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On a scale from 0 to Augusto Pinochet bringing American "Freedom" to the people or his next door neighbor, Videla, throwing dissidents out of airplanes, the cur
by dataviz1000 2y ago
On a scale from 0 to Augusto Pinochet bringing American "Freedom" to the people or his next door neighbor, Videla, throwing dissidents out of airplanes, the current government declaring a curfew during darkness is about a 0.
Luckily, I flew out of Chile on Saturday. Although it felt like it was the safest place I have visited in South America so far the empty white powdered dime bags on the sidewalk, people telling me to be very careful walking alone at night, razor wire and electrified fences around properties was a reminder of how dangerous it is.
- eitally 2y agoI have a very close friend who's Chilean but grew up in Brasil after his family immigrated to escape Pinochet. Overall, Chile is exceptionally safe by South American standards, especially outside Santiago (which has all the perks and challenges of any large city).
- bigtimesink 2y agoHow's Paraguay? I'm told it's one of the safest places in South America outside France, and safer than Chile.
- AnimalMuppet 2y ago? All of South America is outside France. Did you mean to type something else?
- dragonwriter 2y agoGuyane (“French Guiana”) is “outside France” in the same way that Alaska is “outside the United States”. Most of France is in Europe, but most is different than all.
- chmod775 2y agoBy area, only about 80% of France is in Europe!
- dataviz1000 2y agoIt is very hot in Paraguay so I am waiting a while before I visit. Today I'm in Lima and eventually plan on visiting Salvador in Brazil. Asuncion has become one of the top destinations for digital nomads and I am curious what it is about this land locked country other than the very favorable tax laws that is attracting people.
- deadbabe 2y ago[flagged]
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- arcbyte 2y agoI won't quibble with your characterization of South America today (even tho i disagree) but I do disagree with your suggestion of its causation. Certainly the lack of beasts of burden were an issue in pre-Spanish times, but the progression of North America and South America are remarkably similar after the British/French and Spanish starting settling. The primary differences really seem to come from a cultural difference between the people of the two continents and the failure of South America to reject communism. George Washington and Simon Bolivar both lived at roughly the same time and fought similar revolutions. South America's woes really began in the early 20th century when, despite avoiding the devestation of the world wars, they succumbed to socialist revolutions which ravaged their economies and destroyed their future prospects.
- delecti 2y agoOr, when they succumbed to socialist revolutions which drew the attention of capitalist interventionists. The devastating impacts we've had can't be downplayed.
- lurk2 2y agoIt's notable that the worst countries to live in are the ones where the socialists won (e.g. Venezuela). The excuse then becomes that these societies are dysfunctional because they have been impoverished by American embargoes, which is plainly not the case because you don't see these crime rates in countries with even higher rates of poverty like Nepal. It's also just obviously not true if you know anything about how incompetent the Venezuelan regime is and how its pork barrel politics operate. Countries colonized by Iberians are simply mired by the problems introduced by the Iberian attitude to wealth and work (namely that one ought to violently seize the former to avoid the latter). In Colombia alone there are something like 35 murders a day, and quite a few of those are for 3 year old iPhones worth less than the assailant's motorcycle. The preference for seizing wealth translates into the political sphere in these countries and had a lot to do with why the revolutions there took on a distinctly socialist character. On the one hand you had large landowners refusing to make any kind of concessions to the laborers they were exploiting, and this gives you the guerrillas who financed their operations via the drug trade (the right-wing paramilitaries later start doing the same thing as they lose institutional support). Both parties distrust each other. Keep in mind that this isn't like the American culture war. Most of these countries were dealing with full-scale civil wars in the last century. Consider Colombia again: 3 years ago, they elected a former socialist guerrilla as president. One of the first things he did was decriminalize the possession of narcotics. He compared cocaine with whiskey a few weeks ago. This variety of civic incompetence is quite typical in South America, and is the source of most of its problems.
- jjfanboy 2y ago[flagged]
- graeme 2y agoIt's possible OP is not from the US. Most places in the OECD aren't as dangerous as US cities. But, when you are in a city and see >razor wire and electrified fences around properties That is a sure sign that LOCALS see dangers present
- fjjjrjj 2y agoIt's s deterrent. Very common in Latin America. Most crime is opportunistic and thieves can be in and out well before police or private security arrive. Justice can be hard to come by and police could even look the other way if they are in in it with bribes or in bed with organized crime. It is shocking at first to see razor wire, electric fences, perimeter sensors, shards of glass embedded at the top of concrete block walls. In the US you don't know if that house you are targeting has someone inside waiting with a gun. That is shocking to many outside cultures too.
- lazide 2y agoChile has pretty lax gun laws (by South American standards). In South America, plenty of people have guns - they just don’t have permits or licenses for them. Chile is relatively orderly on that front, but most places aren’t. So unlike the US, it’s a lot less likely someone is going to call the cops if someone gets shot.
- c22 2y agoMost homeless people are more scared of you than you are of them.
- jjfanboy 2y agoI used to think this too!
- 2y ago
- dmacvicar 2y agoDepending where you look your numbers, Chile's crime and homicide rate is very similar to the United States.
- dietr1ch 2y agoSans school shootings at the very least, but crime has gone steadily up since cartels from Central America expanded their operations.
- nodesocket 2y agoI’ve been to Santiago, Chile and Buenos Aires. Highly recommend Argentina, in my opinion generally safer and much better food (pastas, pizza) Italian influence.