Life is But a Dream in La Candelaria

Posted on 24. Jul, 2010 by Colin in colombia

I’ve written extensively on the crime situation in La Candelaria in these posts: Contributed Story: Hangin’ Tough in La Candelaria, Contributed Story: La Candelaria Pickpocket FAIL, La Candelaria in Pictures, Why I Hate Downtown Bogota, Crime and the Bogota Mentality, and My 1^st Mugging in Colombia,  I’ve written how bad crime was. WAS. As in past tense, not anymore. I have to go back to all those posts and link to this one, because La Candelaria is different.

After moving out of Chapinero, I moved into Hostal Fatima in La Candelaria. I noticed I was rarely getting asked for change or offered drugs. One of the gringos I knew at another hostel confirmed the neighborhood’s changed since last year.

I ran into a hostel owner I knew (not Fatima) and mentioned the difference. He replied, “Pagamos por seguridad.” We paid for security. The local business owners pooled money and hired an additional private security force to patrol the streets at night. Private security companies are a major industry in Colombia, and you see as many rent-a-cops as regular police and military.

See Limpiezas: Social Cleansing in Colombia to learn more about how local businesses respond to neighborhood crime.

There were always a couple security guards in blue uniforms standing around Carrera 3 during the day, but they’d leave at night. Now there’s a whole crew of guys dressed in all black standing watch all night long.

My first run-in came at the end of a Friday night. I was with Rico, an American from New Orleans who’s new to Bogota, getting dropped off by a taxi. We saw a crowd outside Jamming Reggae bar. We hopped out and approached the door. The guys outside seemed sketchy and I wanted to go back to the hostel. Rico would have none of it. At that moment, one of the security guys in all black came up and asked me where my hostel was. He recommended I get going, offered to walk me there, etc.

Another night, Rico and I were walking down Calle 14 around 3am. A half dozen gringo tourists were walking ahead of us. They were first to pass a big group of these security guards standing at the corner of Carrera 3. The guards stopped them and asked where they were going, confirming they weren’t wandering the streets but just heading back to their hostel around the corner. The interrogation lasted a minute or so. One of the guys approached us and I joked with him that I know how it is and no ladrones are prowling the streets while his team’s out. He laughed and we kept going. We walked the streets aimlessly for a while without coming across any undesirables whatsoever.

Later I saw that group split up to make rounds, each guard walking in a different direction. I imagine they’re liberal with their batons on locals who they don’t deem good for the neighborhood.

‘Life is But a Dream’ by The Harptones

Related posts:

1. La Candelaria in Pictures SUMMARY: Profile and pictures of Bogota, Colombia's famed neighborhood, La Candelaria. Crazy murals included. Read more...
2. Contributed Story: Hangin’ Tough in La Candelaria SUMMARY: Christopher K from Colombia gives his advice on how NOT to get robbed or bothered in La Candelaria section of Bogota, Colombia. I also stayed on the 3rd floor of Aragon and walked to the Platypus to use the internet. I made the Plat-to-Aragon walk at all hours: day,...
3. Contributed Story: La Candelaria Pickpocket FAIL SUMMARY: Quick dittie on an attempted robbery in La Candelaria. This piece was contributed by Christopher K, who was the big Bogota blogger before getting locked up in a Brazilian penitentiary last year. Here's his story: Something's not right in front of the tienda bar. It's not too late at...
4. Crime and the Bogota Mentality SUMMARY: Describing crime and the Bogota atmosphere. Features The Suit in La Candelaria, The Bogota Atmosphere, and The Bogota Mentality. One night in La Candelaria I was watching the corner from my 3rd floor hotel room around 8:30 pm. At this corner there's always a vagrant or two going through...
5. My First Mugging in Colombia SUMMARY: My story of getting mugged my first week in La Candelaria, Bogota, Colombia. Other stories from the neighborhood too. After staying in La Candelaria last year, I was convinced I'd live there if I ever moved to Bogotá. After a week in the neighborhood, however, I'm convinced I won't...

Tags: bogota, crime, la candelaria, tourism