While going through Colombia Reports’ stats, I found a lot of incoming traffic from internationalsexguide.info, a forum for those who enjoy traveling to see their sexual needs fulfilled (for cheap). It seems there is an increasing concern among sex tourists about visiting Medellin because it’s so dangerous.
There’s no denying that Colombia, and especially Medellin, has a security problem. After all, this is a country that’s been at war for the past 45 years and produces most of the cocaine that’s being snorted by those that can afford it in the U.S. and Europe. It’s no more than logic that war and drug gangs are causing security issues.
Thanks to President Alvaro Uribe’s ‘Democratic Security’ Policy the situation inside cities and in tourist areas has become relatively safe over the past few years, resulting in a very welcome rise in tourism.
Unfortunately, Medellin, but also Bogota and Cali, saw a surge in crime recently.
So far, the violence has been confined to the rural areas of Colombia and in the case of Medellin, to the poor neighborhoods and to a lesser extent downtown. It has not even come close to the tourist areas or the middle class suburbs and is still nothing, compared to the violence Colombians endured in the 1990’s and early 2000’s.
Among those attending internationalsexguide.info there is an increasing panic about this increase in crime though, especially after a French citizen was found murdered in Bello, just north of the city. Reports from CR and personal observations fuel the fear.
“One of our guests a few months back witnessed a guy being shot the bottom side of Parque Poblado. Also three guys including a police officer being shot at a bank hold up not far from the Mansion, we went down and had a coffee at Juan Valdes and watched the guys being loaded into the ambulances,” ‘Aussie Greg’ wrote to add fuel to the fire.
‘Jazzplayer’, one of the regular members of the sex forum, advices his fellow sex tourists to choose Cartagena over Medellin, because of the safety.
One of the members of the board, wisely notes that “the effects of the Global Recession are beginning to take its toll on Colombia. Jobs in Colombia are dwindling, especially Medellin are dwindling. Colombia’s GDP is decreasing. Colombians are desperate, therefore-to obtain funding to take care of their basic necessities-criminal acts are increasing,”
What this particular sex tourist seems to forget is that the same poverty that fuels crime, also fuels prostitution. Both the drug trade and prostitution are illegal ways to obtains income and both are caused by misery and cause more misery.
The Uribe administration may have been able to tackle the insecurity in tourist areas, but has not done much to tackle poverty, resulting in a continuous influx of new guerrillas, gangsters and prostitutes in Colombia’s illegal economy and war.
The poverty of a country does not only force young men into crime. The same poverty forces young women and underage girls into prostitution. The more poverty, the more violence and the cheaper the prostitution.
Most people residing or visiting Colombia know very well that Colombia has lost none of its beauty. They know that despite the rise in trouble the Colombian culture continues to florish and that the people are as warm as always.
Those who think with their brains and have a compassion for the Colombian people are concerned about the quality of life and the safety of those Colombians living in the rural areas and poor neighborhoods that are being affected by the violence.
But I suppose that those who think with their dick will never be able to appreciate the real beauty or comprehend the complexity of a country.
I am sorry that, by reading our news, having your little friend sucked for 25 thousand pesos by a girl who is trying to stay alive and feed her family isn’t as much fun as it was two years ago.
Author Adriaan Alsema is editor-in-chief of Colombia Reports
