just be cool and it will be kewl
Hey ******,
I was in Cali for 1 month and Medellin for 3 months. Colombians are respectful people. Treat them the same way they treat you and you'll never want to leave. And I was in some real no go areas too but I don't recommend that to anyone but kept my mouth shut and nobody gave me a second look and I am as white as rice.
On Univision News they showed clips from the porno video series Hot Latin Pussy
during the news segment, it was claimed that the actors [t.t. boy, nacho vidal and other veteran pornographers] were actually american soldiers that had paid the local "innocent" girls 1 to 2 million pesos for doing the videos.
the mayor of melgar was asked what he was going to do about these bad american soldiers that came to use and abuse the local girls. the poor man just doodled on his agenda and was speechless.
i know that i shouldn't believe anything that is shown on the telly, but it still bothers me to see this kind of false report.
i'm embarrased for univision. which is more than univision can do.
i hope it doesn't go beyond a badly researched segment.
You think Colombia is bad for kidnappings? Read about one city in Mexico...
U.S. National - Reuters
Mexican Drug Gangs Target U.S. Citizens for Kidnap
Fri Dec 17,12:37 PM ET U.S. National - Reuters
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Marauding drug gangs in a violent Mexican border city have turned to kidnapping U.S. citizens for ransom as they seek to diversify their criminal activities, the U.S. government warned on Friday.
The U.S. consul in Nuevo Laredo, which lies south of the Rio Grande from Laredo, Texas, said 22 U.S. citizens have been either kidnapped or disappeared while visiting the city since mid-August.
The recent spike contrasted with an average of three or four abductions annually in the city in recent years, and has been linked by law enforcement sources to drug-cartel activity, consul Michael Yoder said.
"Narcotraffickers have now turned to kidnapping for ransom, and we felt that it gave sufficient cause for concern to issue a public caution," Yoder told Reuters in a telephone interview.
The border city serves as a major transit point for both legitimate trade goods and narcotics entering the southeastern United States from Mexico, and is a popular destination for day trippers and weekend visitors from Texas.
In recent months it has been gripped by violence as drug gangs from western Sinaloa state have attempted to wrest control of the lucrative cross-border cocaine and marijuana trade from the local Gulf cartel that operates in the city.
Yoder said the majority of the kidnap victims came from the south Texas area, and several had family living in Nuevo Laredo. Two were killed by their abductors and nine released, while a further 11 remain missing.
"We don't even know if these are the real numbers, as not everyone who receives a ransom demand is prepared to come forward. It could be higher," he added.
Reuters contacted police in Nuevo Laredo for comment, but no one was immediately available.
Rights groups say 42 people have been snatched off the streets of the city this year in a wave of kidnappings, while 32 people have been killed in drug-related violence
Show Wealth=Become a Target
Tomtom: I TOTALLY agree with you about avoiding conspicuous displays of wealth in a place where many are DESPERATELY poor. It IS "common sense".
However, I don't care how big you are, or how tough you THINK you are, a wimpy little punk with a revolver often will humble (or kill) even the toughest machista. Most Colombian men DO carry guns by the way, while if you do so as a foreigner and the PN catch you . . . . .
Need help, want to go to Columbia (1st time)
I have been reading the reviews and like what I have read. I have been to Costa Rica many times and have enjoyed the company of Colombianas.
I want to go to Colombia but don't know where to fly to first. So my questions are
1) What city should I fly to? I am coming from Newark.
Bogota? Cali, Medellin?
2) Hotel, are they monger friendly? Should I arrange for the hotel to pick me up at the airport ( is that possible?)
What hotels should I go to?
3) I speak Spanish fluently, so I think I should be pretty mobile but want to be safe. Any recommendations for me.
I would greatly appreciate it.