[E-steban]

Andrew,

So you want an armored Unimog (unusual truck that sticks out) in case you are attacked by the FARC in Colombia. And you want to travel with two irish wolfhounds (unusual large dogs that stand out). And you say you will be accompanying bicycle riders to bring attention to your cause. And you say you will be carrying thousands in camera equipment.

Seems to me you will look like a parade everywhere you go and even more so in places where their is conflict (not many places like that by the way). Why would you even want to go to areas where the FARC are a problem ?? And why would you want to attract so much attention ?? Yeah, you might make a movie, maybe even a good one, but you are sure to leave a wake of disruption everywhere you go. Sorry, but your plan sounds pretty dumb to me. BTW, I grew up in Latin America and have traveled around quite a bit down there.

Steve aka Esteban

Originally Posted by Andrew

On the other side of the Darien gap are the northwest jungles of Colombia, full of communist guerrillas so are the areas to the south, Colombia is more than four times the size of Vietnam full of tropical jungles, Amazon jungles, lots of mountain temperate jungles and equatorial jungles, some of the most beautiful nature anyone wants to see, unfortunately since the 60’s a war against the guerrillas has been going on for more than 40 years, a copy of the Vietnam style war, although the FARCS number in the thousands and are well equipped like a regular army they use the ambush and attack and vanish into the jungle tactics, if they feel the heat from the Colombian army they will slip into neighboring countries seeking sanctuary, unknown to most of the world the Colombian army is one of the best and most professional armies in the world due to that long continuous fighting, the present president of Colombia, Uribe is the first president with the will to take the fight to the guerrillas, like the recent incursion into Ecuador where the second leadership of the FARC was killed in action.

I say all this to illustrate the point of what is going on in Colombia, hundreds of thousands have been killed so far, is no Mickey Mouse game, although the media in the US rarely mentions it or shows footage. They use military weapons, so a little flimsy armor against shotguns is not going to be of any use, real amour and you will be weighed down, must as well buy you an armored personnel carrier.

When in Rome do as the Romans do is the motto, just wear kakis and a white shirt and drive an old jeep with a sack of yucca in the back, with two Irish wolfhounds and jacking around in Hawaiian shirts for sure is a magnet to attract attention, you will have a hard time convincing the bandidos that you are teaching the Indians to write in English, you can get kidnapped thinking you have rich folks willing to pay millions or you can get shot on the spot.


YouTube - GUERRA EN COLOMBIA

You can recognize the guerrilla army from the regular Colombian army in the video by the rubber boots they wear and usually they wrap themselves with the Colombian flag.
YouTube - OPERACION 7 DE AGOSTO

Daily news in Colombian TV, 15 soldier killed, 4 wounded and 3 taken prisoners in an ambush by 400 strong guerrilla group, the army counter attack.
YouTube - Yo rechazo a las FARC. Mire su regalo de navidad