On May 19, 2018, the fifth in line to the British throne married a Hollywood starlet in a celebration estimated to have cost the British taxpayer USD$45 million. The marriage was later blighted by controversy when the couple decided to take a step back from their roles as senior royals in 2020. 

Amidst claims of the hounding of the couple by the British press, the two relocated to Los Angeles. However, the couple did not leave the palace for a life of destitution. Four years later the blessed union has turned out to be quite the commercial enterprise: They’ve signed deals with Netflix, Penguin and Spotify worth a reported USD$160 million, some of which has gone to charity. According to The Times, Prince Harry also received millions this year from his Royal trust fund. 

This August, the couple visited Colombia as representatives of their charity, the Archwell Foundation. The visit cost the Colombian government USD$58,000, according to figures released by the Vice President’s office.

Given that the charity reported USD$11 million in assets in 2022, it feels grossly unfair that they let the Colombian government foot the nearly $60,000 bill. Especially given that Unicef data shows this is a nation with some of the most extreme poverty in Latin America.

What was spent

Figures released by the Vice President’s office show that the entire trip cost Colombia COP$240,000,000 (USD$58,000). In recent years Colombia has dedicated millions of dollars each year to tourism. As such, the spending fits with the government policy of spending to attract world media attention. Vice President Márquez herself stated the trip would draw an international audience to Colombia’s cultural offerings. In this sense, the tour was certainly a success – but at what true cost?

In a feat of remarkable generosity, the multimillionaires did pay for their own flights. Even so, before the couple had even set foot in Colombia, USD$3,000 had already been spent on logistics.

The most expensive day occurred in Cartagena where over COP$88,000,000 (USD$20,000) was spent. That included over COP$13,000,000 (USD$3,000) for food alone. A further COP$29,443,570 (USD$7,000) was spent on food alone on their first day of the tour in Bogotá. 

Why the Sussexes are not simply entitled to Colombia’s money

There is something a little too “let them eat cake” in spending thousands of dollars in one day on wining and dining quasi-royals, while indigenous children die of starvation. According to Human Rights Watch, at least 54 children under the age of 5 died in La Guajira last year because of malnutrition and lack of drinkable water. The majority were Indigenous Wayuu. 

This year, the World Food Programme reported that over 13 million Colombians struggle with moderate or severe food insecurity. The report says half of Colombian households face marginal food security, which means they’re worried food will run out before they can buy more.

These figures make the USD$7,000 forked out for the Sussex’s catering needs in a single day a heinous insult to the Colombian households facing food scarcity.

The couple later announced they’d donated new drumming sets to the Escuela Tambores de Cabildo in Cartagena. They also said they’d supported children in San Basilio de Palenque and helped to expand the socio-emotional Gym program at Colegio La Giralda. Music has great healing qualities. However, giving a few drumming kits in one school is unlikely to aid a region experiencing such a deeply systemic issue such as sexual exploitation. The Sussex’ hollow gestures are like using a thimble to remove water from a sinking ship. 

El País recently published a story entitled: “Life is hell for the poor in Cartagena, where sexual exploitation starts in childhood.” The article points out that vulnerable families allow and even encourage the sale of children’s bodies. In that context, offering a set of drums in exchange for a USD$58,000 vacation demonstrates a distressing level of entitlement. 

If this figure has you pining for the guillotine you are not alone. Obscene spending in the face of abject poverty is part and parcel of today’s neoliberalist wasteland. What’s more galling though is our acceptance of such behaviour. 

It would be a mistake to view the Sussexes in isolation. Indignation must be constructive, it must be an impetus to examine what sort of political climate allows scroungers posing as philanthropists to get USD$58,000 handouts to tour a country where children starve to death. 

So what are the wider implications of the Sussex’s tour of Colombia, and what does it tell us about inequality and “philanthropy” ?

Why shouldn’t we roll out the red carpet for the Sussexs?

Given that the Sussexes are hardly strapped for cash, one might ask: Why would they accept such luxury at the expense of a struggling nation? The answer: Because they can. The Sussex tour is a reflection of an attitude of entitlement from the global north. 

It appears that the Sussexes are a product of a post-colonial status quo that continues to allow huge amounts of wealth to be transferred from developing nations to the global north. 

The couple released a statement about their trip titled: “Showing up, doing good in Colombia”. This is an eerie reminder that people like the Sussexs are convinced they are true philanthropists. What’s worse is that a lot of the time they have also convinced us. 

The Sussexes also attended a panel titled: “Afro-women and Power”. I cannot be alone in feeling deeply uncomfortable at seeing Prince Harry discussing how to empower Afro-descendent women in Colombia. Harry is the third in line to the British crown, one of history’s most brutal empires. The women featured on the panel are themselves the descendants of those enslaved by the Spaniards. It should not be polemic to feel disgust at this flagrant tone deafness.

Photo ops are not a substitute for real change

However, like the rest of the trip, this incident is merely a symptom of the global trend of politics of the aesthetic, promoting photo ops and press releases over tangible change. The media frenzy created by the Sussex’s presence in Colombia shifts attention from real issues. 

For example, the couple pushed their mission to raise awareness around cyberbullying among children. Cyberbullying is an important issue. But in a country plagued by conflict, sexual exploitation and inequality, the precedence assigned to cyberbullying is questionable.

The pomp and ceremony of speeches and panel discussions create the illusion of action, letting those in power off the hook from their responsibility to address real issues. The Sussexes donating drum sets in Cartagena, a region with a thriving child sex trafficking industry is a perfect example of this phenomenon. 

We all have a lot to learn from the Sussexes. They remind us that even if the monarchy no longer has the divine right to rule, we still do not live in a society of equals. Quasi-philanthropists like the Sussex teach us that colonialism has not been eradicated; it has simply shapeshifted and called itself charity. 

In Colombia, only one in three people have acceptable levels of food consumption. The USD$58,000 spent on the Sussex time in Colombia demonstrates the unsettling truth about inequality and poverty: It is not an absence of food, but rather the absence of a desire to share it.

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It’s now two years since Gustavo Petro was elected as Colombia’s first ever true leftwing president. Hopes were high from one side of the Colombian political divide, fears high on the other side. Those in the middle simply expressed concern over his reputation for ineptitude and problem causing.

In a strange way, Petro can be measured more by what he has not done than by what he has. Some of that is good – there has been no collapse of the peso, nor has he made any major blunders. On the other hand, much that was promised is stuck in bureaucracy, unworkable or simply non-existent. He’s also failed to fully take control of the wheel of state.

His predecessor Duque saw his final two and a half years simply play out as a lame duck presiding over chaos. In that respect, Petro is doing a bit better as he prepares to enter the second half of his presidency. However, while there isn’t any panic on the streets of Bogotá, there is the same old feeling of simply looking towards the next election and hoping things improve.

His notoriously combative personality has led to a near-constant series of fights with various parties and some bizarre actions. He’s rarely in Bogotá, often touring the country or the world to make speeches or hold rallies. His predilection for blaming others isn’t easy to get away with when he’s sitting in the Palacio de Nariño.

What is perhaps more interesting for the long term is what happens next. As this government erratically careens through its remaining time in power, will it impact the next election? It’s certainly true that links to Petro are unlikely to be votewinners, but there’s likely an opportunity to ‘do the change properly’. And of course, there’s plenty of room for ‘back to the rightwing’.

El gobierno de cambio

A year ago, we wrote “having swept in on the wind of change, little has actually taken place. The exceptional ability of Colombian politics to stymie and frustrate politics has hit his reforms and they have been mired in the gloop of Senate bureaucracy. He needs to negotiate to get support for his reforms, but is unable or unwilling to find compromise.” All of that remains true.

The flagship measure is health, and that failed. Petro’s response to that was to stymie payments to EPS providers, causing an inordinate number of problems in an attempt to force change. He claims that the healthcare providers have received their payments, they say they haven’t and things came to a head when heavyweight Sura asked to leave the system.

The deadline for a response to that request is September 2nd, and it’s likely to be polemic one way or the other. If it’s denied, it’s unclear what happens next. If it’s accepted it sets a precedent for others to follow suit, with potentially thousands left without healthcare.

Large-scale street protests against the government have yet to happen and it’s looking like they never will. While there have been a few attempts at rebellion, the political right seem to mainly be looking to wait this out. Petro continues to organise large rallies to drum up support for himself, usually from his balcony.

The minimum wage has shot up, with inflation-busting increases over the last two years, and since 2017 it’s now doubled in value, at COP$1.3m a month. With the transport subsidy, it’s nearly one and a half million. There’s also been a decrease in legal working hours, so rights for workers are heading in a positive direction.

It’s the economy, stupid

Perversely, Petro’s inability to get reforms through has meant a relatively stable economic picture. Drastic change is unlikely to take place, leading investors to potentially view the country as relatively low risk. However, there has been reduced interest post-pandemic, especially with a drive to diversify away from resource extraction.

However, the overall outlook is less than sunny. 2023 was ok if wobbly, with a continued post-COVID bounce back still driving growth. That has now slowed, as consumption starts to fall off. 2024 GDP growth is predicted to be somewhere between 1.5 and 2%, below the global average and a far cry from a decade ago in Colombia.

Inflation is falling, but remains stubbornly high and critically, above GDP growth. That means further pain for consumers and further reduced consumption. The dollar has fluctuated around COP$4,000. Most observers predict an economic uptick in 2025, but likely to remain below the numbers in the first part of the century.

Personal fights

With the departure of Claudia López (now angling for the presidency in 2026) as Bogotá mayor, Petro is missing his main sparring partner. The new mayor, Carlos F Galán, hasn’t so far attracted his ire. Though he’s smarting over the poor showing from his comrade Gustavo Bolívar who managed to finish third in a two horse race.

His political rivals have mainly focused on a sort of plan tortuga within the Congress, frustrating and stymieing his attempts to get reforms through. It seems that most of the right wing are prepared to simply wait him out. Towards the end of 2025, expect that to change as jockeying for election starts in earnest.

There was a perplexing bromance between Petro and the polarising Álvaro Uribe in his first few weeks in office. Although that rapidly cooled, there’s been a distinct lack of hostility on both sides. Uribe has popped up occasionally to chip in on certain issues, but is far from the critic you’d expect him to be. 

In the absence of congressional attacks, Petro has found himself involved in quite a few spats with journalists. He’s been involved in a long-running feud with FLIP, the press freedom organisation for months and been hostile to all perceived criticism. He’s a fan of propaganda but lukewarm on freedom of expression.

He’s called RCN and Caracol brutalising influences and likened high profile columnists to both Mossad and concentration camp guards. He’s almost completely sidestepped traditional media in all forms, preferring instead to fire off dozens of tweets weekly and set up his own mini newspaper to trumpet his achievements.

Strangely, Petro’s unelected wife, Verónica Alcocer, has disappeared from public view in recent weeks. She’s had an unprecedented presence in the government, going as far as to be an official representative of the country at functions. That seems to be subsiding a bit now, with the First Lady being absent from the recent independence day celebrations.

There was also a squabble over the location of the Panamerican Games in 2027. Originally slated for Barranquilla, the organising committee ripped up the contract after failing to receive sufficient guarantees from the central government. Petro in turn blamed the local administration, who also blamed him. 

He’s had a rocky relationship with local politicians in general – largely through his habit of touring the country and often undermining them. He’s criticised costeño leaders for high energy prices and in turn come under fire from regional leaders who say that the central government doesn’t communicate with them.

Foreign policy

Never one to miss an opportunity for grandstanding, Gustavo has given full support to the Palestinian cause. This is at least consistent with his entire political outlook, but has rubbed the Israeli ambassador up the wrong way, among others. He’s broadly in line with global political opinion on this one, although has gone further by breaking diplomatic relations.

More concerning is his reluctance to criticise Nicolás Maduro. Petro took a while to comment and his words were far from harsh. Being charitable, you might say that he’s trying to avoid cornering his Venezuelan counterpart. More cynically, he’s avoiding calling out his old revolutionary mate.

Much of what actually gets done in politics happens under the radar though, and the administration has been quietly getting on top of things in Washington, managing to get some progress with the notorious delay in visa processing in Bogotá has fallen drastically. Of course, the enormous caveat here is that no one knows how a Trump return would play out.

Paz total

Even after two years, there is no real idea what this actually means. The country is getting more dangerous and crime perception is ticking upwards again. It’s also important to note that most Colombians care little about the peace talks – they play well in the foreign press but not locally. Petro wants to talk to everyone, but only three groups have come to the table.

The ELN talks are going nowhere, fast. Petro restarted official talks four months after taking office, but it’s been hard going. There have been frequent suspensions and ongoing points of contention, from funding systems to ceasefire durations to kidnapping. This includes killings of police and military personnel.

Worryingly, those are the talks that are going best. The paramilitary and drug-trafficking groups have either ignored the president or flexed their muscles to warn him off. This is highly concerning. This sort of passive attitude to cartels is precisely what brought Mexico, El Salvador and Ecuador into chaos.

There are two groups of ex-FARC in talks, EMC (Estado Mayor Central) since last year and Segunda Marquetalia for a couple of months. Neither set of talks has produced anything concrete and has seen plenty of showing off from the rebel groups. The peace deal of 2016 is looking ever shakier these days.

All this takes place against a backdrop of increased violence as these various groups operate with impunity, affecting civilians at ever higher rates. Multiple killings and assassinations persist in conflict zones, kidnappings and displacements are up and there are ever more reports of towns being shut down. 

Meanwhile, there’s growing discontent over crime perception within cities. The homicide rate hasn’t fallen significantly and robberies are up. High profile incidents in Bogotá saw a spate of violent crime hitting restaurants last year, although the threat has since receded. Still, with cities such as Cali and Bogotá registering crime concerns at 80%+, it’s a problem.

Some actual results

It hasn’t been all doom and gloom. Congress managed to get a bullfighting bill through – after 14 previous attempts, this hasn’t been easy for any administration. It has a fair deal of caveats built into it and doesn’t cover related issues such as cockfighting, but it’s still a notable achievement and was approved 93-2, indicating broad support.

Deforestation rates have fallen massively too, if official data is to be believed. It seems legit, though and is something to be proud of. However, that report notes that the start of 2024 has been very different, so the figures for this year may be grim reading if that continues.

Cocaine exportation has been hard hit in the last two months, with the authorities continuing to break records (.pdf) as they reach around 700 tons of product impounded annually. While this has been a trend over years, it’s improved under Petro’s watch. Partly it’s a simple result of increased production, but credit should go to a renewed focus on the issue.

Scandals

There were plenty in the first year, but things have quietened down considerably over the second year. However, two issues just stagger on like fentanyl zombies through San Francisco streets. There are also signs of odd behaviour.

The first of these is the campaign funding scandal. Benedetti was appointed to a role of ambassador to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN to keep him out of sight, but that’s far from a resolution. It remains absolutely unclear what his role was in campaign financing after his threatening calls to Laura Sarabia.

Talking of which, the latter’s elaborate trolling of the Colombian people continues, as she’s been reappointed as general director of DAPRE, the president’s admin department. That is her third job under Petro after she was a major part of a bizarre scandal involving allegations of campaign interference, wiretapping, kidnapped nannies and unexplained bags of cash.

Add to that the ongoing saga of Nicolás Petro, the president’s son that he doesn’t take credit for, and there are a lot of unanswered questions over the 2022 campaign. It’s certainly unusual that both Benedetti and Sarabia seem to be unsackable despite serious allegations. However, everything remains shrouded in mystery and nothing is proven.

Perhaps most bizarre are the personal attacks, with repeated claims that he is drunk and/or unwell. While much of this is based on poor quality fake video or adulterated audio, it’s true that he’s often erratic and frequently late or simply absent at official events. This has drawn unwelcome comparisons with doddery Joe Biden. 

The VP

Francia Márquez continues to receive both unacceptable criticism and unwarranted praise. Racist abuse is of course deplorable and a lot of people clearly have an issue with a powerful woman of colour. In terms of visibility, she’s a trailblazer and is actively showing that Black women have a place in the echelons of Colombian politics.

However, in purely practical terms, she has an enormous department of state, and is managing not to get anything done with it. She remains far from Bogotá, visiting sporadically for official engagements. Where she was once seen as a potential candidate for the top job, that seems to be sliding. De malas, she might well say.

Her diplomatic trips to Africa have been roaring successes, setting up links with a number of countries and opening new embassies. This is another of the things that flies under the radar, but Colombia now has much stronger links with the continent that will be important for the future.

Future dreams

So, what comes next? Well, there are a few things bubbling away that are worth keeping an eye on. Crime perception is certainly up and this is the sort of thing that you don’t want to see hit a tipping point. There are nowhere near enough jail spaces, either.

The ELN talks are in real danger of simply getting nowhere before Petro leaves office, which would leave them precarious with an incoming president far from guaranteed to continue. Even if they can accelerate, it will be a very, very hard sell to the Colombian public after a history of assassination even throughout the process.

The other talks are between pointless and unhelpful, serving to undermine the peace process on a wider scale. If dissidents can simply return to the forest and from there back to the table, it makes the official system seem useless. For the purely criminal groups, the message appears to be that the government won’t push back too much.

La Niña is looming large on the horizon. It’s now looking extremely likely that the phenomenon will arrive in the next rainy season. It requires a fairly hefty dose of optimism to imagine that the government is well prepared for this, so there may well be news of flooded towns and landslides in the autumn.

One thing that may affect perception of Petro both in office right now and in the annals of history is the US economy. Wall Street is a bit rocky and uncertainty over the upcoming election (not to mention the Trump shadow) doesn’t help that. If the dollar depreciates, Petro will bask in that as though it were his achievement.

Just like last year, the jury remains out on Petro. It seems most likely at present that he will simply waddle through to the end of his term having done more than you might think but not as much as he could have. Like most world leaders, really. A week is a long time in politics though, and especially in Colombia, so there’s always the possibility for some random event to throw everything into disarray. Watch this space.

The post Petro: Halfway House appeared first on The Bogotá Post.

An attack on a TV station live on air made world headlines, but tension in Ecuador has been bubbling away for a while now. The young new president, Daniel Noboa, is looking to emulate the so far successful crackdown on crime by Nayib Bukele in El Salvador.

While Bukele’s ultra-strict approach to breaking the gangs has won him the contempt of international human rights’ organisations, it’s wildly popular with actual Salvadoreans who can finally walk the streets without fear. Last weekend he “pulverised” the opposition while emphatically winning re-election. (His words, not ours.)

Noboa’s proposal for mega-prisons reflects skyrocketing crime in Ecuador. Just six years ago, the murder rate was a mere 5.7 per 100,000, lower than the global average, let alone the region. Today, it stands at 45 or even higher per 100,000. The big game changer was cocaine and its cartels.

This was also true in Mexico, where changing drug distribution routes caused the Jalisco New Generation armed group to grow quickly in both power and prestige. Mexico went from being relatively safe by Central American standards to having the world’s most violent cities (outside war zones).

However, this is only part of the puzzle. The real key factor is weak and unbothered states. Both Mexico under AMLO and Ecuador under Lenin Rojas simply ignored or downplayed the signs pointing to increased crime, allowing it to balloon. Once a country has shown that crime pays and no effective action will be taken, the problem snowballs, particularly when there are few other opportunities. 

Ecuador added a percentage point to its murder rate for two years running, before starting to nearly double year on year. Crime cartels become more powerful. This made it harder to crack down and also encouraged new entrants, attracted by the lack of consequences.

At that point, drastic measures become necessary – enter Nayib Bukele. The self-styled ‘world’s coolest dictator’ has made the country functional and enjoys the adoration of his people. Even if it may not be sustainable in the long run to lock up 1% of the population, it’s no surprise that other regional leaders are considering copying his approach.

Where is Colombia now?

Well, first the ‘good’ news. Part of the reason for Ecuador’s descent into chaos is that said chaos was leaving Colombia. It’s also true that Colombia is starting from a much higher position in the homicide charts and that the country’s long-term crime rates have fallen, despite a recent uptick.

However, there are some similarities. As in Ecuador, crime is both creeping up and being normalised, while neither police nor military are taking any effective action. It’s starting to make waves in the news, especially in Bogotá. This is a pot that’s bubbling ever more on the back burner.

Kidnappings are back on the mainstream agenda and killings continue, especially in the countryside. Extortion is on the rise and there are more and more reports of brazen attacks within Bogotá and other urban cities, from public buses being held up to restaurants being invaded. Various organised crime groups such as the Tren de Aragua operate in the capital.

Colombia has a long history of not nipping things in the bud and then having to clean up a bigger mess, sadly. Recently, authorities scoffed at reports of fentanyl entering the country and beginning to circulate and insisted it was all a storm in a teacup. Unsurprisingly, it’s now becoming obvious that there is indeed a lot of fentanyl in the country and now we’re scrambling to react.

Or look at the Choco landslide in January, despite repeated warnings that such an event was possible. Cast your mind back to when Mocoa was hit by a similar disaster in 2017. Note how El Niño wasn’t prepared for, leading to spates of wildfires. These are tragedies not just foretold but telegraphed years or even decades in advance.

These problems are most visible when they hit the headlines in dramatic events such as storming a news station or a landslide annihilating a city. But they are set up much earlier. Acting before the situation is critical saves time, money, and lives in the long run. It also requires foresight, planning, and investment for the future.

Those three things are in sadly short supply though and the real fear is not that some big tragic event will hit the headlines but that simply nothing will be done. A failure to act now and get crime under at least some sort of control sows the seeds for surefire tragedy later. Unfortunately, no arm of the state seems in any way willing to act at the moment.

Worst of all, that failure to act with reasonable measures now means that unreasonable measures become more palatable to the general public. Levels of concern over violence and crime trump everything else for many voters and if the options are extreme crackdowns or nothing, many will take the former.

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I wrote last week about Claudia López and her new police initiative. There are certainly more bobbies on the beat, at least to my eye, so it’s a cautious thumbs-up for now. However, having more police on the street is one thing – their effectiveness quite another. With so few laws enforced in the capital, is it any wonder that so many complain of a crimewave?

Crime in Bogotá is a perennial concern and it’s fair to say that it sometimes feels as though many people in this fine city somewhat overstate the crime level. There’s an element of that, to be sure, but the numbers themselves are sobering indeed. According to recent data from the Secretaría Distrital de Seguridad, Convivencia y Justicia, there were a thousand murders last year and over 12,000 robberies a month. In short, there’s no shortage of crime.

At times the police are spurred into action, and sometimes they move quickly. Note the sterling work inside Colombia and overseas to arrest John Poulus, prime suspect in the Valentina Trespalacios case. Feminist groups have pointed out, though, that the long arm of the law is rarely as quick with less high-profile cases. If it can be done for one suspect, what stops it being done for others?

Neither is this restricted to dramatic cases – even the most basic of laws are rarely enforced. For example, it’s common to see police in my local pocket park. However, that park is still filled with dog shit and benighted by litter. Adults use and damage the children’s playground, others use the foliage for their own piss party. Dogs are rarely leashed and cars ignore road signs, both of which cause accidents. All of this in front of groups of police who wilfully ignore their own police code – even when asked to intervene.   

You don’t have to look far to find a Colombian complaining about the inefficiency of the police, and many would say the only difference between them and The Simpsons’ Wiggum is that they tend to be munching on empanadas and not doughnuts. You’ve no doubt seen it yourself, a group of officers at a station as naughtiness unfolds around them. There’s little control from on high, it would seem, and plenty of corruption in the force.

Police code made little difference

Back in 2016 we were concerned about that new police code, thinking that it represented a great loss of liberty and handed unwarranted powers to the police. Worse still, many of the rules were seemingly draconian and the fines enormous – up to a whole minimum salary for relatively minor offences. Today, that outrage seems hopelessly naïve – the code is basically ignored completely.

At heart, this comes down to respect. A police force that cannot command respect is one that will be ignored. I’m constantly amazed at the laissez faire attitude of many coppers here, as I’m used to a constabulary that will front up and be proactive when rules are broken. It doesn’t have to be a big deal. It can be enough to just let someone know that they’re in the wrong and need to change course. After all, once you know you can take the piss out of coppers, why not go on the rob?

Colombian lawmakers love to create new laws and do so at a rate of knots. Few of these laws are enforced in any sensible way, though, so why bother making them? There’s an argument that the police can’t enforce laws as the courts are overwhelmed and the jails full anyway. That’s understandable, but those are problems that can and should be sorted out, not naturally occurring phenomena outside the remit of humanity.

The stalking nightmares behind this, of course, are vigilantism and populism. As we enter a local election cycle, what more effective platform to stand on than ‘tough on crime’? It’s worked for many – the ‘world’s most popular dictator’ is not far away in El Salvador and he enjoys sky-high approval ratings. 
Closer to home, it’s a card that Uribe himself played to great effect, leading to horrible consequences such as the falsos positivos. Uribista former defence minister Diego Molano has a shockingly casual attitude to the deaths of his enemies and he threw his hat into the mayoral candidate ring this week. Let’s hope we can get on top of crime in a measured, reasonable manner rather than sliding towards chaos.

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Noticed anything different on the mean streets of Bogotá recently? There are a lot more uniformed coppers standing about, with more on the TransMilenio as well. We’re well into 2023 now, so let’s hope it’s a new year’s resolution that will stay in place. After all, safety is regularly cited as people’s top concern in Bogotá.

There are 18,000 uniformed police officers in the Bogotá section (Mebog), so there’s certainly plenty of them to put onto the streets. Mayor Claudia López, starting her final year in the Palacio Liévano, is concentrating her efforts on safety and security in the capital. At the same time as police are becoming more visible, she’s announced a Magnificent Seven strategy with seven focuses for combating crime.

The seven prongs are:

• The TransMilenio
• Gender-based crime
• The Centre
• Corabastos (in the west of the city)
• Nightlife crime
• Environmental crime
• Cleanliness and waste

What all this means for most of our readers is that there will be dedicated police in every part of the city focusing on gender-based crimes. The centre and TransMi will have more police, as noted. Of course, we also suspect you may see more police in general as part of this. When asked, individual officers have said they’ve been told not to stay in stations. None were happy to go on the record, but it seems to tie in to the mayor’s security measures.

It’s not necessarily true that simply having lots of police wandering around reduces crime, but it is powerfully symbolic. Most people don’t like paying tax, but it’s nice to at least see it being spent in a visible way. And no one doubts the need for a police force, especially with crime at current levels. While perception is generally higher than actual crime levels, there’s certainly no shortage of crime here.

And make no mistake, those levels are high, very high and getting worse. Robberies especially are anecdotally often unreported, of course, but the most recent data from the Secretaría Distrital de Seguridad, Convivencia y Justicia put the number of reported robberies between January 2022 and November at over 122,000, a 25% increase on the same period last year. Murder and homicides are down, thankfully, but those numbers remain high too, with around a thousand annually. It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, but Bogotá is a high-crime city – even if it compares favourably to the likes of Medellín or Cali. 

Does more police on the streets help?

It’s nice to have more coppers standing about, but are they actually doing anything? Well, that would require its own article to explain in detail, so you’ll get that answer next week. Certainly many Colombians will be at best suspicious of the productivity of most police officers, whether that’s entirely fair or not. And of course, there are problems, with many being fined and/or disciplined for corruption and illegal activity.

The extent of these police patrols is also unclear. In a notoriously divided city, there’s extra police in the centre for sure, plus improved presence in Chapinero and Usaquén. TransMilenio stations have noticeable groups of police too. Out in the suburbs, things are less clear. Suba and Kennedy lead the list for most dangerous localidades, after all.

Claudia López has had a rocky time controlling the police, but she appears to have finally got the extra uniforms she asked for. It’s worth noting the chain of command for those unfamiliar with Colombian policing. Unlike the UK or US, for example, the Colombian police are not independent at all, but directly controlled by ministers. The Ministry of Defense is in charge of policing, controversially, though the President of the Republic has ultimate responsibility. 

And of course, we do now have a new president. Gustavo Petro promised wholesale changes to policing amongst his smorgasbord of proposals. It’s hard to know what’s a priority at this stage, but policing doesn’t seem super high on the list right now. He promised the abolition of the riot squad (ESMAD), but they still stalk the streets when protests are planned.

The police in Bogotá have, to be polite, a complicated relationship with the citizenry of the capital. In recent years there have been major clashes, and ESMAD are always controversial. The death of Dilan Cruz is very much in the minds of many when they think of the police. That’s similar across the country, too.

Still, when push comes to shove, most people in la nevera will call the police in an emergency, and the more openly visible they are, the easier that is to do. It’s also no bad thing to have at least an idea that our tax is going somewhere, and good to have at least some sort of visible deterrence. Having some police around is, after all, probably better than nothing.

The post A new year’s resolution: Actually police the streets? appeared first on The Bogotá Post.

The Parque Nacional is a vital part of the Bogotá landscape, a crucial green space for people in the centre of the capital and a gateway to the Cerros Orientales. For the last half a year, much of the park has been blocked off and become a refugee camp for indigenous people protesting their treatment by authorities and fleeing persecution. Despite strong words from the mayor’s office, no solutions are coming forward and the degradation of the park continues apace. Today and yesterday, yet more talks are taking place between communities in the park and various local and national authorities.

For more than eight months now, the Embera people have been in the Parque Nacional, occasionally holding demonstrations to block traffic. Even so, barricades have been erected to help block visibility. But visible it is, this camp of a hundred or more black tarpaulins. And that’s the point of it – these people need a place to live and by occupying a central space, they hope to get guarantees from the government on health, housing, and other issues. Abject poverty is now brought into sharp contrast with privileged tennis players a scant few yards away. As I jog past in the morning, I am reminded of the damage my smug privilege causes elsewhere in the world. So often, these are issues that Colombia brushes into obscurity, hides in the shadows, and deliberately ignores. The state of course, but most of us in wider society as well.

Maybe you are close to zero rubbish, or have your own solar panels generating all your power. If you’re like most of us though, your carbon footprint will dwarf anyone in the Parque Nacional camp. Seeing columns of smoke rising from inefficient woodfires might be unpleasant, but the energy I’m using as I write this will be doing exactly the same thing, just far from view. The rubbish I put out on the street last night might not be festering there now like it is in the camp, but only because it’s in a squalid mass tip somewhere far from my middle-class reverie.

The topographical map of Bogota is now a toilet

For all that many might think of indigenous people living in perfect harmony with the natural world, the reality is somewhat different. Be under no illusions – the damage done to the park over the last few months is notable. The Río Arzobispo, such as it is, is now an open sewer, its edges completely befouled with human faeces. The topographical map of Bogotá and its surrounds is a literal toilet. The forest surrounding the park has had many of its young trees hacked down. Black water oozes permanently over the pathways.

None of this, though, is to blame the (mainly) Embera people for their actions. It’s hardly as though they want to be there, for a start, rather that they have been forced into this position. Kicked out of their lodgings in Simón Bolívar after being displaced from other parts of Colombia, the only option was to live in tents. Better to erect those there than on the outskirts of Bogotá. It’s just that the Parque Nacional was never designed to house humans, nor is it suitable for that purpose. Now nobody wants to take responsibility.

For those who feel angry over the occupation of the Parque Nacional, save your fury for an alcaldía that can’t find appropriate housing for desperate people. Turn your anger at a government that makes at best no attempt to protect land and at worst openly colludes to exploit it. Rage against a system of absurd overconsumption and grotesque inequality. Those should be the targets of ire, not the people trapped in an awful situation.

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The last time I had water running through the pipes in my apartment, it was Wednesday morning. Over 120 hours later, it’s Monday and there’s still no real sign of a return to normal service. The company running the capital’s water and sanitation services, EAAB (Empresa de Acueducto y Alcantrillo de Bogotá), have failed badly.

On Wednesday, March 16, it seems, there was an unforeseen problem with a major pipe at calle 39 and carrera Séptima. That affected the water service for an area stretching from 39 itself right up to 60, between Séptima and Carrera 13. EAAB announced on Saturday that the immediate problem had been solved, but that there were problems with reconnecting the affected area. 

I think I speak for many of my vecinos when I say that we’re not unsympathetic to the problems that EAAB has in reconnection. Unforeseen things do happen, and we understand that they’re not always easy to fix. But we’d like more practical solutions. What we got was a carrotanque of water that passed by without warning on Saturday afternoon. The lack of warning meant many people couldn’t take advantage. And half an hour later, that truck was gone again.

Many Colombians don’t have access to water

The lack of water in Chapinero for almost a week is a drop in the ocean when you think about other parts of the country, and indeed the city. We’re privileged enough to kick up a fuss, but would we get even worse treatment if we were living in a less affluent neighbourhood? There are certainly zones of the periphery of Bogotá that have trouble with reliable access to water. During the pandemic this became evident as handwashing suddenly became of paramount importance.

This in turn pales in comparison to areas like the Alta Guajira or even the departmental capital of Casanare, Yopal, which still has no proper water system. Santa Marta has seen protests and marches against the lack of decent water supply recently. Another departmental capital, Leticia in Amazonas, is issuing alerts. Poor infrastructure means a shocking number of people in Colombia still don’t have safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation – which is a human right.

Hundreds of municipios around the country do not have access to drinkable water. The number of people without access to any clean water is estimated at 1.4 million by WaterAid, and the Colombian state reckoned 5 million people didn’t have regular access to drinking water last year. In Chocó, only 40% of people have access to drinkable water. 

These numbers are frightening, as water is the most basic of human necessities. It’s the responsibility of the Colombian state to provide the basics for its citizens, but in so many places they are simply abandoned.

Mismanagement and poor communication

Back to Chapinero. Why couldn’t EAAB at least use Twitter to keep people informed? Put out a schedule and allow us all to know when we might be able to collect some fresh water. Ideally, they could print flyers and send people door-to-door. Or at least give some idea of how long this might last or when a solution might come. Instead, it’s been a PR disaster. 

Everyone affected has stories of EAAB representatives hanging up the phone or ignoring complaints. Twitter posts receive a simple “DM us” message which is inevitably ignored. EAAB are aware that they can get away with this, even in the middle of the capital. This is the service many Colombians receive from their state institutions, often underfunded and rotten through with corruption.

In the end, it’s we the people who bear the costs of this, from the irritation of having to ask friends to borrow their facilities to the real costs of having to buy water. A 24 hour water cut isn’t the end of the world, as you can use litres of water to supply animals, to drink, to brush teeth and the like. Showering, flushing toilets, washloads of clothes – these things require much larger quantities of water, and are basic parts of regular life that can’t be put off for too long. This week’s stoppage is a reminder that this is daily life for many in Colombia. 

In theory, the Colombian government is working to ensure everybody has drinkable water by 2030. But after years of poor investment levels in infrastructure, will we see more of these cases going forward? Colombia says it is working on improving water access throughout the country, but is EAAB’s behaviour this week indicative of systemic issues? In the UK, for example, check valves would be able to supply water by rerouting through other lines. Why didn’t EAAB take steps before the problems arise? When will impoverished and underprivileged zones get the same treatment? And finally, will we ever see accountability from public institutions?

The post Water cuts: A problem in Bogotá that reflects a much bigger problem elsewhere appeared first on The Bogotá Post.

As the Colombian football team sank to defeats against Peru and Argentina this week, a game of political football has been going on between Defence Minister, Diego Molano and Mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López. Trapped in the middle of this are a thousand or so human beings. López has sought to lay responsibility for them at the door of the Defence Ministry, who in turn say it is her responsibility. After the lynching of a truck driver who fatally killed two Embera people in a collision this week, the matter has come to a head.

Since October, there’s been a large camp of indigenous people in the Parque Nacional in the centre of Bogotá. Largely families and children, the numbers have hovered around the thousand mark over the months. Originally this was a group of solely Embera people displaced from their homelands in the Chocó and Cauca by conflict and illegal logging or mining activities. Over the months, the camp has repurposed itself as a centre of indigenous culture. However, it’s still largely Embera.

There’s a definite need to get this camp out of the park, both for the people in the camp and for the park itself. Claudia López blames the Defence Ministry, whose chief, Diego Molano, points out that his institution has helped people to return. There’s truth to this: Some families have boarded trucks and gone back to their homelands. Others haven’t. López herself has made offers to the indigenous leaders with alternative habitation, but been rebuffed. 

As the situation continues, there is still more heat than light coming from politicians. This week, the mayor’s cabinet chief claimed that political parties are behind the decision to reject the offers to leave. Lopez’ comments that child protection institutions have failed to protect the children living in the park have drawn retorts from the ICBF (Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar) as well as Molano. Seemingly every political actor wants to lay blame somewhere else. Meanwhile, the camp remains in squalor.

Horrific conditions

There’s no proper sanitation in the park, the only access to potable water are the taps in the toilet blocks next to sports facilities and tarpaulin tents provide limited protection against the elements. Toilet facilities are at best limited, so the Río Arzobispo is used as such, and trees are cut down for firewood, as there is neither electricity nor gas in the park. These conditions are horrific. 

The indigenous leaders have good reason to distrust offers by Colombian state institutions. They have a very, very poor record of delivering on their promises. Once the camp is gone, the deal may well not be honoured. Then there’s the advantages of being located in the centre of Bogotá. Food, clothes and toys are donated frequently. Money can be earned by selling handicrafts and begging. And it’s a very visible reminder of their situation. That seems much less viable if the community is hidden away on the margins of the city.

With each passing week of inaction, the situation worsens. It’s been allowed to continue because no one wants to send in ESMAD to break up a camp of mainly children. The ICBF have made attempts to care for the children in the camp, and the alcaldia sends healthcare support regularly at least. Although these are good temporary measures, there remains a need for a definitive solution. Whether or not that will happen, is still unclear. Many temporary measures in Bogotá last for a long time, for good or for bad.

The post The Embera in the Parque Nacional shouldn’t be used as pawns appeared first on The Bogotá Post.

Love for the country is one of the few things that generally pulls Colombia together rather than apart. 

Tomorrow is Colombia’s independence day, and it’s hard to know what’s going to happen. There will be another national strike. It might be big, it might be small, there may be incidents or there may not. There have been all kinds of claims and suggestions. One thing we do know is that Colombian tricolores will be everywhere.

As a symbol, the Colombian flag is very much up for grabs. Álvaro Uribe plays on patriotism often, calling himself El Gran Colombiano. The C in FARC stood for Colombia, and they had tricolores on their uniforms, as do the Policia Nacional. Duque talks often of patriotism and flags fly on his desk and over his building, just as they do in the multitudes protesting against him.

So the tricolor is a banner that has many armies marching under it. Tomorrow, we’ll see protestors proudly bearing the flag to show they represent the people, facing off against police who have the flag sewn into their uniforms to represent their connection to the people. The president will stand under the Colombian flag, possibly with a tricoloured sash as well, showing that he represents the people too, as do all the opposition politicians. In the end, the flag represents everybody and therefore nobody.

Not just the flag, but in fact all the trappings of nationalism and patriotism (while they’re different, there’s plenty of crossover) are used in abundance. National team shirts are standard attire on protests, whether for the left or the right of politics. There’s a subset of protestors that retain the flag but invert it – showing that they believe the administration is betraying the country.

Flag waving can have different connotations

For an Englishman such as myself, it’s all a little strange. The flag of England has had a bad reputation over the years, partially reclaimed by football. Certainly, for most of my life, it was explicitly connected to racism and violent neo-nazi groups. Of course, patriotism for the English is very different than for Colombians: many countries have independence from the British Empire, there is no freedom day for the English themselves, despite what Boris Johnson says.

Some of that carries over for me in Colombia – I’m uncomfortable with the flag-waving and chest-beating that still accompanies a lot of patriotic fervour. Luckily, Colombian flag fervour doesn’t seem to translate into xenophobia and racism. While both of those are problems that do exist, this isn’t the symbol that they use. The tricolor seems to genuinely include all Colombians, although some indigenous groups choose to eschew it.

The key in all this is trying to harness the power of all that nationalism and patriotism. While it might not be comfortable for someone like myself, the fact remains that Colombians are fiercely patriotic and rarely go too far into the darker depths of full-on nationalism. If a politician could subvert that for their own machiavellian ends, the results could well be horrifying. It’s a force that’s often gone that way – as Europeans have seen all too many times in the past. 

The Colombian flag symbolizes national pride

In the end, it seems that the flag is a symbol of unification. If you speak to ten Colombians you’ll usually get 11 or more opinions on most subjects. But there’s a widespread agreement that the flag matters and patriotism is important. While there’s often violent disagreement about the path the country should take, the vast majority care deeply about their country. After years of stigmatisation and emigration, Colombians from all parts of society are again speaking proudly of their country and haven’t allowed any single faction to place themselves as the guardians of patriotism.

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Tuesday, 20 October, 2020 10:00 am

A nun, two blondes, and a member of the Ejercito walk into the Migración. They immediately turn around and walk back out – wrong forms. The first part could very well be the set-up to some Colombianised joke I haven’t heard before. The second could very well be a standard Tuesday. You never seem to hear anyone speaking in glowing terms about their experience at this place. 

It’s 10 in the morning. I got here 30 minutes ago, not wanting to be late for an appointment I was urged to make, and somehow it’s still unlikely I’ll get seen anytime soon. There’s a line but it’s unclear what purpose it’s serving. Everyone, at some point, makes their way to the front of the queue past those who’ve been waiting to plead their case. 

Dispatches: Parkway.

You see it on their faces as they walk up: They believe their circumstances are unique enough to grant them expedited access. Surprisingly, they’re not. Listening in on the grace with which the civil servants – clad in polo shirts, cargo pants and, for reasons I still can’t wrap my head around, combat boots – turn these people away is one of the few treats of this whole ordeal. 

You can tell they have their lines memorised, though they never turn down the opportunity to take artistic license in deviating wherever possible. “Yes, this is the correct line. Yes, they all have appointments. I’m sorry, no walk-ins.” 

If you’re overly insistent, they may ask you what your appointment is for. You’ll tell them and they’ll ask to see your appointment confirmation email. They’ll pause, reflectively, before solemnly informing you that you’ve scheduled the wrong kind of meeting. You’ll have to reschedule for another day. Less-insistent visitors turn around and head to the back. I trace their path to the end of the line with more schadenfreude than sympathy, haphazardly sizing up everyone else as I do. 

It’s amazing that on any given day, Migración draws the most diverse cross-section of people you’ll likely find in one place in Bogotá, and still, each person has the exact same facial expression. It’s something between anxiety and exasperation, probably more of the latter the longer you’ve been waiting. Kids, thankfully, are immune to this, still too young to sense the crippling bureaucracy that has slowly crushed the spirits of everyone else in line.

I’m finally allowed in, processed, and shunted to the building’s fifth floor. There are no people there, just boxes and boxes of files – presumably of everyone who’s run afoul of those in power. I wait. Looking around this and other parts of the building, you become aware of how often the Colombian flag is displayed in various forms and sizes. 
They’ll tell you that the red strip at the bottom of it represents the blood spilt for Colombia’s independence. In reality, it’s a subtle reminder of the red tape that underlies every single legal process that transpires here.

Finally, a woman shows up. I pass her my papers and cédula, explaining my circumstances. She pauses, looking up reflectively before informing me that I’ve scheduled the wrong appointment. I’ll have to come back another day.

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