It's a bit long but I just have to share this handy advise I found on a South American travel forum...you know...just in case:
There are some who are more
cautious, including your author here, who would fly into Colombia and fly out,
so as to avoid getting into trouble with roadblocks and guerillas. There is
another category who have no such fear. They travel round the country as
though it is Disneyland, and take great delight when they do get into trouble.
Quite a few have indeed come across guerillas as well as right wing
paramilitary, and a few have lost the odd camera and some cash. Here's a
summary of what I've gathered from other nomads on what to do if your bus have
been stopped at a roadblock:
1. Find out who has stopped your bus. You are mostly fine if it's just police
or the Army. Hopefully you should have your passport and documents with you.
Otherwise a night in the prison may be a fine reminder on future road trips
round Colombia. Of course, you are in for bigger trouble if you have some
drugs with you, or anything that betrays your sympathy for the guerillas. If
that is indeed the case, get ready some cash and guts for tough bargaining.
2. If you are stopped by FARC, ELN or any leftist guerilla groups, get ready to
march off the bus with your arms over your head. They wear uniforms rather
similar to the Army, except that FARC men has a bigger Colombian coat of arms
on their shoulders. I'm not sure what the ELN look like... you might want to
ask them if they look like neither the Army or FARC. After marching off the
bus, you will have to face the bus with arms raised, while the guerillas search
you for weapons and documentation. Most of the time, there is no real danger,
unless you work for a mulitnational corporation (MNC), the military, or the AUC
(or similar rightwing paramilitary). If you work for a MNC, you will probably
be kept as a hostage for a big ransom, especially if you work for the big oil
companies. They will love you to bits. Don't worry - you are too valuable to
them to come to any harm. If you belong to the military, you might
occasionally be shot rightaway, but chances are you will be held as a hostage
for exchange of prisoners with the Army. Good luck to you if you belong to the
right wing paramilitary. You will probably be shot. Learn your prayers in
advance just in case. If you are just an ordinary tourist, sometimes you get a
"welcome to Colombia" greeting from the guerillas. Sometimes, they will ask
you for a donation like Robin Hood did, since you must be wealthy to travel
around. Of course, if you are American, you might be kept as a hostage on
account of George W Bush and his Plan Colombia efforts to crush the rebels and
their lucrative drug trade. You will probably be safe unless you are shot in a
cross fire between the rebels and the military.
I have met quiet a few travellers who have met FARC in the countryside and got
away scout free. One even had tea and a nice chat with them.
3. If you are stopped by the right wing paramilitary, get ready to lose your
money for many of them are plain robbers. They tend to be in civilian clothes,
though some wear uniforms. Same, get ready to march off the bus with your arms
raised behind your head. As a foreigner, you are probably safe apart from the
potential loss of some cash and your camera. Keep them with you so that a
friendlier AUC member might ask whether he could have your camera as a present.
You might say no and give him some cash instead, that is, if he decides not to
take all your cash and camera as well. But that's better than leaving
everything on the bus for them to take. Of course, some are not robbers and
you are probably OK. Even in that case, get ready to witness the rough
handling of your fellow passengers, in some cases, on the spot executions. Of
course, these things don't happen all the time but do get mentally prepared - I
do not mean ready to take pictures of that unless you are in for some real
adventure. If you are found to be a leftwing sympathiser, as many NGO people
are preseumed by the rightwingers to be so, pray really hard. Always know your
prayers in advance. Maybe send an email to your family the day before any
roadtrip so that they might know where to find your remains.
