Alidad has left 19 comments

Alidad comments on Big Help for Those Wanting to Change Visas

Why can't they just give you a six-month tourist visa every time you enter if you're from EU or United States, like they do in Mexico, then I'd move from Mexico, buy a small flat (they're so cheap) and spend most of the year here. I don't see how my crate-scale wine shopping, incurable restaurant habit and generous tipping can endanger Colombian sovereignty..

Alidad comments on Is Columbia dangerous?

This is a joke right? Medeelin in Columbia - meaning Columbia University? Clearly you're no Columbia graduate.. and the "Mexican" thing...? your Mexican isn't good? How about your English?

Alidad comments on taxis

Thanks for the answers, my worry of course was about the possibility of being assaulted, mugged or kidnapped, not over a doctored meter, where you can get out I suppose.. Even a doctored meter I think would not cost you the 10-12 euros of a taxi in Paris or 10 pounds or more in London. I know taxis in DF Mexico are also afraid of being mugged by passengers, works both ways.

Alidad comments on taxis

This is the price they've just given me for a single room, for mid-late March 2009: "Nuestras tarifas son, Habitación sencilla : $ 105.600. Pesos Colombianos por noche . USD $ 53. Nuestras tarifas incluyen desayuno e impuestos"

Alidad comments on Russian force to join Venezuelan exercises

It's like an inevitable and instinctive coming together of scum - Chavez, Putin, Ortega, North Korea, las FARC etc.. etc..

Alidad comments on nice areas in Bogota?

thanks all for advice and replies.. Ali

Alidad comments on Colombian president eyes new term, but is Betancourt a rival?

I was in France when she was released, and watched for days as she went from one reception to another, being wined and dined by the great and the good in Paris. Is that going to win her votes in Colombia? She was immediately back in the high life while many remain in the jungle; I am delighted she was freed, but I seem to remember her mother - and practically her children - were accusing President Uribe of blocking her release, if not somehow causing all the violence and injustices of Colombia in the months preceding her release. It is almost as if the liberal rich and friends in Paris expected Colombia's security policy to hover around the patrician captive - what do ordinary people think of that? She almost seemed to live out her captivity in Hello! and Paris Match. Her children were on TV expressing their emotions - are they sparing a thought now for other families waiting and hoping their captured relatives are released or alive at least? Her posters were stuck on the railings of the Jardin du Luxembourg so people would not forget here - I guess you had to be somebody in the first place to 'matter' as a hostage, right? It would be sheer arrogance, ingratitude and presumption on her part to become a presidential candidate. Decency would rather she joined the presidential party or campaigned for Uribe or his successor in the next elections. I live in Mexico, and right now, many I'm sure wished there was an Alvaro Uribe at the helm here.. (I don't mind the rich, I just hate it when they pretend to be left-wing)

Alidad comments on buenas zonas en Bogota..

si gracias por los consejos, eso sospecho, que la Candelaria a lo mejor es como el centro historico del DF de Mexico, cada vez mas interestante y agradable pa vivir. Mejor ir primero, estoy tratando de decidir desde el Internet, que es tonto

Alidad comments on is it better to take euros than dollars to get better price for the peso?

Are ATMs safe? Just a question, are ATMS on the street safe? Can one take out equivalent of 100 or 150 Euros from the bank, or is that plain stupid (but it´s what I do in Madrid).

Alidad comments on Maria llena eres de Gracias

I too agree Yes, there´s a big problem when people in NYC or London consider cocaine-consumption a sign of success and affluence. A few months ago a young man, a perfect twit, was saying that he had come from a party in Mayfair, where a generous banker had provided guests with ample supplies of cocaine (in a bowl I think he said, is that possible?). Another prize idiot told me last year that a party´s no party without cocaine. Another party I went to, two years ago, had the boring people nattering and munching crisps downstairs (I was talking to a vegetarian masseuse), and the hip crowd upstairs snorting and fornicating. These idiots send cash to the narcotraficantes then presume to opine on Third World development, or march to tell the Bush administration not to wage war on terrorism. Sorry, the B word. But the film was good, yes, without the rollicking adventures of La Virgen de los Sicarios (which isn´t about drugs of course, but the ephemeral nature of happiness).

Alidad comments on Maria llena eres de Gracias

Good film.. I saw that film, very good, but it presented Colombia as a place where for most people, there is no hope, which is why they will turn to almost anything to make money or leave.. that was the impression left by the film, and I hope it's not true. It made the drug dealers look so polite and distinguished..

Alidad comments on Peter - new forum for relationships?

Good idea It would be a great idea to separate the love stuff from the travel stuff. One doesn´t then have to sift through a mass of words to find information gems like that taxi number. Which guide book is going to give you a piece of info like that?

Alidad comments on ¿Si Colombia no es una democracia, entonces qué es?

Just to add Yes one agrees in principle, and it is always a danger to define too strictly an entity like democracy, but we members of the general public, whether conservative or socialist, know when we are living in a democracy. So while nobody "owns" a correct definition of democracy, North Korea is not, according to the dictates of common sense, a democracy. Like all communist states, it is neither representative nor accountable. The FARC might say that everything they do is for "the people": their representation is implicit and understood - though obviously ilusory. No revolutionary movement can forego the "democratic" or "popular" mandate, though "the people" are usually seen a mass to be swayed this way and that, for their own good, and with vigorous methods if need be. Castro believes he has a popular mandate, and that elections in liberal democracies are a sham; he says as much in that fascinating film, Commandante.

Alidad comments on ¿Si Colombia no es una democracia, entonces qué es?

Democracy A democracy need not be a perfect democracy to be one. A working democracy is a democracy, and that, most people seem to agree, is what Colombia is: a working democracy with certain problems that hinder its work but do not negate its generally democratic and pluralist nature. A republic (outside the pages of a dictionary) has to be a democracy, as in the second part of the definition above. The Roman Republic, the first entity called Respublica, is often translated as a "commonwealth" (Res is the "wealth", or literally "thing", Publica is "common"), but the term is closely tied to the idea of a democracy, because in that republic, all citizens, nominally, and pretty much effectively, had a stake in the "Res" or the state. So today, if citizens do not have a stake in public life and state institutions: that state is no republic, whatever it may call itself. Colombia is a republic and a democracy, thought I guess Colombians would have to have the last say in that. Likewise, Denmark, Spain and Norway are republics with crowned heads of state, whereas Syria, Iraq under Saddam or a variety of third world states run by kleptocrats are not "republics" but despotisms or oligarchies, whatever they may call themselves.. (The Soviet Union claimed to have the most democratic constitution in the world. The FARC, like Castro I´m sure, claim to represent the people. Words can be misleading.)

Alidad comments on my Colombia visit 2004

I like that.. I like the first two pages, and look forward to more, I love the little links for products etc.. Please can you put as much practical details and the nitty-gritty as possible, (like the taxi ticket - very useful) to inform prospective visitors of what they can expect, hour by hour or day by day, should they arrive in Colombia for the first time? It is a great idea..

Alidad comments on More forums?

I agree Yes a very good idea that, separating travel info from the relationships/girlfriend/boyfriend - emigration from Colombia to Canada stuff. I usually have to scroll down carefully and combe the site for all the useful travel-to/circulation-around Colombia information..

Alidad comments on End of year stats.

This site is great.. Yes I too am finding I am spending a great deal of time on this site, and I have no idea where the interest in Colombia took off, like some theoretical economic development model. I now spend more time here than on my previous favourite, iranian.com (me being Iranian)..

Alidad comments on End of year stats.

This site is useful Just to say Peter that this site is extremely useful, and enjoyable, and contains all sorts of information no guide books or Rough Guide or anything would have, including good, bad and specifics. I´ve met several Colombians in Spain, and have generally liked them, but then I´m a great hispanophile like anyone else on this site I imagine. Somebody should start one of these for Mexico..

Alidad comments on

Question on security.. Hi, I browze through this site most days and find it of great interest, mainly because I´ve developed this itch to go to Colombia (living in Barcelona now). My question is basic: what is the security situation - I mean personal security - in places like Bogota, Medellin or Cartagena? Does one stand out like a sore thumb as a foreigner? Will I be attacked, or kidnapped, as I step out the airport? Can you walk around without harrassment, I have no idea, which is why I´m asking. I recently saw an interesting film "La Virgen de Los Sicarios" based in Medellin I think: well it makes the place look like Dodge City or war-torn Beirut. but I still want to go. Also, how long can you stay as a tourist, can you stay for four or five or six months (with a British passport)? I´d love some feedback on this, thanks in advance to any replies, regards, Ali