If you can't fly under the radar then you should try not to be an obvious target
[QUOTE=Knowledge;2459877]I'm really sorry that happened to you. What you said about no one coming to your aid reminds me of a one way conversation I had with a Didi driver night. He complained that Colombians don't get involved when they see crimes taking place on the street. A girl I see told me a story a few weeks ago about seeing an middle aged woman robbed right in the middle of Parque Berrio at high noon. She ran off because she was with her son and she said no one objected or helped the woman. Anyway a bit of advice if you and anyone else is interested. I'm pretty sure I noticed you guys kibbitzing near the Tostao and Premium Plaza. 4 PM is a sort of happy hour for the bars around Premium Plaza. The ne-er do wells took advantage of the unusually large crowd and, as you mentioned, all the police posted at the demonstration in Botero Plaza. If you guys are the group I'm thinking of one of you has a ratty tail and long gray stubble and usually wears shorts pants. That is not a place to socialize. The lanky pimps who hang around there will keep the desperadoes from interfering with guys who are dealing with girls. They won't cause problems for themselves unless it affects drug sales or dates. By now everybody knows a lot of petty crime happens in the area. I saw the police haul away a guy from the San Antonio end of Parque Berrio today. It looked like he did something to a street vendor or store. So back to ground zero, as I mentioned it's better to avoid socializing with other gringos there because it attracts attention. I'm not an especially observant guy and I noticed it. We don't have to ignore each other but we do need to stay aware of our surroundings. It's helpful to get into a gunfighter's position as in having a wall or one of the sculptures behind you so you can see anybody approaching at an odd angle or pace. It's what I do if I need to take a phone call, so no one can run up on me from behind or on a bike or motorcycle. Something I've seen happen to people more than a few times. Again, sorry it happened and I hope my notes are helpful to some. I'm still feeling bad about not saying something sooner about the portero situation in another post.[/QUOTE]Excellent pointers to lessen getting targeted in El Centro, especially talking with other gringo's at ground zero. This kind of situation is kind of like "flys's on shit" in terms of attracting a lot of attention, even wearing shorts, sunglasses, or carrying a plastic water bottle marks you.
This may sound odd to some, but locals won't spend 2,000 Pesos for a bottle of water, but will pay 500 Pesos for a bag of water. So having a plastic water bottle, and wearing shorts and sunglasses just put's a big "X" on your back as a foreigner, not even taking into account the color of your skin, hair, or eye's.