PC has left 29 comments

PC comments on Import Export Business

I ran an import/export business for a couple years in Colombia. I must say it was not a good experience. The government restrictions were so severe and so difficult that I just had to shut it down. For example, I worked with clients in India who always wanted samples. The cost of sending even a $10 sample was over $400 after including the exportation inspection and shipping fees. Fedex alone for a 1 ounce envelope was $80 US. Then the inspection and taxes had minimum fees. When I did this same thing from the US, it cost me nothing to send out a sample except the fedex fee of about $20-$30. Importing was it's own nightmare. Even a small commercial imporation is fraught with red tape galore and huge fees and waiting periods. After 2 years I gave it up. Just was not worth it. I had to lay off my whole office staff and close the business down. Just could not turn a profit on my small scale of about $10-20,000 per month. I think you have to have a pretty large scale operation to be able to survive in import export operations in Colombia. This is because there are a lot of "fixed" and minimum fees that add up to a significant percentage of your inventory costs unless you can operate on a large enough scale to emeliorate those minimus. Good luck, you will need it.

PC comments on Baffled by the current crisis

Mosaad Yeah man, 50 years of practise makes 'em real good. The CIA conversely seems to screw up everything they touch lately, or maybe it's just because they are part of the current administration. Maybe Bush could hire the Mosaad to capture Osama and Zarqawi.

Naaah, it would not be cowboyly. Apologies for the made up word, but in this case I think it fits.

PC comments on Baffled by the current crisis

Juance Had It Right At least in part. The press, eager for headlines did indeed blow things out of proportion, but much worse, deeply misrepresented what has actually happened.

Colombia had, still has, and will continue to have a bounty for FARC leaders. Just at the US has bounties out on Osama bin Laden et al. There is no evidence, and frankly it's pretty unlikely, that the Colombian government specifically hired anybody to do anything. They simply paid a reward for the capturer of Granda.

While it may be true, no it really is true, that a crime was comitted on Venezuelan soil by those who captured Granda, they comitted no crime in Colombia. Colombia is not responsible, but even if it were, like the Gooseman said, Isreal has been doing this for over 50 years (it's called Mosaad I think), mostly in Latin American (including Venzuela) and there has not been very much whining about it. Only Chavez, an avowed Castro admirer, has complained, and only when a FARC criminal was captured BY HIS OWN POLICE.

I wonder why it is that if Chavez is not at least a closet supporter of FARC, his own police were able to find and capture Granda independently, but they did not do so under the interpol warrant that had been issued (and yes it WAS issued prior to his capture)? Let's not forget that Granda was there attending a Bolivarian Revolution conference (totally absurd name as Bolivar was a very wealthy landowner who cared barely a whit for the campesinos). Anyway, it's funny how they could not find him at the conference but were able to find him at an upscale restaurant afterwards. Hmmmm, food for thought eh?

PC comments on Gringo Bobos ?

Another Perspective Here is another view of why Colombians view Gringos as Bobo. This one from my Colombian wife. She says it's because they are so open and law abiding.

She says it's deeply rooted in the culture here. Here after centuries of repression by the Spanish, the indigenous peopels (I mean all, not just indians, but mestizo, and purebred Spanish who were born here) all were treated like dirt by the Spanish.

The only way to survive was to develop a culture of deceipt and dishonesty. So when you have someone introduced to that culture who is from a culture that is seemingly much more open, they seem like they are constantly giving papaya. An absolute no-no here. Never give papaya, and if you see papaya you HAVE TO take it.

That's a way of life here. Gringos are always giving papaya with their big mouths and their bragging and their open attitudes.

What Colombians don't know, is that gringos are supreme experts at ripping people off too. We do it in different ways, mostly in writing and setting up unfair systems. But they don't see that until they get to a gringo country. Since so few here do. They really never know.

By the way, I don't really know if the above comment was addressed to me or someone else. It seems out of context with my comment but in case it was. My comment had nothing to do with virtue or money. It has to do with sociology, nothing more and was not a value judgement of any kind. Just a dispassionate description of what I have personally observed in my ten years of doing business here.

PC comments on Gringo Bobos ?

What makes a Bobo? Well,

Since I make my living doing business with Colombians, I think I have a glipmse of what really motivates this notion.

Here in Colombia, you really have to watch your step especially in business. I am sorry to have to say it, but among certain segments of tht culture it seems like trying to rip each other off is a way of life. Even a spectator sport.

In the US we do it much more subtly, hiding details in written agreements and contracts. Since so much is done here on a hand shake, people tend to be very createive in how they rip each other off.

Gringos, on the other hand SEEM far more trusting and are easy targets for ripping off in this way. So they appear to be Bobo, just as the moronic Colombians who come to the US and try to set up a retail store in their house or apartment and get shut down immediately.

It comes from a lack of familiarity with the culture.

PC comments on

Good Show! You know, sometimes when I'm feeling a little homesick, it just takes an anecdote like this one to remind me how great this country is and how depraved the US has become.

Man I'm glad I moved here!

PC comments on Uribe

My money's on Still on Uribe Tertius,

Gaviria is a clown and everyone here knows it. Sure he got a lot of votes from extremeists, but they really are extremists. You bet I would equate the Colombian Communist Party with Raelians. Anybody who still clings to that throughly discredited world view in the post cold war era is definitely on a par with the Raelians. Even the FARC don't really believe it. The fact is they are about as capitalist as it gets.

There may be enough of them to elect a buffoon like Chavez in Venezuela, but here in Colombia people hve had just about all of their BS that they are gong to put up with. After 40 years of the FARC using that nonsense as a cover for their mafia activities, nobody in this country in the mainstream supports them and very few who ally themselves with their proclaimed ideals.

I suggest you look for a more maintream, or at least more objective source than the Narco news.

I'll make a prediction right here and now. Barring a successful assassination of Uribe, Gaviria will lose by a landslide if he even get's to the second round.

PC comments on LONDONMALE PROBLEMS WITH COLOMBIA ARE HERE!!!!

Great Post! Thanks Komachi! This has been very useful to me. I personally went through some of these stages, and I guess I am still in the process. One thing that helps is something my Colombian wife told me before we came down here.

Colombia for a gringo is "culiness after culiness". I did not fully understand it at the time, but I sure do now. You have to learn to laugh it off. Things down here are different, we do have to be more patient.

We do have to learn that "It will be ready by Friday" usually really means it will be ready by the Tuesday after. When someone quotes a price of 100,000 pesos, he really only wants 20,000. Or letting food sit out (in a place like Bogota, not Cartagena) really won't kill us.

These kinds of things would be unacceptable in some of our 1st world environments. They do take some getting used to, but it can be done.

PC comments on POOR BUT HAPPY? WHO CAME UP WITH THIS NAME? I THINK IT IS RIDICULOUS

Poor or Rich So What? Friendly,

Oh how middle-class North American! This is a good example of the people Elmo rants about. Truth is, Colombians with a little money (the one's Elmo calls rich, but are really just middle class) are so damned pre-occupied with presenting an appearance of wealth that they forget what's truly important in life. You are more North American than most North Americans. You probably take that as a compliment, but it's not.

Stop whining about the name of the site. Like so many others here have said, it's the poor-but-happy lifestyle of the globetrotting backpackers that the namr referst to. But even if it werent, Colombia really is poor, but so is Appalachia. Get used to it! It's nothing to be ashamed of.

Most of us on this board love Colombia as much or more than our own home nations. We don't come here in spite of this name, we come because of it. Because we like the notion of living here on a pittance but enjoying the wonders and beauties this fantastic land holds. We are willing to be poor to do that. Get it?

If that doesn't work, just go pop a couple valiums like your North American kindred middle class spirits. The neurotic stressed out ones that most of us came here to get away from.

Geeze!

PC comments on Job In Bogota

Cheddar Cheese Oldgringo, I found cheddar cheese, in two places. You said if I found it, I get a prize. I found it twice, so you owe me two beers.

You can get it at Exito, this one is not that good. Basically taco grade, but you can get a pretty good sharp one at Carrefour. Definitely gourmet quality!

Also found good Thai food too. Still dyin' for that slice of good NY Style Pizza though. Somebody suggested I try Karens. I did, gotta tell ya, the only worse pizza I ever had in my entire life was in my high school cafeteria. Sad to say, so far Dominoes's still holds the title here. Guess that ain't sayin' too much.

PC comments on Job In Bogota

From Apartment I did not say the whole job is web based, just some of the tasks are. In theory some parts probably could be done from your apartment, and that could be a big help to me.

But anybody who puts "Caveat Emptor" in their own response, is probably not someone I'd want to hire. Don't need any smartasses, just some good honest work.

PC comments on Uribe

Gavira vs Uribe? Carlos Gaviria to mount a challenge to Uribe? Ha ha ha, ho, ho, ho, he he he, ooooh tha'ts rich.! You should be on Letterman. Get a grip man, down here, Carlos Gaviria is considerd to be Colombias answer to Lindon La Rouche. He is an extreme left wing liberal and avowed socialist. He is so extreme in fact, that he is not even accepted by the liberal party here and had to run as an independent. He is primarily supported by groups such as the Raelians, who have formally endorsed him.

He stands for such things as:

# Support of euthanasia
# Support of abortion
# Support of gays and lesbians
# His recent support for cloning practices.
# Complete separation of the catholic church and state

While these concepts might not seem so out of whack for rich liberal North Americans and Europeans, in a strict Roman catholic country like Colombia, they are so far beyond the mainstream as quite litterally to be laughable. Not only does he have absolutely zero chance of ever challenging Uribe, but he would probably not even fare well against a mediocre candidate and perennial loser like Horacio Serpa.

Serpa has lost to Samper, Pastrana, and Uribe. But I believe he could beat Gaviria easily in a two man race.

PC comments on Engagement Rings

Even Odder Funny, I see one every day. I wake up next to her each morning. But odder than that is that about 1 block from Jimenez and 5th (Bogota), there is a jewelery mall that sells lots and lots of fine grade emerald rings to Colombian women. I see them almost every day. Not to mention emerald stores on almost every street corner within about a five block radius. For the most part it's only Colombians who even shop there. Believe me, there aren't that many non-Colombians who do their shopping around here.

The difference may be that here in Colombia we set emeralds in bezel settings rather than in prong settings. This protects the stone much better. Also although cheap emeralds are indeed fragile, the Mohs value for emerald is about 8.0, harder than quartz. In a true fine grade stone, the internal fracturing is (or should be) very much less than in a cheap one, so the stone is actually quite hard, much more durable than say an amethyst or tourmaline which are often found in rings.

I also have to say, that if you are not careful you can get ripped off terribly here, but the ripoff here is still only half the price of the same ripoff in the US. Basic math really, retail jewelers in the US operate on a 200-300 percent markup. Jewlers here operate on about 50-100% markup. And they are paying less to being with.

PC comments on Cuisine Observations from a newly minted Bogotano

Elmo,

You can get all of that in Bogota and easily too. Bogota is great for finding just about anything Colombian, but for international cusisine, different story.

Agreed on NYC, still even in Roswell, NM I have had good chinese, and terrific Italian in Tampa, Florida. It certainly makes sense that you would not find great Italian food in Baranquilla, but Bogota is a whole different world. It's a very international city, but the cuisine. Yuk!

PC comments on How much does a house maid cost?

Nope, not even close! Hollywood,

Nope, not even close. I'm neither rich, nor Latin American. What is transparent here is how poorly you understand human nature. Here is the proof, I am a full blooded Gringo who lives in Colombia! I was born to a rather poor American family, and now I live down here. I have never been above middle class, and nowhere near rich.

Regarding my housekeeper, I too treat my housekeeper with utmost respect and dignity, so much so in fact that she left a good job in a different and very nice home to work for us, for the same salary.

But all that is beside the point. Facts are facts, and if you know anything about life in Colombia, you know that gringos are absolutely walking targets of opportunity here. Especially if they can afford a housekeeper.

Regarding the other issue. Elmo makes my point for me. Do you really think that he is the only disgruntled Colombian in existence? Did you ever consider even for a moment the story that you have heard "over and over", just might have something to it? Why do you think you have heard it so much? Are you so ignorant of Colombian culutre that you actually believe that all of these people are just making it up?

It's class warfare down here and people do have to protect themselves, ESPECIALLY GRINGOS! All housekeeprs are not bad, and I did not mean to make it sound like they were. But many, especially the young ones, are. And if you should get one bad one regardless of how well you pay or treat her, it could cost you dearly. Not just in financial terms but in real human terms.

I honestly hope you never experience what some people very dear to me have experienced. The injury of a child, the molestation of a child. These are horrible things and they happen all the time down here. Regardless of how well they pay or treat their housekeepers.

I also know people who treat them poorly, and I don't condone it at all. But by assuming that I am a rich or upper class Colombian, which is as wrong as it could be, you are making the exact same misjudgement that you accuse me of.

Rather my comments are the reflections of an objective outsider who has been able to see with my own eyes what really happens. You have been fortunate, don't make the mistake of thinking that your good fortune will be repeated in every gringo who comes down here.

I don't disagree that you should pay them fairly, but to pay double, just makes them think you are gullible.

PC comments on How much does a house maid cost?

Double It? Sure double it, then your maid will tell everyone she knows what a rich sucker you are. Suddenly you will get solicitations from every Tom, Dick, and Harry she knows (and she will know plenty) trying to sell everything and anything they can to you.

Then, one day one of her friends will suddenly show up when you are not around and if they can get in, go right to wherever the most valuable things you have are and carry them all off.

Colombians in general seem to think that gringos in general are stupid and gullible. You don't need to prove them right. Check references closely and try to get someone with good recommendations.

Really, it's best not to have a live-in maid at all, but a full time maid who comes to work from her own home, this will set you back about USD $40 per week. Try to get someone who is a professional maid, meaning a responsible adult with a family. The young live-in maids are so prone to theft you will be astounded.

Everyone I know who has had young single live in maids has had problems with theft and many with child abuse as well. If you have kids, for god's sake NEVER EVER leave them alone with your maid, especially if she is a young live-in maid.

PC comments on Engagement Rings

A lot of Colombian women do not wear diamond engagement rings at all. They wear emeralds instead. Emeralds in Colombia are considered mythical and nearly every Colombian woman who does not have one, dreams of having one. But they know what a good one looks like and will expect nothing less. A good emerald will set you back at least as far as a comparably graded diamond in the US, but in Colombia it will be maybe half the price.


Also, whatever you do, make sure the ring is 18K gold NOT 14K or Platinum. 14K is a standard in the US, but it is considered trash here. Some Colombian women will consider a 14K diamond ring sort of equivalent of getting a ring from a bubble gum machine. At the very least they will not take it seriously and may well be quite offended. Platinum, on the other hand is not very common here and many people will not understand that it is precious. Even if the woman who get's it recognizes for what it is, almost no one else will. Remember for a woman, an egagement ring is a source of immense pride. They will feel very awkward if they have to explain it's value each time they show it to someone.

Take my advice, if you want to give her a ring that she will mean something to her, give her an emerald NOT a diamond, and set it in 18K gold.

PC comments on Juan Valdez Coffee shops to go public!

HOORAY for Juan Valdez! Well I for one am really really glad to see Juan Valdez shops finally opening up. Ever since that phony Seattle style crap hit the market it's been almost impossible to get a decent cup o' joe in the US.

Here's a little known secret about so called "French Roast" and the rest of that Seattle style junk. More often than not it's just super cheap Vietnamese or Brazillian beans over roasted to the edge of being burnt (some would say well past) to cover the awful natural flavor.

Juan Valdez shops will have a hefty marketing monolith to go up against. Millions of gullible gringos have had their tastebuds pounded into submission for years by the Starbucks machine. Now when many of them taste real quality Colombian coffee they are surprised by the delicate flavor and lack of pungence. They actually think coffee is supposed to taste like burnt frioles. Yuk!! Pobrecitos, don't know what they have been missing.

Tinto, no offense, but coffee is NOT like petroleum. Just because it's 80 cents a bound in Vietnam does not mean it's comparable to $1.00 per pound Colombian coffee. Fine coffee, like fine emeralds is produced in Colombia and can not be compared on price alone.

PC comments on HELP—Renting an apartment in Bogota

Apartment Rental I'm not familiar with Teusaquillo, but Candelaria may not be the best choice for someone with a sizeable animal like a Bassett hound, there is no grass anywhere around. No parks, just dirty city streets full of beggers and thieves. Not such a great place for foreigners either unless you have oodles of cash to spend on security, which since you are worried about spending $36 per day would seem to indicate that you don't.

My wife and I considered renting there, we too have a dog about the size of a Bassett hound as well as a toddler. We know an awful lot of people in La Candelaria, and with the possible exception of the very wealthy, whom we don't know, all have been broken into or robbed from time to time.

It's historic, beautiful, and charming, but we ultimately opted for the North of the city. It's a lot safer for foreigners and we can at least breath clean air from time to time, not to mention we don't have to constantly look over our shoulders.

PC comments on Comparing the impressive universities in Bogota.

Location What are you smoking? Rosario is right downtown in the middle of La Candelaria. It can't get any closer to town, it's in the middle of it! Los Andes is waaaay outside of town on the side of a mountain. Any further out and you might as well study in Medellin.

It's simple, if you want a school that will take anybody with a pulse, go to Los Andes. If you want a school that actually requires a bit of academic ability, it's Rosario.

PC comments on Culture shock for Colombians?

What is rich anyway? Siv,

Now I am really curious. Before moving to Colombia I lived over 40 years in the US and worked as an executive in a large prosperous company. I've lived well enough, but never owned a home outright, and never even a new car for that matter. In all my life, I think I can count on two hands the number of really rich people I have met. I certainly am not, nor ever have been one myself though I am not poor by any means.

Although I know plenty of middle class Colombians, I don't know any who I would call rich, and even the professionals I know, doctors, attorneys, engineers, etc. don't live nearly as well as most lower middle class people in the US do, although many do own their own homes which is practically unheard of among the middle class in the US. As far as I can tell, Colombia is much much poorer than the US, and has a very tiny percentage of truly rich people.

So why are so many people here so wrapped up in the attitudes of such a tiny group? The don't seem to hold any more sway in Colombia than their counterparts do in the US (although they don't hold any less I am sure).

Your comments about the "normal" people seem to be right on target. And I would apply them to most of the successful yet middle class people I have had the good fortune to encounter in Colombia, but one wonders, at what point of socioeconomic prosperity do people cease to be "normal" and join the ranks of the materialistic and shallow rich?

Could it be that when people have more disposable income they take a greater interest in how they can dispose of it (materialism)? That they have fewer concerns about basic sustenance and so can afford to take an interest in the more superficial things in life (being shallow).

This is an affliction that occurs with any group of people who have material wealth. It is not unique to Colombia. It's just more unseemly to those who are unable to share in the luxury because there are so very few who can.

PC comments on No Possible Jobs for Asian English Speakers?

Possible Job in Bogota I own a small business in Bogota, I will be needing an assistant shortly. The job will require someone with computer graphics skills (Photoshop, digital photography) and computer skills (Excel, Word, Internet use) as well as good English. Fluency in Spanish is a big plus, the boss's Spanish needs a little help. The pay sucks but it beats unemployment. With time salary can improve.

Please post your email address and I will send further details.

PC comments on Comparing the impressive universities in Bogota.

Rosario, if you can get in. All fine schools, and it probably depends on what you want to study, but Rosario is sort of Colombia's answer to Harvard or Oxford, in a 3rd world sort of way. For example in the school of law, most of the professors there are ex presidents, senators, cabinet members, etc.

It's attendees are sort of the upper upper crust of Colombian society. It's also the most exclusive in terms of entry requirements. Fewer than 2 percent of applicants are admitted. Fewer than 10 percent of them actually graduate. Actually Harvard is probably a lot easier since they admit more than 10% of applicants, and more than 30% of them graduate.

You won't have any trouble finding someone who speaks English there, and they might even know how to spell "you".

PC comments on Ingrid Betancourt

Misrepresentation of Comments Sr. Tertius,

"The Colombian Constitution includes some provisions for an state of emergency, which the Uribe administration used extensively and would like to extend even more."

Precisely! And that state of emergency has meant the curtailment of certain rights. I don't argue that it isn't unfair, or ugly. I argue that it is a necessary evil, and furthermore, that it is in fact by
your own admission perfectly legal.

"Read what you wrote a couple of times and you'll see how little sense it makes."

It's funny how a statement taken out of context can be so misused and misconstrued to mean something so completely different than it's intended purpose.

I suggest you read all of what I wrote rather than isolated sentences. Perhaps it needs to be more patently stated. Basically I am saying that the kidnapping situation in Colombia can no more be controlled by legislation and programs than can the rising and setting of the sun.

I am also saying that if the armed groups are not forecefully put down, there will eventually be no law and no government. In fact that is quite realistically the case in many parts of Colombia today.
It's easy to sit on the sidelines and throw stones, it's quite another to take decisive action to solve the problem. Uribe is doing that, and most of the population of Colombia is benefitting from it.

People will always find something to complain about and frankly, I think that is a very good thing. No leader should be given carte blanche and not face consequences, so although I disagree with much of what you write, go on writing it because I for one think it's very healthy. I'd appreciate it though if you could refrain from misrepresenting my statements.

PC comments on Ingrid Betancourt

Attacking at all Sr Tertius,

I NEVER attacked the person. Read it again. In fact I thought I was quite supportive and appreciative of your discourse, even if I completely disagree with it.

"Trading off fundamental rights" is what happens during a state of emergency. As long as large portions of the country are under control of armed combattants the constitution is but a meaningless scrap of parchment. The law and the constitution have no real meaning unless there is an orderly context from which to apply them.

PC comments on Ingrid Betancourt

Priorities Part Dos By the way, the above commend of mine should have been addressed to Sr. Tertious. Sorry.

PC comments on Ingrid Betancourt

Priorities Well, I'm not going to let you suck me into an argument about the Uribe administration and it's respect for the constition. What I was addressing was the fallacy of your claim that Uribe does not consider the kidnapping issue a high priority. He does and your own statements confirm even your acknowledgement of it. I did not see Pastrana or Samper do squat about it, at least Uribe is acting, even if not in the way you would like. The problem is he just does not have the resources to deal with it more aggressively. He can not sacrifice the needs of 40 million people in favor of the needs of 3000 unfortunates in captivity. He must make the nation safe first. And that really is beginning to happen.

The fact is that this decades old war really has taken a turn and things have very significantly improved under Uribe's leadership, and at least 70% of Colombians know and appreciate it. San Pablo and Saravena are not all of Colombia, and I serously doubt that attitudes are the same even there today as they were just a couple of years ago. Things really have changed, they have a long way to go to be sure. But it is working.

You say you were in Colombia for 14 years, but are you there now? Have you spent much time there recently? I do. I spend about 1/4 of my year there. For many years I had to stop going because the situation was so bad. But each time I go now, I see more and more gringos, more and more Colombians returning for the first time in years, and more and more happy faces than ever before.

Unfortunately I still see plenty of desplacias in the streets, it is very sad indeed and a sure reminder that there is still a long way to go. However, I rarely encounter anyone at all unhappy about Uribe's handling of the situation.

The fact is the only people I have ever encounterd who are unhappy about Uribe's leadership are right here on this message board. So far I don't think any are Colombians, only sanctimonious gringos. By the way, that really is not meant as a jibe at you. I appreciate your discourse and don't want to gang up on you, but you do seem to be defending the indefensable and a lot of people have picked up on it.

PC comments on Ingrid Betancourt

Practicality vs Idealism I've been accused of being a Uribe supporter. Well you know what? I am guilty as charged, but not to the extent that I would sychophantically endorse his every action.

I think he was dead wrong in supporting the US invasion of Iraq for example, although as a matter of practicality it's obvious to me that he had little choice. I probably would have done the same, and I think that is really the crux of the matter.

It's a matter of practicality, kidnapping is certainly a huge problem in Colombia. But right now Uribe has bigger fish to fry. The entire nation is at risk from a variety of forces. The Farc, the ELN, the AUC, the drug trade in general.

I think instead of worrying about what is or is not written in some document somewhere, the real concern is patent. Uribe has a war to fight and all of his resources and energies have to go into it. With elimination of, or at least serious reduction of the rebellious groups, the kidnapping problem will subside on it's own as well.

Although seemingly good points were made that most kidnappings were for ransom, what was not pointed out is that many if not most of those kidnap victims are sold to the FARC who then request the ransom.

By the way, Uribe does have or at least did have at least two major policy initiatives aimed at reduction of kidnapping, both controversial. I'm not sure what became of them, perhaps someone here can tell us.

1) He had an initiative that would make it a federal crime to pay a ransom.

2) He was pushing for the elimination of kidnapping insurance.

I think the premis was that paying a ransom tends to encourage kidnapping (for obvious reasons). I have not followed it for a while so I don't really know what became of these things. Although these may not be the most acceptable measures for the families of the kidnap victims, they are certainly evidence that he had a clear and practical policy towards resolving the issue. The real debate would be whether that policy is a good one. I think that would be a very legitimate and interesting one.

Personally, I don't know which side of that fence I would come down on. It's a real tough issue. I would be interested in hearing other peoples thougths about this.

PC comments on Ingrid Betancourt

All the strength of the State? What strength might that be? Should he reduce patrols on the highways so that he can divert attention to Igrid? Then the thousands of people who are now able to drive those highways safely and thus promote commerce would have to go back to being unemployed.

Do you really believe he isn't putting all the strength of the state on protecting lives and liberties?

It seems to me that Colombia is a lot safer today than it was two years ago.

I think he is doing the best he can with what he has. Frankly Ingrid Betancourt got herself into this not because she is courageous, but because she was truly naieve.

How out of touch with realtity she must have been to actually believe that she of all people would walk away from the FARC! She is an excellent example of why the notion of negotiating with terrorists is a hopeless endeavor. As if Pastrana was not example enough.

Of course 70% of Bogotanos are indifferent to her plight. Every last one of them knew she had it coming. She was grandstanding to boost her failing presidential bid, and only the most doltish of observers could fail to see that. Now that the Colombian economy is growing at upwards of 4% per year and personal safety is greatly increased, most people in Colombia are probably very happy and relieved it was her and not Uribe.