colombia are known to stop
at stop signs only to avoid a collision with another vehicle, never to
allow a pedestrian to cross from one side of the street to the other.

Whether locked in your own home, or on the sidewalks of Medellin, people's
lives are at risk. Jaime Duque Sabogal, 66, was found in his home hands
tight, his mouth full of rubbish and with two bullets in his head.

People are often kidnapped for money, foreigners more attractive to this
kind of crime than others. In the mind of the kidnappers, foreigners 
possesses more wealth than the average Colombian, thus making them a more 
rich prey.

Overall, the best adivise one can give a foreigner living in Colombia is 
to pack and leave. But if circumstances prevent you from leaving, keep
a low profile. Befriend the least amount of people as possible. Stay
away from public places and converse as little as possible with strangers.
Keep away from the countryside. Farms are a constant target of those
engaged in irregular warfare and common criminals. 


Anthony Gazzette
Latin America Watchdog
E-mail: gazzette2@netscape.net.com

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