Letters home: Colombia

BBC World Service's World Today programme is looking at the end of year letters of ordinary people who lived through extraordinary events in 2003.

2003 saw yet more failed attempts at ending the ongoing battle in Colombia between left-wing guerrillas and right-wing paramilitaries. This is a letter from Luis Albeto Duarte, a cattle farmer.

As a farmer, I should visit my farm at least twice a week. However the current situation scares me, so I prefer to stay at home.

Colombia is experiencing a non-declared war waged by three illegal armies - the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC; the Leftist National Liberation Army, or the ELN, and the paramilitaries, fighting the national Colombian Army.

They are all trying to control the illegal market of cocaine.

For that, they need money and that's why kidnapping is sadly a commonplace here. To avoid being a victim of this activity I do not visit the farm very often.

I have hired a manager and put him in charge. I have to trust him, and I support all his decisions.

I really do not know if that is a good idea, but I don't have another choice.

Fortunately I have not suffered like other farmers, many of whom have been kidnapped around the country. It pays off to be careful.

In all honesty, I have not lost out on production, and the farm has kept up, so I feel very lucky.

When I go to the farm I take many precautions, such as not always travelling on the same day and at the same hour. Routine can be the biggest threat to your security.

I also try to change car, and I never stay overnight, as I used to.

We are afraid of being in the wrong place at the wrong moment

Because of that, now I spend more time in Bogota, where I have a very nice group of friends. This is a city with great restaurants, movies, theatres, etc, with great prices, so we like to go out a lot.

However, we put some thought into deciding where to go. We avoid fashionable places and restaurants, because we are afraid of being in the wrong place at the wrong moment.

The last two terrorist attacks occurred in popular places, so that means that we are right: it is always better to stay away from the crowd.

It's sad that you have to avoid restaurants that you really like, because you do not feel comfortable.

But not everything has been bad. At the start of the year I celebrated my birthday in Curazao, a Dutch island in the Caribbean, and in summer I went on a great trip to South-East Asia.

I visited Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and Singapore.

It was my first visit to that continent so everything - culture, religion, food - was a new experience. And soon I will visit Venezuela, our neighbouring country, which is also having a bad time - but that's a topic for another letter.

I have a good feeling about 2004. Hopefully it will better!

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