9 facts that Narcos doesn't tell you about COLOMBIA
If you are addicted to Netflix's Narcos, the TV show based on the Colombian drug trafficker Pablo Escobar, and this is the ONLY information you have heard about the country, you should definitely know these facts before mentioning him to each Colombian you meet, or before traveling to this country.

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We don't love Pablo Escobar, as Netflix's Narcos shows
Even if Netflix's Narcos presents it this way, it's because at that time (he was shot dead in 1993), the trafficker built houses for poor people in his hometown, Medellin. But wait! Before you start talking about him as a hero (and praising him in front of us), please notice that he had more than 4.000 deaths on his account.
Relatives of his victims still remember the bombings in public places, the panic everywhere, and having lived out of the country during that time, escaping from his violence. So, even if you could eventually find anyone who had benefited from his "solidarity", it would be extremely weird in a 42 million people country.
Besides that, we are victims of his legacy: we are asked to have visas everywhere, limited to travel, suffer discrimination because of this stereotype of all being narcos, we have troubles to legally work abroad, etc.
Therefore... NO, we don't love him, he was NOT a good man, his hitmen were NOT kind and affable, and praising him in front of his tomb or getting a book signed by any of the criminals related to him is NOT a cool plan. Pieces of news like this one, showing the US rapper Whiz Khalifa taking flowers to his burying place, deeply OFFEND my people.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKTsJGhBN81/?taken-by=viejaqueviaja
Colombians don't usually consume cocaine
During all my life I've heard that pathetic jokes showing how ignorant "funny" people are about the subject. "Don't play so happily with the snow. It is not cocaine", I heard once abroad being a teenager. And successively we have to breathe deeply each time we hear that kind of comments. So, let's start from the basics: the world's biggest consumers have historically been located in Europe (Scotland, Spain, the leaders of this ranking) and the United States.
So if you are from those parts of the world and you blame producing countries, guess what? Like a relationship, this means shared responsibility, not a one-country problem.
South American consumption has considerably increased, according to the last UN report. Anyway, it is not Colombia the country leading this ranking.
Escobar is not the only "famous" Colombian, despite Netflix's Narcos
The writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez was Colombian (how many of you have read "100 Years of Solitude"?), the artist Fernando Botero is Colombian, Shakira is Colombian (we prefer if you quote her, even if not all like her music, rather than hearing Narcos and Escobar a hundred times per day).
Sofia Vergara is Colombian; Falcao, David Ospina, Nairo Quintana, James Rodriguez are Colombian... Very famous cyclists and the winner of the Tour de France 2019, Egan Bernal, is Colombian... So criticise the sportsmen, artists or models but stop it with the drug trafficker dead more than two decades ago.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJTto8TBeF7/?taken-by=viejaqueviaja
Not all Colombians sell cocaine
Thanks for not asking the same stupid question when you hear the name of my country. If you want some, go get your local dealer.
Not all the smugglers are Colombian
How does cocaine appear in your country? Don't you think that people from your nationality help Colombian narcos to spread it all over your territory? But then you don't have a foreigner to blame... right?
Unfortunately, Netflix's Narcos doesn't show this other part of the coin. Because it is always easier to blame "third world countries", instead of showing the "first world's" addictions.
We don't welcome foreigners visiting just to buy cheap cocaine
It is a reality but no, we don't like that. We hate old European and American creepy guys, traveling to Cartagena and other very touristic places to get high (af), and "buy" kids and prostitutes. Please respect our country, and behave in the same way as you do in your country (don't get crazy as soon as you leave your hometown, thanks).
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxzki7ZB_bo/
Cocaine is not the only "thing" the country has to offer
If you look at pictures or read a little bit further than the pieces of news and all the Narcos' stuff, you risk to discover a place with amazing landscapes, including deserts (Tatacoa desert or Guajira desert, where the dunes meet the ocean), the Amazon jungle, perpetual snow in the mountains, Caribbean white-sand beaches, big whales in the Pacific, the breathtaking coffee landscape (Colombia being the world's most important arabiga grain exporter) and much, much more.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BPqs1qBBckK/?taken-by=viejaqueviaja
Colombians are really sensitive about Netflix's Narcos
Well, wouldn't you, when you have to listen to the same stuff day and night? How would you react if all the people you meet mention the worst problems of your country? We are gentle but can't keep smiling each time we hear those offensive jokes.
The funny thing is that foreigners that have traveled to Colombia, with the guidance of Colombian friends, are never this disrespectful.
https://www.instagram.com/p/By2b0R6BMxk/
Consuming Colombian cocaine is not "socially priceless"
Each time you sniff a line, remember that tons of liters of blood have been poured in my country throughout the years because of this. So if you want to have some solidarity, please go get another way to get high and stop fuelling the violence.
Some of us are still patient: when the topic starts, some just keep silence, talk about other things or just leave. This is not my case any more: my face changes immediately. Even if I try to clarify some concepts, I don't say those facts in a nice way. But I try to repeat myself, like a mantra, that people from abroad don't have to be experts in Colombian current reality and that bad pieces of news just sell more than the good ones.
Now that you are aware... thanks for forgetting Netflix's Narcos and talking about other subjects!
Thinking about traveling to Colombia? Check these tours in English around the country!
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DESCUBRE otros artículos parecidos a 9 facts that Narcos doesn't tell you about COLOMBIA , aquí: Colombia.
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Bien dicho!!!!
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El país es hermoso. Yo soy casado con una colombiana. Me encanta el pueblo y la gente.
Es cierto y obvio que ni toda coca es producida en Colombia (aún que la mayoría) y que el país tiene muchísimo a ofrecer !
Ahora, decir que Pablo no es, o no fue querido es una gran mentira.
Los que es , es lo que es.
Si hacen una encuesta en Medellín por ejemplo, pienso que hasta hoy más de 50% del pueblo, principalmente lo más pobre lo admira todavía.Mismo las series de TV hablan del tema, no solo de Pablo, pelo de los narcos en general. Basta ver las series de Caracol, como el patrón del mal, y su niveles de audiencia. Y las muchísimas canciones populares y los cocaleros que también exaltan lo estilo de vida.
Y ni vamos empezar hablando de las guerrillas ... O sea, no es porque la gente discute o menciona las cosas feas que estas cosas dejan de existir !!!
Saludos,
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Llevo 22 años viviendo en Medellín y no he conocido a la primera persona que diga admirar a Pablo Escobar. Sí, es cierto que lo admiraran los que se veían beneficiados, sí, es cierto que existe un barrio informalmente conocido como Pablo Escobar en el que el capo construyó casas y sí, en ese barrio lo admiran por todo lo que recibieron. Pero decir que el 50% de la población en Medellín lo admira es simplemente irresponsable. Desafortunadamente mis compatriotas siguen dándole rating a esas series, es un tema que en general los apasiona y que se contradice con su opinión en general sobre Pablo Escobar y la estigmatización. Es un asunto curioso a analizar, pero lo que dice la bloggera es cierto... Que sea lo único de lo que se habla de Colombia es irritante para nosotros.
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Pues... desafortunadamente los colombianos, especialmente los paisas somos muy brutos y merecemos que nos dejen esos estereotipos... Sino, por favor que me expliquen ¿cómo hijos de su grandísima pta madre se fue la gente a marchar, le iban a hacer novela y lo siguen cuál youtuber famoso a "Popeye"? el principal gatillero de pablo escobar y responsable de mas de 3000 muertes (unas 250 por mano propia) ... El respeto no se gana a insultos, gritos y berrinches, "no nos diga cocaineros" cuando sabemos que la seguimos produciendo y que en la calle si se tira vicio como si no hubiera un mañana, si queremos respeto hay que tener dignidad y empezar por saber elegir a quienes nos representan y no a los mismos de toda la vida que le alcahueteaban a Pablo y a todos esos corruptos que están ahi...
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Visité Colombia el año pasado. Era uno de los países más hermosos en los que he estado, y la gente era muy amable. Hay muchas cosas en Colombia que deben ser admiradas. Me disculpo que mi español no es bueno. Quería decirles que su país es un lugar especial, y les digo a todos en Canadá que Colombia es especial.