My mother and I decided to to defy the state department warnings and take the advice of all my dear Colombian friends, met years ago in Buenos Aires, who have always insisted that I visit their homeland. Colombia is a contentious word filled with connotations- violence, drugs, gorgeous women, a natural wonder, a jewel, Cartagena, romancing the stone, poverty, afro-colombian, Medellin, Cali, Bogota, oppression, human rights violations, police, dancing... Pretty much your standard mess of ideas associated with a place that holds hundreds of years of history and culture and a host of ecological climates and populations.
The problem with visiting Colombia is not the violence, per say, but a misunderstanding of what's happening there. To over simplify and be as short as possible- Uribe and the current government have managed to decrease levels of violence in the armed uprising of revolutionary forces, or the FARC, and other narco "terrorist" groups. It should be noted, however, that these groups began as social movement based efforts to fight the drug money funded inequalities in Colombia. These groups later developed tactics which prayed on the Colombian people, as hostages and victims, to achieve their aims. The government sent in police and paramilitaries to deal with these groups and, ostensibly, to deal with the drug producers themselves. Yet it is widely noted that these counter attacks by the government largely target social activists and organizers. The Colombian population has thus suffered years of internal violence at the hands of pretty much everyone. The government is responsible for a high level of human rights violations. Communities continue to face threats from drug producers, FARC forces, the police, and the paramilitaries. Communities of peace rely on the presence of outsiders to deter full assaults. The US has consistently supported and funded this oppressive government as a part of the "war on drugs", publicly viewed by most as a failure, a waste of money, and a high level political strategy which ignores root causes of drug production and suffers from political corruption on the national and international level.
And yet most of the country moves on normally, as must all countries and people, in the end. Colombia is host to a number of beautiful cities, regions and parks which make popular tourist destinations. I was hesitant about what our presence as tourists might "mean", in terms of implications of support for what's happening there. In the end though, my old friends and my mother convinced me. So much of tourism is how you chose to approach, understand, and interact with the place you end up. Doing it in a positive manner must be possible.
Of course a few weeks before we arrived, flooding had begun in earnest. Much of the country was underwater, as were huge parts of Venezuela, Pakistan, and Australia. But we won't get into what we know that means. There were any moments in which my mother and I could only look at each other- dogs sniffing us for explosives on our way into the hotel? Our bus driving passing over 100 ropes pulled across the road by children begging for money? But those moments were not always bad. How about, an iguana just fell twenty feet out of a tree and is sitting on our patio? Or, a secret turquoise cove flanked by a giant inflatable snowman? A beach at night full of families and accordion players and rum? Treasures, certainly.
