«Cities with bad reputations are as attractive as bad women», — wrote Pablo Neruda, the Chilean senator and Nobel laureate. A bad reputation is Colombia's middle name.
It's a little calmer now, but four years ago, when I was getting on an intercity bus, a man with a video camera would come in and take pictures of the passengers' faces before the bus left.
— Why film the faces of bus passengers?
— In case the bus is hijacked. We want to know who was on it.
The main danger was the Revolutionary Armed Forces - FARC. The bus drove from Bogotá, in the heart of the country, through the mountains to Popayán, where three or four factions were fighting for control of the city, something we learned after we arrived. But we had chosen a relatively safe route.
Much worse, closer to the border with Ecuador, where a volcano protrudes from the clouds and anti-personnel mines explode on its slopes.
It's a little calmer now, but four years ago, when I was getting on an intercity bus, a man with a video camera would come in and take pictures of the passengers' faces before the bus left.
— Why film the faces of bus passengers?
— In case the bus is hijacked. We want to know who was on it.
The main danger was the Revolutionary Armed Forces - FARC. The bus drove from Bogotá, in the heart of the country, through the mountains to Popayán, where three or four factions were fighting for control of the city, something we learned after we arrived. But we had chosen a relatively safe route.
Much worse, closer to the border with Ecuador, where a volcano protrudes from the clouds and anti-personnel mines explode on its slopes.
Guidebooks and forums write about most of these places: check up-to-date security information before going. This is where cocaine is produced.
What is the national product in Colombia? It is unlikely that anyone would think of coffee. Or about Fernando Botero, a local artist and sculptor who depicts hypertrophied obese peasants, military, animals, a chubby Mona Lisa, a fat Jesus and President Uribe.A cast of all the important moments in history, an imprint of the most significant figures - historical, popular, mythical - is all there in his work.
Illustrations of all the important moments in history, imprints of the most significant figures (historical, folk, mythical) are all in his work. The man who was both the best and the worst in Colombia, a product of both domestic and export, is captured here in his last moment. With a gun, popping out on the rooftops of Medellín, barefoot - under a hail of bullets.
This is the scene that ends the second season of the series Narcos, which has become one of Netflix's highest-profile premieres. The Colombian authorities were very worried before filming began, and I don't need to explain why.
What is the national product in Colombia? It is unlikely that anyone would think of coffee. Or about Fernando Botero, a local artist and sculptor who depicts hypertrophied obese peasants, military, animals, a chubby Mona Lisa, a fat Jesus and President Uribe.A cast of all the important moments in history, an imprint of the most significant figures - historical, popular, mythical - is all there in his work.
Illustrations of all the important moments in history, imprints of the most significant figures (historical, folk, mythical) are all in his work. The man who was both the best and the worst in Colombia, a product of both domestic and export, is captured here in his last moment. With a gun, popping out on the rooftops of Medellín, barefoot - under a hail of bullets.
This is the scene that ends the second season of the series Narcos, which has become one of Netflix's highest-profile premieres. The Colombian authorities were very worried before filming began, and I don't need to explain why.
For years they have been trying to convey their truth about who Escobar was and what he did, but still the utterly romanticized image of him overpowers everything else in people's minds. Magical realism as it were.
On the Pacific coast, in the fishing village of Baia Solano, there is a hotel. It is almost empty; we stayed in a small bungalow nearby. The village has no roads, no trains, and the railroads are dead in Colombia, with small planes landing at the local airport several times a week.
Tourists in small groups come mostly from August to October, when the whales arrive in the bay. There are military personnel everywhere. One of them goes through each passenger's luggage by hand. Another next to him is holding a dog.
The owner of the bungalow where we live is a fisherman, like everyone else in this village, who walks without a machine gun.
— You don't have many tourists right now. Are there more in season?
— No, of course not. Not many people come here. Everyone goes to the Caribbean, Cartagena, Santa Marta.
— Then why is there a hotel here?
— Oh, I built it. For Pablo. I used to be a simple fisherman. Pablo came here and we all started taking his cocaine. Boats all the way to Panama.
— All of them?
— All of them.
If you don't work for Pablo, then you're snitching on him to the police. Then the conversation was short. Plata o plomo - silver or lead.
Silver, of course, is better. And you get used to easy money... And then he was killed.
The hotel is standing, and sometimes someone even lives there. There are a lot of military men catching smugglers. They used to conduct operations against FARC, but they don't come here anymore. Now the FARC is no longer a threat. At least, that's what we thought, until it turned out that Arsen Voskanyan, who was kidnapped while catching frogs and was allegedly reselling these amphibians, was shot and killed during his escape. Most likely, he was caught by the Colombian National Liberation Army.
— No, of course not. Not many people come here. Everyone goes to the Caribbean, Cartagena, Santa Marta.
— Then why is there a hotel here?
— Oh, I built it. For Pablo. I used to be a simple fisherman. Pablo came here and we all started taking his cocaine. Boats all the way to Panama.
— All of them?
— All of them.
If you don't work for Pablo, then you're snitching on him to the police. Then the conversation was short. Plata o plomo - silver or lead.
Silver, of course, is better. And you get used to easy money... And then he was killed.
The hotel is standing, and sometimes someone even lives there. There are a lot of military men catching smugglers. They used to conduct operations against FARC, but they don't come here anymore. Now the FARC is no longer a threat. At least, that's what we thought, until it turned out that Arsen Voskanyan, who was kidnapped while catching frogs and was allegedly reselling these amphibians, was shot and killed during his escape. Most likely, he was caught by the Colombian National Liberation Army.
All this is happening against the backdrop of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, who managed to negotiate with the leftist FARC rebels.
Their head Timoleón Jiménez had already begun disarming his guerrilla units when it turned out that people were still being captured, still being killed, only now it was no longer profitable: the guerrillas no longer controlled all the hard-to-reach areas of the country, and it was increasingly difficult to collect the «revolutionary tax» from cocaine producers, especially when they hastily moved to Bolivia, Peru and Hugo Chavez who had supported them from neighboring Venezuela were gone.
That's it, the fun is over, but only the specter of socialist revolution still roams the country.
Their head Timoleón Jiménez had already begun disarming his guerrilla units when it turned out that people were still being captured, still being killed, only now it was no longer profitable: the guerrillas no longer controlled all the hard-to-reach areas of the country, and it was increasingly difficult to collect the «revolutionary tax» from cocaine producers, especially when they hastily moved to Bolivia, Peru and Hugo Chavez who had supported them from neighboring Venezuela were gone.
That's it, the fun is over, but only the specter of socialist revolution still roams the country.
The southern Pacific coast of Colombia has its own story with geography. The Chocó region is populated by Afro-Colombians. While the Atlantic Coast has more coca, the Chocó region has more crack and synthetic derivatives, which people get hooked on instantly.
High levels of street crime, robberies, gangs, sometimes syringes underfoot. The military is increasingly watching the border, their faces turned to the water. Isolated neighborhoods, towns cut off from each other. There are roadblocks every few kilometers. Fortifications, barbed wire, muzzles of machine guns.
Tumaco is a city on three islands. The history of the place is quite funny: Francisco Pizarro killed the Incas here, and Henry Morgan buried the gold he stole from the Spaniards somewhere on the beach. Now the fishermen are fishing and the drug dealers are racing the goods in speedboats and mini-submarines. One of them is lying on the beach, along with other confiscated vessels.
High levels of street crime, robberies, gangs, sometimes syringes underfoot. The military is increasingly watching the border, their faces turned to the water. Isolated neighborhoods, towns cut off from each other. There are roadblocks every few kilometers. Fortifications, barbed wire, muzzles of machine guns.
Tumaco is a city on three islands. The history of the place is quite funny: Francisco Pizarro killed the Incas here, and Henry Morgan buried the gold he stole from the Spaniards somewhere on the beach. Now the fishermen are fishing and the drug dealers are racing the goods in speedboats and mini-submarines. One of them is lying on the beach, along with other confiscated vessels.
The American hero operative from Narcos wouldn't last a week here - whites are too conspicuous, especially when you get away from big cities.
Sailing was delayed by an hour. Well, at least we didn't miss the tide. The boat captain first took a long time to scoop the water out of the boat, and then stopped doing it, apparently tired. When I boarded, the first thing they put in my hands was someone else's infant.
The ticket listed insurance benefits - 3 million pesos for death, 1.2 million for disability and the same amount for medical expenses.
The route was first on the ocean, then on rivers and creeks between villages lost in mangrove forests. The boat only traveled one-third of the way, which was to be expected.
Eventually the boat's transmission broke down, some people moved to oncoming vessels, and those remaining on board were taken in tow. There was a mechanic in a village nearby, and it took some more time to repair.
The off-schedule passage must have caused some nervousness in the military - a siren blared around one of the bends in the river and a military boat approached at a low speed. Machine gun turrets sticking out from under a tarpaulin, some pointed at the boat, there even seemed to be anti-aircraft guns: «What's taking so long? Vessel papers!».
Sailing was delayed by an hour. Well, at least we didn't miss the tide. The boat captain first took a long time to scoop the water out of the boat, and then stopped doing it, apparently tired. When I boarded, the first thing they put in my hands was someone else's infant.
The ticket listed insurance benefits - 3 million pesos for death, 1.2 million for disability and the same amount for medical expenses.
The route was first on the ocean, then on rivers and creeks between villages lost in mangrove forests. The boat only traveled one-third of the way, which was to be expected.
Eventually the boat's transmission broke down, some people moved to oncoming vessels, and those remaining on board were taken in tow. There was a mechanic in a village nearby, and it took some more time to repair.
The off-schedule passage must have caused some nervousness in the military - a siren blared around one of the bends in the river and a military boat approached at a low speed. Machine gun turrets sticking out from under a tarpaulin, some pointed at the boat, there even seemed to be anti-aircraft guns: «What's taking so long? Vessel papers!».
It's a black hole, where no planes, buses, or anything but boats go. It's a serious place to get into. «Bienvenidos a Charco city», — the captain joked. And informed us - the next boat is in the morning.
Most of all of Colombia's coca is produced in this area, transported to factories in the forest and there made into cocaine. Some grow it, some transport it, some process it. The nearest large city is Cali.
Cali is the center of club culture. «Cali limpia, Cali linda» - clean and beautiful, as those who dumped corpses into the river said.
The Cali drug cartel was the biggest of all, after the war with Escobar's Medellin group, they were the ones dictating prices and conditions, including to Colombian politicians. The cartel ceased to exist back in the '90s, but there is a reason why there is still so much military here.
It is impossible to control all the rivers and forest trails, so helicopters also circle over the jungle. Sometimes they manage to find something, and then the farms are burned - especially without knowing where the bananas are and where the coca is.
A big problem and cause of hatred for the authorities was this: entire villages could be left without a livelihood. The legacy of the Cali cartel: it is destroyed by fire, but still the coca is everywhere.
A big problem and cause of hatred for the authorities was this: entire villages could be left without a livelihood. The legacy of the Cali cartel: it is destroyed by fire, but still the coca is everywhere.
The Atlantic coast attracts many more tourists. There are the beaches of Cartagena, national parks with a developed road network, and in the mountainous areas - the lost Indian city «Ciudad Perdida», the Colombian Machu Picchu.
— We are not taking tourists there this spring.
— Why not? What's in there? FARC or drugs?
— Both. A couple of days ago, a tourist group was taken hostage - they were on their way to the lost city and stumbled upon a factory. Don't you guys watch TV?
— There's no way out now?
— Let the military sort it out first.
On a deserted beach in Cartagena, a local drops by, puts out beads and wooden animal figurines. He tries to guess where I am from, and for some reason decides that I am either from Chile or Argentina. Not «gringo».
— We are not taking tourists there this spring.
— Why not? What's in there? FARC or drugs?
— Both. A couple of days ago, a tourist group was taken hostage - they were on their way to the lost city and stumbled upon a factory. Don't you guys watch TV?
— There's no way out now?
— Let the military sort it out first.
On a deserted beach in Cartagena, a local drops by, puts out beads and wooden animal figurines. He tries to guess where I am from, and for some reason decides that I am either from Chile or Argentina. Not «gringo».
— You have a strange accent. Would you like to taste some real Colombia?
— What do you got? Right here?
— Of course, you have to appreciate the quality. It's free. If you want more, you pay.
— It's an old trick, amigo. I know... I'm sorry, I don't have any money today.
— You can even pay with a credit card!
— What, do you pay taxes on that?
— Well, brother, it's not like I'm selling you cocaine. Take your pick. Here's coral, here's pearls. Not real, of course. I don't want to cheat you. Here are the animals, my brother carves them out of wood. What do you like?
— I like the crocodile...
— What do you got? Right here?
— Of course, you have to appreciate the quality. It's free. If you want more, you pay.
— It's an old trick, amigo. I know... I'm sorry, I don't have any money today.
— You can even pay with a credit card!
— What, do you pay taxes on that?
— Well, brother, it's not like I'm selling you cocaine. Take your pick. Here's coral, here's pearls. Not real, of course. I don't want to cheat you. Here are the animals, my brother carves them out of wood. What do you like?
— I like the crocodile...
A crocodile appeared a couple of days later in the park. A real, two-meter-long crocodile, jumped at us from the swamp, walked fifty meters across the sand to the ocean in ten seconds, and plunged into the water. It was cooling in the seawater, staring at me with yellow-green eyes.
Drug cartels and revolutionaries, it seemed at that moment, were definitely not the most dangerous inhabitants here. Gabriel García Márquez didn't seem to talk about it. Neither did Narcos, just some nonsense about magical realism. That's probably what you think of when you're dragged somewhere in the jungle.
Almost all the cocaine in the world is produced in Colombia, Bolivia and Peru. Through Mexico it enters the U.S., through ports in Spain and Portugal to Europe, on its way through Africa.
Drug cartels and revolutionaries, it seemed at that moment, were definitely not the most dangerous inhabitants here. Gabriel García Márquez didn't seem to talk about it. Neither did Narcos, just some nonsense about magical realism. That's probably what you think of when you're dragged somewhere in the jungle.
Almost all the cocaine in the world is produced in Colombia, Bolivia and Peru. Through Mexico it enters the U.S., through ports in Spain and Portugal to Europe, on its way through Africa.
Cocaine came into fashion in the seventies, then penetrated the mass consciousness through movies and entertainment shows, became an attribute of bohemian life and a synonym for success. And it's not going anywhere.
Botero painted Pablo's death twice. One painting is now in Bogota, the other in Medellín. In the second, Pablo is already dead. The same mountains, bare feet, a bare belly with a bullet hole protruding from under his shirt, bullet holes, a wailing woman below, and smoke rising from the chimneys over the rooftops of the city.
Pablo Escobar is dead. But Colombia and the world still can't get over it in any way. Filming soap operas about beating the drug mafia doesn't help much.
Botero painted Pablo's death twice. One painting is now in Bogota, the other in Medellín. In the second, Pablo is already dead. The same mountains, bare feet, a bare belly with a bullet hole protruding from under his shirt, bullet holes, a wailing woman below, and smoke rising from the chimneys over the rooftops of the city.
Pablo Escobar is dead. But Colombia and the world still can't get over it in any way. Filming soap operas about beating the drug mafia doesn't help much.
