• About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
FREE REPORT
BEST PLACES TO RETIRE
*No spam: We will NEVER give your email address to anyone else.
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Portugal
      • Panama
      • Belize
      • France
      • Colombia
      • Dominican Republic
      • Thailand
      • Mexico
      • Spain
      • Argentina
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
Live and Invest Overseas
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Portugal
      • Panama
      • Belize
      • France
      • Colombia
      • Dominican Republic
      • Thailand
      • Mexico
      • Spain
      • Argentina
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
No Result
View All Result

Safety & Drug Violence In Medellin

Kathleen Peddicord by Kathleen Peddicord
Jan 24, 2012
in Retirement/Living
0
overview of rooftops and mountains in Medellin Colombia
208
SHARES
3k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Overcoming A Troubled Past

“I get my information on the Internet, and it is available to you as well, and I am sure you are aware of it. In researching Medellin, I found stats relating to murder rates among the highest in Central/South America, which would be a concern for anyone considering Colombia unless they had been living in a cave…”

Poor Medellin. Will she ever be able to escape her troubled past?

For decades, this city was a drug-cartel capital. Pablo Escobar, the billionaire godfather of the Medellin drug trade, and his drug goons reigned over Medellin, terrifying this good city’s other citizens.

But that’s all history.

Yes, the drug and gang culture exists here still, but Pablo Escobar is dead, shot and killed in 1993 by Colombian security forces. Colombia has made dealing with its drug-related problems a priority ever since and seems to be having much greater success curtailing the associated violence than other countries (including Mexico, for example). A piece this month from a reporter for the Los Angeles Times gives some good perspective on this.

Nevertheless, many outside the country believe Escobar’s reign of terror continues, even minus Escobar.

Lief and I are back in Medellin this week, our 9th or 10th visit of the past two years, and we’re struck again by the stark contrast between the idea of this city that the world, especially the average American, carries…and the reality on the ground.

The reality on the ground? Businesspeople dressed smartly coming and going from their offices…women shopping, running errands…children riding bicycles and roller blading in the parks…couples wandering from restaurant to bar to nightclub…

The reality is that Medellin is a peaceful, tranquil, welcoming place.

Lief takes up this issue directly in the feature article for his inaugural Simon Letter issue. As he explains:

“The murder rate in Medellin continues to be high on a global scale, but you need to remember that, as in most cities around the world, the violence and killing is gang-on-gang. Those in the drug industry are mostly killing each other. Innocent bystanders do end up getting hurt or killed as well sometimes, but the real trouble areas are contained.

“Nobody can guarantee that the drug gangs will never again have the power and the reach that they once had in this city, back in the days of Pablo Escobar. However, I can tell you that the people of Medellin have no interest in losing control of their city again. Paisas, as they are called, take enormous pride in their beautiful city. They speak openly of the troubles they’ve lived through and want very much both to keep any lingering problems in check and to change the way the world views Medellin.

“Most of the world has no idea of all this, though. Thanks to their long-standing reputations as danger spots, Colombia in general and Medellin in particular have been off the world’s radar as retirement or investment destinations. This has left the local real estate market to the locals. The result is that property prices are a tremendous value on a global scale. You can find livable older properties in excellent neighborhoods for less than US$1,000 a square meter. New properties are more expensive, currently selling for as much as US$2,000 a square meter, but, even at that valuation, they are more than reasonably priced for the quality both of the construction and of the city where they’re located. Compare Medellin pricing to US$2,500 and up for comparable apartments in comparable neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, for example.

“As the stigma of the drug wars diminishes and more people visit Medellin to see the city for themselves, as more international businesses relocate to Medellin and as retirees discover all this city has to offer, real estate prices will likely pop…”

Prices are up already about 15%, on average, from where they stood when we began drawing your attention to this city. The current average price to buy in Medellin is US$1,300 to US$1,400 per square meter, up from the average of even eight months ago but still a bargain on a global value scale…and current rental yield projections remain in the double digits.

This is the starting point for the discussions we’ll be having with the 75 attendees joining us in this lovely City of Flowers starting tomorrow for our first-ever Live and Invest in Colombia Conference.

If you aren’t able to join us in person, don’t worry. We’ll be getting it all on tape and will make the conference recordings available at a specially discounted pre-release price starting Thursday.

Kathleen Peddicord

Comments

Tags: 'Colombia'Drug Cartel In MedellinReal Estate Investment In MedellinSafety In Medellin
Share83Tweet52
Previous Post

International Health Insurance

Next Post

Property In A Foreign Country

Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord has covered the live, retire, and do business overseas beat for more than 30 years and is considered the world's foremost authority on these subjects. She has traveled to more than 75 countries, invested in real estate in 21, established businesses in 7, renovated historic properties in 6, and educated her children in 4.

Kathleen has moved children, staff, enterprises, household goods, and pets across three continents, from the East Coast of the United States to Waterford, Ireland... then to Paris, France... next to Panama City, where she has based her Live and Invest Overseas business. Most recently, Kathleen and her husband Lief Simon are dividing their time between Panama and Paris.

Kathleen was a partner with Agora Publishing’s International Living group for 23 years. In that capacity, she opened her first office overseas, in Waterford, Ireland, where she managed a staff of up to 30 employees for more than 10 years. Kathleen also opened, staffed, and operated International Living publishing and real estate marketing offices in Panama City, Panama; Granada, Nicaragua; Roatan, Honduras; San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; Quito, Ecuador; and Paris, France.

Kathleen moved on from her role with Agora in 2007 and launched her Live and Invest Overseas group in 2008. In the years since, she has built Live and Invest Overseas into a successful, recognized, and respected multi-million-dollar business that employs a staff of 35 in Panama City and dozens of writers and other resources around the world.

Kathleen has been quoted by The New York Times, Money magazine, MSNBC, Yahoo Finance, the AARP, and beyond. She has appeared often on radio and television (including Bloomberg and CNBC) and speaks regularly on topics to do with living, retiring, investing, and doing business around the world.

In addition to her own daily e-letter, the Overseas Opportunity Letter, with a circulation of more than 300,000 readers, Kathleen writes regularly for U.S. News & World Report and Forbes.

Her newest book, "How to Retire Overseas: Everything You Need to Know to Live Well (for Less) Abroad," published by Penguin Random House, is the culmination of decades of personal experience living and investing around the world.

Related Posts

Riverside in Tavira on a summer morning, Faro District, Algarve, Portugal.
Retirement/Living

Why Tavira Is The Best Place To Retire In Portugal

by Sophia Titley
February 24, 2021
0

Our 2021 Retire Overseas Index names Tavira, Portugal, as the single best place in the world to launch a new...

Read more
Dordogne, France.

The Challenges Of Living Abroad And How To Overcome Them

February 22, 2021
Beautiful Caribbean sight with turquoise water in Caye Caulker island, Belize.

10 Reasons To Reinvent Your Life In Beautiful Belize

February 17, 2021
View overlooking Corozal township in Belize.

Different Places To Live Well In Northern Belize

February 16, 2021
Paradise beach on Koh Kood island, Thailand.

Expat Community Share Their Biggest Fears Of Moving Overseas

February 14, 2021
Sunset at Algarve coast, Carvoeiro, Portugal.

The Key To Moving To A Different Country In Today’s World

February 12, 2021
Porto, Portugal cityscape on the Douro River and Dom Luis I Bridge.

How To Move To A Different Country The Right Way

February 11, 2021
Next Post
Buying Real Estate In A Foreign Country

Property In A Foreign Country

A world full of fun, adventure, and profit awaits! Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we'll send you a FREE report on the 10 Best Places To Retire In Style Overseas Today.

Start Your New Life Today, Overseas

how to retire overseas

LIOS Resources


  • New To LIOS
  • Ask An Expert
  • Media Center
  • Contact Us
  • FAQs

Quick Links


  • Best Places To Live
  • Best Places To Retire
  • Finding A Job Overseas
  • Real Estate

Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and get your FREE report: The 10 Best Places To Retire Overseas In 2021

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe

© 2008-2021 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Countries
  • Budgets
  • Archives
  • News
  • Events
  • Bookstore
  • Newsletters
  • About Us
  • Members Area
  • Contact Us

© 2008-2021 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

WANT TO RETIRE OVERSEAS?

Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we’ll immediately send you a free report on the 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE in style overseas. Each day you’ll learn about the best opportunities for international living, retiring overseas, offshore diversification and asset protection, and investing in real estate around the world.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.