It was to my greatest shock that I learned from the most respected newspaper in Colombia, El Tiempo,  that the American expatriate, Brian Andrews, affectionately known as El Gringo by his colleagues at RCN News in Bogota, had his life threatened and quietly made his exit from this country, vowing never to return. Then I visited Andrews’ blog, where he claims the story is a fabrication.

Andrews has been the English voice for the RCN News web site for two years, occasionally speaking in Spanish in his unmistakable thick American accent for the network’s promos on television. While he confirms that he faces a “security situation”, not much else is true and he never spoke to any reporter from El Tiempo, the Bogota newspaper that broke the story.

El Tiempo’s article gives very specific details about Andrews supposed brush with the FARC, Colombia’s drug trafficking rebels. It said he was doing a report on location in Cerrito, Valle, when he was approached by two men on a motorcycle and given the stern warning that if he did not leave Colombia, he would be kidnapped. This, they allege, came on the heels of having been contacted by Interpol and informed that they had credible evidence that he had become a military target for the FARC, the rebel group turned drug traffickers. The story goes on to say that the outgoing US ambassador, William Brownfield, also advised him that he should pack-up and go.

If this is all fictitious, the reporter behind the article should immediately be fired and return to journalism school (if he ever went) and pay special attention to the part about ethics. I admit sheepishly that just before writing this article, I had written another based on the El Tiempo story, posted it here, and syndicated it on two other sites. I quickly had to remove them when I found-out Andrews has a blog and saw his comments on the matter.

We will give Andrews the benefit of the doubt in this matter, but that should not change the rules for all expatriates living here: those of us who have their wits about them know that if you receive a threat in this country, it will be carried out. That is if you even get the courtesy of a warning! As a rule, you do not ask questions of your hosts, as the criminal groups have tentacles that still reach everywhere in this society. The Colombian government has made enormous progress toward improving security here, but there is still a long way to go.

Good luck Brian Andrews!

Brian Andrews’ blog

RCN News