Colombia, El riesgo es que te queras quedar


We were given a poster with several must-see Colombian sights with the above tag line which roughly translates ‘Colombia, the risk is that you want to stay’. This one simple line sums up Colombia perfectly.

Sure, we’d heard the warnings about Colombia. But these fears were expressed exclusively by people who had never been. Those who had been raved about how wonderful Colombia is. We knew we had to go.

Ten years ago Colombia was a very different place than it is today and the serious warnings were in place from that Colombia not this one.


Ten years ago, the guerrillas and paramilitary groups had a tight hold on the country and even Colombians were reluctant to travel. Then, in 2002, the very popular Alvaro Uribe was elected and he began to turn things around. He took a hard line on the militant groups and began to reduce their size and power.


He began a campaign called Vive Colombia which encouraged Colombians to travel to the great places within their country, ensuring their safety by setting up police check points along the highways. It worked and people began traveling again. We all know the power of tourism dollars and the economy began to grow.

Uribe was so well liked that he was able to pass a referendum allowing him to run for a second term in office, something previously prohibited within the Colombian system. He ran again in 2006 and won by an impressive margin. It was about this time that foreign travelers began to trickle in and the word of Colombia’s wonders spread.

Uribe again tried to pass a resolution allowing him to run for a third term in 2010, but the request failed. (Term-limits are a good thing, even when the current administration is popular, right?)

From a field of 10 candidates, two emerged as the front runners. Mockus, a green-party candidate and former Bogota mayor, is known for his unorthodox style and his Hickenlooper-esque everyman-appeal. His detractors said he wouldn’t be tough enough on the guerrillas and paramilitary groups and would lose ground that had been hard won under the Uribe administration.

The other front runner was Santos, the former defense minister under Uribe. More the conservative, his detractors said he was too hard line and would do nothing to improve tense relations with two important neighbors, Venezuela and Ecuador.

So popular was Uribe, and so grateful were the Colombian people, as the elections approached we saw bumper stickers that said ‘Gracias, Uribe’. Powerful.

May 30 was a rainy election day. RadioUno, the national radio station, took calls from people all over the country and chatted with them about the atmosphere in their area. The anticipation was palpable.

We were advised to keep things on the down low and not to travel that day. In the past there was violence on the roads as people from remote villages traveled to towns to vote. We didn’t see any problems but I did read there were a few problems of this nature on election day.


When the votes were counted Santos had received 46 percent of the vote and Mockus only 23 percent. Neither candidate had received the required 50 percent. A run off election was held on June 20 in which Santos received 69 percent and Mockus only 27.5. The people had spoken and they chose security over style.

NOW is the time to visit Colombia. It is beautiful. The people are unbelievably friendly. Of the nine countries we’ve been in so far it is our favorite. The risk is that you’ll want to stay.