Bogota’s solution to homeless problem: Put them on the bus to other cities
Source: Colombia Reports
Bogotas solution to homeless problem: Put them on the bus to other cities
written by Adriaan Alsema August 19, 2016
Colombias capital has been boasting its recent crack-down on crime. However, according to other cities, Bogota did nothing but put homeless people and drug addicts on the bus to other cities.
Bogota Mayor Enrique Peñalosa vowed to curb crime rates in Bogota when he took office in January this year.
Since then, he and President Juan Manuel Santos had promised coordinated efforts to seek a more more orderly, clean, illuminated public space where citizens feel there is authority and certain norms to abide.
One of the most publicized offensive was the evacuation of a small, but infamous area informally called The Bronx, a crime-infested area named after the New York City borough.
Read more: http://colombiareports.com/bogotas-solution-homeless-problem-put-bus-cities/
forest444
(5,902 posts)Over time, many of the displaced simply moved back - all the more so because the same dictatorship also ruined the economy (in much the same way Bush almost ruined ours, except the consequences were more intense).
Thank you for sharing this, Judi. I wonder how the mayors of the affected Colombian cities will retaliate for this.
Judi Lynn
(160,219 posts)formed from members of the old death squads of the allegedly disbanded A.U.C., which was always connected to the Colombian military, handling a lot of the truly gruesome tasks the military didn't want to handle personally.
These politicians who are still connected undoubtedly would feel fine in asking some neo-paras to stop by and aid them with a little "social cleansing" which they've all been doing for decades.
I was shocked the first time I learned they systematically have murdered street vendors, drunks, prostitutes, anyone they believe gives a place a bad appearance, etc.
Ordinarily one would expect the mayors to try to make arrangements for shelter, food, etc., but there are huge numbers of Colombian politicians who are allied with "muscle" in case they want assistance in getting rid of people.
(They are known for getting rid of political enemies, election opponents, human rights activists, union organizers, indigenous, and African-Colombian citizens.)
Colombia has been able to operate quite a lot like a complete feudal system all this time, with full U.S. support. As Rumsfeld, Bush's Secretary of Defense said, they see Colombia as a "lily pad" country, a "forward operating base" from which they can move in any direction, toward Central or other countries in South America, so they want to keep Colombia close to them.
JackRiddler
(24,979 posts)geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)Judi Lynn
(160,219 posts)Colombia has often had the largest displace population in the world, due to entire villages being destroyed, due to paramilitary death squads, on the orders of higher ups moving into towns, chasing off the people through outright massacre, or terror tactics, then giving the land over to corporations, huge landowners, etc., etc., etc.
For decades the result was that millions of people fled to cities where there was no housing or employment, creating the greatest human crisis in the world in certain years, and almost always at least 2nd worst, right after Sudan, etc.
Just a little bit of difference, and you can find this out by spending some time researching.
JackRiddler
(24,979 posts)geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)JackRiddler
(24,979 posts)Otherwise neither Judy Lynn or I, nor you, need to represent the US in having an opinion on Colombia's mass internal deportations dating back decades. We're allowed to have our own opinions on what's wrong and right. US treatment of the homeless is bad, or even worse depending on the jurisdiction. But if the US really loses any "moral standing" with regard to Colombia, then that is not so much because of the bad moral example in the U.S. itself, but because of the 10 billion dollars of foreign aid given directly to the Bogota death squad narco-regime since 2000!
a la izquierda
(11,784 posts)ill. They are shipped to my town because it has resources.
Judi Lynn
(160,219 posts)in the hundreds of millions annually. They passed over 10 Billion dumped into the country from 2000, and the beginning of Plan Colombia, several years ago.
vinny9698
(1,016 posts)We had chronic mental patients that were creating scenes and just being a nuisance. The therapist would ask them if they any relatives anywhere in the US that they would like to visit. Of course the client would say yes and then we would approach the Salvation Army which would pay for the ticket and provide sack meals for the number of days it would take them to get there.
Judi Lynn
(160,219 posts)awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)I don't know how you do it while perfectly sane.
LeftRant
(524 posts)JackRiddler
(24,979 posts)The issue here should be the longstanding, direct U.S. support to a death squad regime -- even as this is coupled with a lot of hypocritical condemnation of neighboring Venezuela.