24 Hours Without a Homicide?

Shoot 'em dead.

Today, we were watching bicycle polo in the National Park when this oddly-dressed troupe of young people appeared, and, without explanation, carried out a silent theatre.

Only afterwards did they explain: they were part of a campaign called 24-0, which is calling for a day without any murders. That's a tall order, particularly on a Saturday, in a city with a murder rate of almost two people per day. More importantly, the campaign is intended to draw attention to the problem, which overwhelmingly impacts poor people, and ask Bogotanos to think about solutions.

Down he goes. 

It's mind-boggling that Colombia, despite its wonderful people and culture and increasing stability, has a annual murder rate of 38 per 100,000 people more than double that of Mexico, at 18 per 100,000, which is under siege from narco cartels. That's to say nothing of Europe, Asia or even the gun-saturated United States.

It's tempting to blame Colombia's murder rate here on its half-century of armed conflict. But, in fact, that conflict can be blamed for only a few thousand murders per year. That's a lot, but only a fraction of the nation's 18,000 annual killings. However, I suspect that this conflict feeds a general atmosphere of lawlessness and a tendency to resolve conflicts with firearms. The closely linked illegal drug trade, of course, also fuels violence on all levels.

What would you do about this? activists ask passers-by.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours