careful in medellin, from a expat who lives there

[mudd]

ok ok, im sure SOMEBODY is going to say " all you do is post negative krap" but it was sent by a friend who lives there, so take it for what its worth



[/size]See Note from Marcos Below…. - Jim[/color][/size][/i][/b][/font][/size][/color]
[/size] [/font][/b][/font][/size]
[/font]this is important and pass it on to any friends in medellin .
 
i just received a notice from the principal from my school that the latest scheme in medellin is this:
 
a child starts crying or comes up to you crying and points to come here or there.  what is waiting for you is being robber, shot or kidnapped.
 
this is no joke the colombians are warning themselves about this ploy because evidently it is happening in medellin .
 
ok, this is no junk mail, it is from marcos de medellin , and i got the letter in spanish but because some people are a little lets say not proficient in spanish i figured it would be best to translate it for you.
 
SO CUIDADO - be careful.  your spanish lesson for today.
 
the wedding was great, photos etc to follow and i return tuesday night[/font].
 
good night from balmy rochester - 80 plus degrees today
 
loquito[/font][/size]

[Zon]

I have a close friend, 25 year old COLOMBIANO.  He called me today and was drugged and robbed in Parque Llares on Friday night. 

Actually, I like a little uncertainty, but Medellin is not a joke.

[mudd]

ok, here is the post, cleaned up below.  wonder what will be next in medellin 



See Note from Marcos Below…. - Jim


this is important and pass it on to any friends in medellin .
 
 
 
i just received a notice from the principal from my school that the latest scheme in medellin is this:
 
a child starts crying or comes up to you crying and points to come here or there.  what is waiting for you is being robber, shot or kidnapped.
 
this is no joke the colombians are warning themselves about this ploy because evidently it is happening in medellin .
 
ok, this is no junk mail, it is from marcos de medellin , and i got the letter in spanish but because some people are a little lets say not proficient in spanish i figured it would be best to translate it for you.
 
SO CUIDADO - be careful.  your spanish lesson for today.
 
the wedding was great, photos etc to follow and i return tuesday night.
 
good night from balmy rochester - 80 plus degrees today
 
loquito

[Samuel]

I have a close friend, 25 year old COLOMBIANO.  He called me today and was drugged and robbed in Parque Llares on Friday night. 

Actually, I like a little uncertainty, but Medellin is not a joke.

The drug administered was most likely scopolamine.  Nasty and dangerous stuff.


An interesting documentary an American made on it.


http://www.vice.com/vice-news/colombian-devil-s-breath-1-of-2

[mudd]

very good video on the drug. amazing how easy it is for somebody to die on it if somebody gives a victim too much

[maritime04]

I think the running joke is who HAS NOT been robbed or druged in medellin???
 
Why is anyone suprised?

[JWR]

When you get off the plane in Colombia, there is always some luck that determines what happens to you.  Good luck or bad.  Guys always say be careful.  Well you can be careful, and with a little bad luck, meeting the wrong friend of a friend, you're completely screwed.  As your Spanish improves, you start to realize all the stupid dangerous things you did, as you wandered around the country with little understanding of anything.  After about a year and a half in Colombia, the luck has always been on my side.
 
Often things are not as they appear in all things concerning this country.
 
Guys never want to talk about how dangerous it actually is down there.  It's just too close to home.  If you really start thinking about it, you would never get on the plane.
 
 

[dennislevy]

Any place that is very far out of a man s zone of comfort is dangerous.
 
After about two years in Colombia, I didnt think about it as a dangerous place, I developed a set of habits that at least in my mind.....minimzed any danger and then I traveled through most of the country.
 
I lived in Medellin for 8 months, never had any problems there...but I never went to El Centro with more then 20,000 pesos (10 or 11 bucks) in my pocket, thats for sure.
 
MANY gringos do things that get themselves in trouble. How they present themseves, what they wear,  how they behave in public places, the types of women they seek, the hours they keep, their lack of Spanish, all of that contributes to danger.
 
But I would not go to some places in the world......because I consider them to be so far out of my zone of comfort.  That includes most of the Middle East, most of Africa, parts of Asia, SE Asia.......

[vikingo]

I've lived in Barranquilla for almost two years, never had a problem nor a confrontation, had some guys giving me dirty looks though and I figured they were FARC or former FARC, who hate Americans with a passion, even though I'm not an American. We watched an armed robbery once, sitting in a bus which had stopped on a traffic light. Two gunmen on motorcycle appeared on the scene, one opened the door of a stopped taxi and emerged with a ladie's handbag. they took off on the moto, the passenger holding a large revolver across his chest, ready to shoot anyone who would try to stop him. People in the bus were saying the couple in the taxi most likely made a withdrawal in the bank. I truly believe most of these criminals are former rebels or paracos (paramilitary), because they act so calm and confident like they were government agents.
When I go to my bank, the security guard always holds a speach at folks waiting in line, advising anyone with a large withdrawal to call for a free police escort and he is giving out the number to call.
I also lived in Cali for a year and my ex caleña said she was held up four times sitting in her car waiting for the light to turn green. She would never take anything of value out in the street and only wore silver jewelry when leaving the house.
I am convinced the reason I never had any problems is simply I don't go out at night, never, and the girl I'm with keeps me out of trouble. Hitting the bars at night, maybe being somewhat intoxicated already can get you into a lot of trouble. So does making enemies or messing with someones girlfriend. A cicario or asassin will eliminate anyone for 3 million pesos. Something to keep in mind.

[mudd]

medellin for the most part, is a nice city, but dont take anything for granted there or your likely to get robbed, drugged or even worse, killed. Unfortunately, its one of those cities where " being in the wrong place at the wrong time" can be deadly. a lot of what goes on there rarely ever gets reported or makes it to the news. A fraction of the news actually makes it to places like here on Planet-love. Best to find a local you can trust, which isn't easy to find either lol, before going out to certain areas of the city. And for please sake, dont look like a tourist walking around with your heads in the clouds, your just asking to get robbed.

[JWR]

Once you have a steady girlfriend or wife, your safety goes up dramatically in my opinion.  You are not out on the town late at night on dates with new girls, you are mostly flying under the wire.
 
Since there were so many murders that happened to my ex-wife's family over the years, she was super paranoid about my safety when we lived there together.  She didn't even tell her own family where our apartment was.  She used to say that word travels fast, and it might travel to the wrong person.
 
I am not an advocate of a risk free colorless life.  I'm off to Mindanao in a couple of weeks.  From Colombia to Mindanao.  Genius thinking eh?
 
 
 
 

[mudd]

Since there were so many murders that happened to my ex-wife's family over the years, she was super paranoid about my safety when we lived there together.  She didn't even tell her own family where our apartment was.  She used to say that word travels fast, and it might travel to the wrong person.

reminds me of my 1st girlfriend in medellin. she had two small scars on her breasts. I didnt ask her for a while what happen, but she finally told me. She was in a car with her novio at a stop light when a guy pulled up and started shooting.  the guy shot her novio in the head and killed him. One of the bullets just missed her and grazed both her breasts, leaving the scars. When driving in medellin, she would start to have a panic attack if we stopped at a light for more than 10 seconds. Was really sad to see her in such a mess because she was a really nice person, but will always have mental problems, and who wouldnt experiencing something like that.

[maritime04]

http://www.qhubo.com/
 
you want the nasty and the real medellin here you go

[JWR]

My ex wife had a bullet hole scar in her leg from when the farc tried to kill the Arch Bishop who was her uncle while they were together.  When she was with him, their car had been attacked several times with bullets flying around inside the car.  While we were married, her brother was kidnapped and later killed, her very close cousin was only recently shot several times, that paralyzed him from the neck down while driving, and her Uncle the catholic arch bishop was finally murdered.  Her Grand Father was murdered, and their large horse ranch was taken by the farc. Her other cousin's head was delivered in a box to the front door after a kidnapping.
 
I was married to paisa who suffered from PTSD every day of her life.  When therapy was suggested,  I was told that only crazy people go to therapy.  All this hardship, and loss has made her into an extremely driven, efficient, educated, intelligent, cold, stubborn, hard women. 
 
All of these horrific stories came out very slowly over a period of 10 years from her, her friends, and family.  I had no idea about any of it when we were married.
 
 

reminds me of my 1st girlfriend in medellin. she had two small scars on her breasts. I didnt ask her for a while what happen, but she finally told me. She was in a car with her novio at a stop light when a guy pulled up and started shooting.  the guy shot her novio in the head and killed him. One of the bullets just missed her and grazed both her breasts, leaving the scars. When driving in medellin, she would start to have a panic attack if we stopped at a light for more than 10 seconds. Was really sad to see her in such a mess because she was a really nice person, but will always have mental problems, and who wouldnt experiencing something like that.

[Researcher]

Once you have a steady girlfriend or wife, your safety goes up dramatically in my opinion.  You are not out on the town late at night on dates with new girls, you are mostly flying under the wire.
 

      I agree JWR.I had a novia in Cali many years ago and we would always end up at one of her relatives house by night fall.If I wanted to go back to where I was staying she knew the best way there.

     In Bogota I've had my wife grab my jacket sleeve and pull me around a corner out of sight.Most of the time it was from the policia!

     I don't think many gringos realize that in many places of the world if you get done in CSI isn't going to show up to investigate.I wonder how many crimes go unsolved in places like Colombia?

     I've walked the streets of Bogota, Manila and Mexico City alone.Mexico City felt the most dangerous to me.Now that I'm older I exercise alot more caution than I used to.

        Researcher

[Micky]

Dangerous for FARC leaders - just in -  Cano (?)  the lastest in,  what is becoming,  a long list of dead FARC jefes.  RIP dick.

 
Micky

[Deseo]

For the guys with experience in Medellin AND Cali, which one do you think is more dangerous (now)?
 
Too close to call or Medellin by a long shot?

[mudd]

For the guys with experience in Medellin AND Cali, which one do you think is more dangerous (now)?[/size] Too close to call or Medellin by a long shot?

haven't been to cali in a few years so i cant really compare the two right now, but i know medellin has  a whole lot of problems under the surface, most of which are never reported or make it to the internet. most guys thinking about going down wouldnt even know what really goes on there unless they know locals, are fluent in Spanish or read the paper above posted by maritime04

[maritime04]

most of those guys are in denial! or too stupid to know what goes on outside poblado, or too scared to leave poblado. or just go with the crime and danger as a part of life required inorder to live the lifestyle they want IE get WOMEN!!

[dennislevy]

I remember that in in the summer of 2010,  while my novia annd i searched for an apartment for me, I was living in a hotel very near Obelisko and her house. It was 11 in the morning and a solid estrato 5 neighborhood.

I was walking three blocks from the hotel and a motorcyclist (with a masked helmet)  stopped at the curb immediately next to me.

And I thought to myself.....#$%&&/!!!!!!!!!!  four days living in Medellin and I m toast!!!!!!

The motorcyclist took off his helmet and it was ny novia s brother......he just wanted to say hi! 

[maritime04]

i have had some close calls with pick pockets in el centrol. I avoided a robbery at a hotel i was staying at by NOT BEING THERE at the time. and i think i was being watched by someone while taking money out of ATM, but they bank had security guards.
 
I have been lucy

[vikingo]

Deseo, I would say Cali is more dangerous than Medellín, Bogotá is first in place and then there is  Buenaventura. In my humble opinion, Bucaramanga is the least dangerous city and Barranquilla is also less dangerous with only 2 to 3 murders daily, sometimes 4. Pretty sure about Barranquilla because I live here and read the paper (Al Día).
When I lived just outside Cali about 4 years ago one of the neighbors owned a fairly new Ford tractor he used for working  in the sugar cane fields. one day he got shot right of the tractor by two paid asassins (sicarios) on a motorbike. The neighbors told me he was a witness to a drug crime and he was due in Court to testify. A good percentage of serious crime in this country is somehow drug related and it probably isn't a good idea to get involved as a witness. The Three Wise (japanese) Monkeys make a lot of sense when living here.

[Deseo]

Thanks MUDD and Vikingo for the reply. 
 
I read the crime stats on Cali and Medellin, actually homicide rates.
 
I don't know how good the official stats are but I figure a murder is a murder.
 
Cali's homicide rate in 2010 was 71 per 100,000 residents.  Medellin's homicide rate was 110 per 100,000 in 2009 (the most recent year I could find).
 
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1967232,00.html
 
 
 

[robert angel]

Thanks MUDD and Vikingo for the reply. 
 
I read the crime stats on Cali and Medellin, actually homicide rates.
 
I don't know how good the official stats are but I figure a murder is a murder.
 
Cali's homicide rate in 2010 was 71 per 100,000 residents.  Medellin's homicide rate was 110 per 100,000 in 2009 (the most recent year I could find).
 
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1967232,00.html

There are places in the USA where you can get murdered quite easily too.

New Orleans, Louisiana had a higher homicide rate per 100,000 people than Cali until recently, but 2011 certainly started off badly. . From Jan 1st, 2011 to March 25th 2011 alone, they had 60 homicides, so they'll probably break their own record of 81 in 2007 and maybe even exceed not just Cali's but also Medellin's.

[mudd]

Thanks MUDD and Vikingo for the reply.   I read the crime stats on Cali and Medellin, actually homicide rates. I don't know how good the official stats are but I figure a murder is a murder. Cali's homicide rate in 2010 was 71 per 100,000 residents.  Medellin's homicide rate was 110 per 100,000 in 2009 (the most recent year I could find).

i would say the medellin's rate went up a little in 2010 and so far this year, it will break the 2009 record. Didnt help when some of the troops and police were moved out of medellin when  Pres Uribe left office