Part 5 - 20 Critical Problems that Keep Colombia in the Third World

The Final Two of This Series

With these final two critical social problems, we wrap up the series on living and working in Colombia. Much of the news coming out of the country is negative, but there are, in fact, quite a number of positives which can be associated with this, one of the world’s most notorious countries.

Here are the final two issues to be mentioned in this series.

19. There are lax controls on essential medicines and drugs of all classes.
As for whether it’s good or bad to be able to get virtually any non-narcotic prescription medication over-the-counter, is still up for grabs. If you know the name, composition r brand of a medication, it can usually be purchased without a prescription from pharmacies throughout the country. The quality may be subject to question as well in some areas. Even if you want to take “what my neighbor took when she had this problem”, you can often just go into any pharmacy and buy it no questions asked. True, some countries over-regulate, but then again it’s a tough call any way you look at it.

20. Racial and social prejudices are commonplace.
“America went through a crisis of its own during the 1960s with the emergence of intergration in its society. The process still continues as the current presidential race well demonstrates with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in history’s forefront. Will America finally have a black president? We’ll soon know. No question about a black president in Colombia though. No one expects or believes it could happen anytime soon. Why? … Because of deep-seated inferiority beliefs on the part of many Colombians – black and white. Minorities like blacks and indigenous races do not get “equal treatment” despite laws to the contrary. Not “Jim Crow” of the mid 1900s, but not too far off either. With enough money, a measure of “equality” can be reached, but is not available to the majority.

In another, soon upcoming series, we’ll look at some of the positive aspects of living and working in Colombia, one of the world’s most beautiful, but notorious countries. Stay tuned …


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 80 countries. Get your FREE E-books,"If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" or "7 Techniques to Motivate Your English Language Learners and Make Your Classes More Dynamic" by requesting the title you want at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then e-mail me for further information.