Crime Reduction in Colombia

We found some very interesting statistics on the reduction of crime, kidnappings and murder in Colombia. I just hope President Alvaro Uribe gets re-elected!

POSITIVE NEWS ABOUT COLOMBIA!!!

DEMOCRATIC SECURITY

• DEMOBILIZED CITIZENS: 173 members of illegal armed groups demobilized individually and voluntarily in May. To date, 12,097 individuals have abandoned the ranks of violent groups to accept the Government’s demobilization and reinsertion program. Antioquia with 42, Caquetá with 19, Santander with 14, Bolívar with 11, and Arauca, Casanare and Meta with 10 each. Other demobilizations have been reported in smaller numbers in other regions of the country.

• ELN FRONT DISMANTLED: 29 guerrillas of ELN’s “Héroes de Anorí” front demobilized to the commanders of the Army’s IVth Brigade and the Caribbean Fuerza de Tarea Conjunta (Joint Task Force). The former combatants surrendered their arms voluntarily and opted for the Government-promoted Plan. So far this year, out of the 200 guerrillas who have surrendered their arms, 47.7% belonged to Farc, 40.6% to illegal self-defense groups, 10.1% to ELN, and 1.4% to dissident groups.

• HOMICIDES OF UNION MEMBERS GO DOWN: homicides of union members went down by 70.8% in Colombia between January and May 2005 against the same period in 2004. This figure is part of the National Government’s exposure before the International Labor Organization. According to Human Rights Watch, 24 union members were murdered in said period in 2004, while so far in 2005, this figure amounts to 7. It is worth mentioning that the purpose of the Government is to reduce this and all criminal modalities to a level of zero.

For more information visit: http://www.presidencia.gov.co/Ingles/news/news.htm

FIN/JHINA/CIE
10 June 2005

Best Regards,
Steve Valdez, Owner
Colombian Sweethearts
www.colombiansweethearts.com
Address: Cra. 46 # 20 sur 79
Barrio Zuñiga - Envigado
Medellin
Telephones
USA Phone
(305) 433 22 07 (Direct to Medellín)
Colombia
(57) 4 302 52 16
(57) 4 331 13 96

[Lostagain]

If crime was reduced to a level comparable with other developed countries and Colombia streamlined some of its bureaucracy, they could have one of the most vibrant economies in the world. They have the potential to be one of the most successful countries in all of L. Am.

[Sailover]

The problem is, as soon as they get it all cleared up, Colombia will turn into the next Costa Rica, and we will all have to move to freaking El Salvador.

[John]

"...as soon as they get it all cleared up, Colombia will turn into the next Costa Rica ..." - SailOver

Hehehe, well, thanks to idealism, potential challenges will always exists. No need to be concerned: Colombia will be Colombia.

I hope Colombia never turns into Costa Rica! I think the Colombians are smarter than that. But here is an interesting bit of information:

__________________________________________________ __________________
Colombia, 11 October 2005

Labor unions and indigenous groups have called for a nationwide 24-hour general strike on 12 October 2005 to protest against the ongoing negotiation of a free trade agreement with the United States, the presidential re-election project and current economic policies imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and to demand the resolution of the armed conflict with guerrilla and paramilitary groups, among other domestic issues.

In a related development, indigenous groups from the departments of Caldas, Risaralda and Sucre began marching on 9 October to Manizales, Pereira and Sincelejo -- the respective capitals of each department -- to protest against the free trade agreement. On 10 October, one demonstrator was killed and 40 others were injured in clashes with police officers in Remolinos, in the department of Risalda. Reports state that clashes began when police officers used tear gas to disperse approximately 9,000 demonstrators. Furthermore, Colombian authorities believe that members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) Marxist rebel group might infiltrate the demonstrators and cause disturbances, while indigenous leaders are threatening violence if security forces attempt to repel the demonstrations, in which approximately 25,000 people are taking part. A large demonstration is scheduled to occur on 12 October in Bogota, the capital, where authorities expect traffic jams and travel disruptions similar to those that occurred on the same date in 2004.
__________________________________________________ _____________________

The Colombian people just need to completely escape the social communistic mentality started in the 50's with Che & Castro that infiltrated almost all of South America. Cuba, North Vietnam, China, and last but not least, The former Soviet Union, are proof that it does not work! Look at Venezuela, the next Cuba...

As always: Best of luck in finding the woman of your dreams!

Steve Valdez, Owner
Colombian Sweethearts
http://www.colombiansweethearts.com
Address: Cra. 46 # 20 sur 79
Barrio Zuñiga - Envigado
Medellin
Telephones
USA Phone
(305) 433 22 07 (Direct to Medellín)
Colombia
(57) 4 302 52 16
(57) 4 331 13 96

[Lostagain]

Maybe the Colombians should find a happy mid point between the old "communism" that clearly doesn't work and modern capitalism which doesn't work either. Come to think of it, maybe more than Colombia should try that approach.

lostagain,

As I said in another post, "greed' is one of the seven deadly sins. I do not think there is anything wrong with making money, but honestly.

And it doesn't matter how rich or how poor a person may be, they have nothing without a family and good women next to them.

Personal question: Are you married to a latin women. I am not looking for a new client, just curious about your experiences.

Best regards,
Steve Valdez, Owner
Colombian Sweethearts
www.colombiansweethearts.com
Address: Cra. 46 # 20 sur 79
Barrio Zuñiga - Envigado
Medellin
Telephones
USA Phone
(305) 433 22 07 (Direct to Medellín)
Colombia
(57) 4 302 52 16
(57) 4 331 13 96

Mr. Valdez, I've taken the liberty to add your extended signature (your contact info) to you sig box in your (my profile) area of your account. This way you don't have to re-type it every time.

Update: Does not look right, now I must edit all your posts to delete your first sig or just leave it alone...

Gringos,

Thank you, Don't worry, It is ok. Best.

[Zorro]

Got back last week from spending several weeks in Medellin. Was very interesting talking to different people there about the situation there. Yes, Uribe is doing lots of good... most will agree. But he's still fighting a lot of deeply ingrained corruption within the government. And he draws a lot of criticism for his "ties" with paramilitaries, too. It's a very complicated situation in Colombia. I admire Uribe for standing up, taking action, and doing what he thinks is right, despite criticism from human rights groups all over the world, outsiders who don't live in Colombia and don't face the problems firsthand. Colombia has a terrible problem with crime from youth. The way the law is there now, anyone underage can do almost anything and be back on the street within hours. The police told me it's because of influence from human rights groups from other countries. They feel powerless. It's very discouraging to the people there to know that they can't go out on the street with anything of value because some 14 year old kid will rip it off, deliver it to his adult leaders, and be back on the street without consequences. People are still trying to leave Colombia in droves because of such problems. I had firsthand experience with having a camera stolen from me. Out of natural reflex, perhaps foolishly, Zorro sprung into action and chased down several kids. I caught them and the police caught others. Another camera was recovered but not mine. The kids got a good spraying of pepper gas in the eyes for their crime, but other than that the police said it would be a waste of time to file a report. The same kid I caught had been doing the same thing the night before. Many of these underage kids enter the guerilla groups, too.

There are many in the public universities in Colombia who speculate that socialism is the answer. But socialism won't work in a country that doesn't have the legal wealth to distribute. The answers in Colombia are complicated. But they lie in what Uribe's trying to do: clean up the government, build trade and business and an economy that can build wealth to lift the country. It's not a lily-white process. But Colombia is essentially a country in war. Masses of people are still being forced out of their homes in the country by either the guerilla or the paramilitaries. Much of South America is going toward socialism now, but Colombia is still trying to stay democratic. Very interesting, complex situation! The more I go there, the more my heart bleeds for them.