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I would not want to be someone to fight drug trafficking in Mexico. No doubt. I have been in Colombia countless times and it is an amazing place. The cities ha

I would not want to be someone to fight drug trafficking in Mexico. No doubt. I have been in Colombia countless times and it is an amazing place. The cities have parts that look like Florida. The skyscrapers were likely build with drug money (Floridas were not?). It is the Colombian government that says, please, let us legalize Cocaine. https://www.niskanencenter.org/colombias-efforts-to-legalize-cocaine-provides-opportunity-for-u-s-to-rethink-drug-enforcement/ https://www.niskanencenter.org/colombias-efforts-to-legalize... The e-residency might have been a good idea. Or not. I don't know. BTW, you can get the same now in Ukraine: https://visitukraine.today/blog/2186/diia-for-foreigners-how-to-get-an-e-permit-e-residency-and-other-services https://visitukraine.today/blog/2186/diia-for-foreigners-how... But the results are not good. In one article it was written, that basically 2 e-residency companies bring in 90% of the tax revenue.

jacquesm 3y ago
The e-residency was a good idea implemented on the cheap and poorly. And yes, the Colombian government is on the side of legislation because that would give them better tools to deal with the fall-out of all of this. The USA is as much the source of the problem as it is the reason anything is done at all, what the longer term solution is I have no idea but these are very complex problems and generalizations do not help. Frustratingly Trump and his policies have turned back the clock in Mexico about a decade or so. Illegal immigration was down substantially and people were even moving back to Mexico because the standard of living was improving. Right up until the 'build the wall' bullshit. I've spent enough time in Colombia to know that the average person is super nice and extremely friendly but at the same time I'm aware that their internal problems and the low key war - right now actually lower key than in many years past - going on there is a massive problem that no single individual or even any particular slice of government is going to solve. There are economic, regional, international and historical components to all this that will require a lot of time and effort to get it all to move to a better place. That said, Medellin today vs Medellin 25 years ago is a completely different affair.

jacquesm 3y ago

The e-residency was a good idea implemented on the cheap and poorly. And yes, the Colombian government is on the side of legislation because that would give them better tools to deal with the fall-out of all of this. The USA is as much the source of the problem as it is the reason anything is done at all, what the longer term solution is I have no idea but these are very complex problems and generalizations do not help. Frustratingly Trump and his policies have turned back the clock in Mexico about a decade or so. Illegal immigration was down substantially and people were even moving back to Mexico because the standard of living was improving. Right up until the 'build the wall' bullshit. I've spent enough time in Colombia to know that the average person is super nice and extremely friendly but at the same time I'm aware that their internal problems and the low key war - right now actually lower key than in many years past - going on there is a massive problem that no single individual or even any particular slice of government is going to solve. There are economic, regional, international and historical components to all this that will require a lot of time and effort to get it all to move to a better place. That said, Medellin today vs Medellin 25 years ago is a completely different affair.