Did something change about Colombia recently?

[Natural_Born_Cynic]

Nahh, not at all. Colombia is a safe country as a whole. What's happening is the criminals are catching onto the foreigners coming for sex and they're setting traps. It's not the normal functioning, hard working local Colombian that does this. It's the criminals. Don't let the news and all this shit you hear dissuade you from visiting that great country. Medellin is a fun city with nice people.

Colombia is generally not a safe country for foreigners, simply because it's unsafe even for locals, who know exactly where to go, what to avoid and how to behave.

Medellin might look charming, especially when strolling around the upmarket residential areas (all private estates with private security, by the way). The moment you venture up hill, where no tourist should go unaccompanied, something nasty might happen to you.

Like most South American countries where people have guns, Colombia is not safe, not for locals, not for Gringos. One needs to enjoy those places while exercising caution.

I should have known.. because Colombia had their 50 years of civil war and kidnapping and extortion is pretty rampant even today.
I guess I try elsewhere.

[yick]

Nahh, not at all. Colombia is a safe country as a whole. What's happening is the criminals are catching onto the foreigners coming for sex and they're setting traps. It's not the normal functioning, hard working local Colombian that does this. It's the criminals. Don't let the news and all this shit you hear dissuade you from visiting that great country. Medellin is a fun city with nice people.

Colombia is generally not a safe country for foreigners, simply because it's unsafe even for locals, who know exactly where to go, what to avoid and how to behave.

Medellin might look charming, especially when strolling around the upmarket residential areas (all private estates with private security, by the way). The moment you venture up hill, where no tourist should go unaccompanied, something nasty might happen to you.

Like most South American countries where people have guns, Colombia is not safe, not for locals, not for Gringos. One needs to enjoy those places while exercising caution.

I might be stating the obvious here but shouldn't the advice be 'don't go up the hill'?

Same in most big cities in Latin America, Miraflores in Lima is great but venture six miles east to San Juan de Lurigancho and the likelihood you're walking home barefoot at best is going to multiply by a thousand percent - I know some gringos want to see what's up the hill but they would be better off knowing their limitations and sticking to places that are somewhat safe - obviously nowhere in Latin America is as safe as Tokyo but if you are a somewhat sensible person and stick to the better areas of the city you would be unlucky to have something happen to you.

Also, Colombia is a big country and there are cities safer than Medellin, you would have to be really unlucky to get robbed or murdered in Manizales.

[galii]

https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/commen ... ntry_2022/

[publicduende]

I might be stating the obvious here but shouldn't the advice be 'don't go up the hill'?

Same in most big cities in Latin America, Miraflores in Lima is great but venture six miles east to San Juan de Lurigancho and the likelihood you're walking home barefoot at best is going to multiply by a thousand percent - I know some gringos want to see what's up the hill but they would be better off knowing their limitations and sticking to places that are somewhat safe - obviously nowhere in Latin America is as safe as Tokyo but if you are a somewhat sensible person and stick to the better areas of the city you would be unlucky to have something happen to you.

Also, Colombia is a big country and there are cities safer than Medellin, you would have to be really unlucky to get robbed or murdered in Manizales.

Exactly my point, @yick. It does no good to say that Colombia is "perfectly safe for foreigners", because it's not.

At least by my experience, though, I wouldn't want to say that Colombians are specifically targeting foreigners because of the way they look or out of being territorial about their ladies. The violence that happens over there, the scopolamine-induced rape and theft, the burglaries ending in houseowners being killed or wounded, they are all targeting whoever is perceived to have some money, whoever is perceived to have been caught off-guard.

Back a few years ago, my ex-wife and I were kind of flirting with the idea of moving to Medellin, at least for a few years. I had an interview with a reputable software house which specifically worked with banking systems and they were very interested in having me. Monica would have easily resumed her mech-eng project manager career. Two very decent salaries, some savings...lower cost of living...life could be good.

Then something happened, which shattered my view of Medellin as the promised land. A couple, him an Italian entrepreneur and his Paisa wife, were burglared in their own house. They specifically targeted the house while they were both in because they wanted the combination of the safe. They got what they wanted: cash, jewels, precious paintings and decorations.

Then both husband and wife were tied tightly with plastic tape, escorted out and both shot on the head.

This was reported to be an Italian man, an engineer and entrepreneur, in his late 30s. They were both living in the Poblado, an upmarket area of Medellin, certainly not Comuna 13.

After reading about that episode, I never mentioned moving to Medellin ever again.

[kangarunner]

Then something happened, which shattered my view of Medellin as the promised land. A couple, him an Italian entrepreneur and his Paisa wife, were burglared in their own house. They specifically targeted the house while they were both in because they wanted the combination of the safe. They got what they wanted: cash, jewels, precious paintings and decorations.

Then both husband and wife were tied tightly with plastic tape, escorted out and both shot on the head.

This was reported to be an Italian man, an engineer and entrepreneur, in his late 30s. They were both living in the Poblado, an upmarket area of Medellin, certainly not Comuna 13.

After reading about that episode, I never mentioned moving to Medellin ever again.

Men of HA, please disregard the above post. Notice that he doesn't post any news articles backing up this story. Again, I was in Colombia for 6 months this year, walked around at night, felt totally safe. I was happy being there. Colombian people are beautiful, friendly, and kind people. Please don't let these internet "know-it-alls" dissuade you into experiencing the great social culture and friendly people of Colombia.

But for the men in America: please continue to fear the outside world. Don't go anywhere. Don't go out. Stay inside. Lock your doors. Watch Fox News all day long. Buy your guns and buy food supplies and build bunkers for the next world war. The world is a very dangerous place and America is the only country where you can be safe and have a good life.

[publicduende]

Men of HA, please disregard the above post. Notice that he doesn't post any news articles backing up this story. Again, I was in Colombia for 6 months this year, walked around at night, felt totally safe. I was happy being there. Colombian people are beautiful, friendly, and kind people. Please don't let these internet "know-it-alls" dissuade you into experiencing the great social culture and friendly people of Colombia.

I did not spend 6 months in Colombia but I spent a total of about 12 weeks, on 4 different occasions including my honeymoon. I had an ex-wife from Medellin and a constant stream of news about Colombia and Colombians. At some point we were even planning to be there, so naturally we were very interested in what goes on there.

Saying that Colombia is totally unsafe, especially towards foreigners, is complete BS and it's counterproductive for the many adventurous people who want to enjoy the place and the people.

At the same time, saying that Colombia is totally safe and anyone can walk around anywhere, feeling totally safe, is equally BS and counterproductive. My ex-wife and I used to walk every evening around Laureles, sometimes reaching the compound where her university (Bolivariana) is and getting an ice cream at the Unicentro mall next to it. Nothing and nobody ever bothered us, but that's because we were doing it one of the few totally gentrified areas of Medellin.

Doing the same in the wrong part of town, or in a village one doesn't know well, means asking for trouble.

But for the men in America: please continue to fear the outside world. Don't go anywhere. Don't go out. Stay inside. Lock your doors. Watch Fox News all day long. Buy your guns and buy food supplies and build bunkers for the next world war. The world is a very dangerous place and America is the only country where you can be safe and have a good life.

Now he goes full ballistic You know that's not what either (in fact any) of us is saying.

By the way, this is one of the articles who talks about the Italian man killed in Medellin.

https://www.thelocal.it/20141113/italia ... n-colombia

I did not remember the age. The woman was in her mid-thirties, the man was 50, apparently.

[rudder]

Fixed it for you.

The US State Department recently issued a warning about Colombia.

"Over the last year, the Embassy has seen an increase in reports of incidents involving the use of online dating applications luring horny foreigners with sexy photos despite the jaded local women not putting out and not placing themselves on the receiving end of a transient tourist's short, debauchery-filled, no-strings-attached vacation. The Embassy regularly receives reports from stupid gringos who haven't yet realized Colombia has been increasingly over-played over the course of the past decade, with reports of disillusionment in major cities, including, but not limited to, Medellin, Cartagena, and Bogota. These types of disappointments routinely go underreported as stubborn, blue-balled lechers are embarrassed and do not want to pack their bags and go ruin quality women in other countries, often insisting that Colombian women are somehow way more beautiful and less vain than other latinas, despite their obvious overuse of plastic surgery and increasingly materialistic attitudes towards romance."
https://co.usembassy.gov/security-alert ... lications/