Living in the Sewers of Bogota
8.26
Ratings: 8.26/10 from 39 users.
VICE takes a trip to Bogota, Colombia's most inhabited sewers. This documentary basically is covering the life of the lower class, poor children in Bogota, Colombia.
Often those children are badly abused and neglected, and then they move into the sewers to live.
No light, fresh feces, rats, fear of being swept away by the currents when it rains, and fear of the death squads coming after you in the middle of the night to shoot, rape, and burn you alive.
The death squads are made up of police, paramilitary, and rich businessmen or their lackeys, and their purpose is to create a "social cleansing." They literally open up manholes and start firing, or worse, they pour in gasoline and set it ablaze.
Fairgoose...Your empathy, compassion and truthful voice touched my soul. God bless the impoverished human beings and their beautiful pets 'forced' to live underground by their dispicable leaders. God bless!
Great Documentary. Really shows how you shouldn't take anything for gran it in life. It is insane people live like this.
tell me more plz how socialism is bad & dos not work and how wonderful capitalism is.
anyone who thinks that these people chose to live this way obviously wasn't paying attention to the film. Yes, all of the people he spoke to were adults, but they weren't adults when they started living in the sewers. They left as small children to escape abuseful and neglectful homes. Becoming drug addicts was a direct result of having to live in the sewers because it's the only way to forget about or at least be somewhat ok with having to live like that. I just cannot comprehend how people can be so selfish and uncaring towards other human beings...it's disgusting. They sewer people aren't the disgusting human beings...they're trying to do the best the can with the cards they've been dealt. The death sqaunds and uncompassionate people are the ones who are truely disgusting and utterly dispicable human beings.
Bunch of drug addicts that have chosen to live that life coupled with an uninformed, rude and idiotic kid as a presenter makes for a complete waste of my time. This website should have vetted this video and instead of putting it up, drop it in the sewer where it belongs. Complete waste of time and resources.
When someone says things like "Bunch of drug addicts that have chosen to live that life" what you're actually saying is "I am someone whith a complete lack of empathy for my fellow human beings, I have no critical thinking skills and I'm not very smart." So don't bother expressing your opinion about the documentary after a statement like that, since you already presented yourself as an id**t.
This was a VERY amatuerish attempt at something but I have no clue what other than presenting a 'host' who seemed to be nothing more than a kid out on prom night looking for a thrill after his girlfriend went home early.
The Dr who DID have professional information and insight into every aspect of these people was completely dismissed and finally abandoned all so we could see the wide-eyed fear on the 'host' who was more concerned with his safety than the people or the story itself. I kept watching hoping that some FACTS might come out of the tale rather than the hosts dramatic emotional problems being highlighted. BOO HISS to the hilt kid. Go back to math class or something and leave the reporting to grown ups with balls AND a vocabulary that doesnt include curses everytime you have nothing to say...like every 3 minutes.
An extremely interesting topic but wasn't done justice by the presenter's lack of professionalism. Vice documentaries always look like they have so much potential but the presenters seem so concerned with their coolness factor.
this documentary sucked and nobody who wants to be taken seriously on a documentary uses bad words in the presentation. very poor...
This was pretty much a bunch of nothing. I didn't see any children or death squads... I guess we have to take the foul mouthed VICE guy's word for it. I saw drug addicts who have no jobs except for cashing in recyclables. They are in the sewers because they want to be.
Thanks so much for the heads up. It is such a waste of time waiting for some real content on a doc.
They actually have to hide from the Death Squad that knows who they are and is trying to wipe them out. Try losing EVERYTHING as a kid, you grow up with that not knowing any better or how to get out of that situation. They were the few kids that surived the burnings.You cannot judge these people like an ignorant, there's too much to take into consideration and you gotta AT LEAST TRY to understand what you're watching instead of just waiting for the violent part.
I saw pretty clean sewers and a husband and wife who seeemed pretty darn proud of their hovel in the sewer... Did it ever occur to you that the police don't want them living there because it's un-hygenic and gross? Before you indict police of murder you should have some evidence of it. This was propaganda and pretty poor propaganda at that. Sorry no sale.
Thank you for your statement Carla..I am a 59 year old Canadian who lived (a cushy life) in caracas venezuela 1968-70.Even then when things were much nicer there...we were very afraid of Columbia.Unfortunatly the "vice" person didnt give Dr jaime the spotlight he deserved. To have the title Dr in that part of the world is to be held in the highest regard. In the 80's I read an article in readers Digest re Dr jaime (Im sorry I cant remember his last name ...no disrespect intented ) Dr Jaime was being honored at a high society event then he exposed...publically..to his wife and all of Columbia that he had been going into the sewars at night to help these kids. He spoke of the need for a social system to help them. He spoke of going through the sewers and discovering a 15 yr old girl giving birth all alone on a sewer shelf. Dr Jaime created the most amazing program to help these kids ...with schools ,hostels ,food assistance and education classes.that is not even funded by the Colombian govt. He has created his own social assistance program funded by people like him who care ...and want a kinder Columbia. He has almost Godlike status my mind. He could be moving within such high social circles living the "cushy life" ,but since the early 70's he has given all that up because he is a true advocate for the incredibly underprivileged children of Columbia. The callous and unsympathetic comment by ccrwm stating he saw clean sewers, are you kidding me. sears are full of shit ... didn't he see the ...what they call(Im wrong I know ) Scallagdamites of shit hanging from the ceiling due to shit fumes in excess in the air. Could he smell the shit and urine in the documentary? Could he feel and smell the damp stinky "makeshift wooden beds" as one sleeps on it. Did he not understand the pride of the couple re their sewer spot is because they feel much luckier than other sewer people who have worse spots much more vulnerable to death squads? There is a hierarchy at all levels of society.Does ccrwm actually believe that this couple are happy where they are . Does he actually believe they wouldn't want better if they could have it? Did he even notice that in all their squalor and fearful living conditions , they had the heart to care for other unfortunate dogs who needed someone to care for them. Most likely ccwrm is a "well to do" Colombian who really dislikes the world knowing how horrific the govt and "upper class" of Columbia treats unfortunate Colombian humans. That poor couple, who have nothing , treat those stray dogs with much more kindness/care & compassion ...than all other human Colombians treat that couple and other unfortunates. Except for Dr jaime and his supporters. ccrwm ..you should be ashamed of yourself for dismissing the truth re the death squads ,burnings and beatings of these unfortunate people of Columbia.Sure they steal to survive. Of course. But do they deserve to be burned alive for it? There is not one person who deserves to be burned alive for any crime. Especially ...most especially,a troubled child.
You lived in Venezuela for 2 years and don't know that it's Colombia not Columbia? Yeah right...
You are right of course. What confuse many Canadians is the fact that we have a province called British Columbia, spelled with u.
I bet he'll never make that mistake again.
az
Vice docs used to be worthy of attention. Not anymore. They either dont care, or have soldout.
I don't see how you can condense this issue into 25 minutes, feels like it's already a wast of time.
Did you even watch it?
I'm always glad to see new VICE documentaries. Thanks for putting them up! I find them to be a tad sensationalist at times, and the quality can vary greatly depending on the presenter. This one was interesting but I wonder about the other sides of the story.
death squads targetting lawless folks is a long standing american tradition. the pinkertons doggedly pursued the various train robbers (and union organizers) for the railroads. vigilance commitees strung up various classes of livestock thieves. all manner of industry financed "goon squads" to also deter the "red menace" of the unions. various us cities had police units entirely devoted to "gang elimination" who, for the most part, controlled them by gunning them down (NYPDs "office of special services", the parent unit of the one currently spying on mosques, coffee shops, and hallal butchers was assigned such duty in the late 1950s. if they couldnt hang a life sentence or seat in the electric chair on them, they shot them down wherever they could be found. the tactic eliminated real gang influence until the crack epidemic of the 80s, and wearing of "colors" until the "thug revival" of the mid 90s). we nortenos may cling to a notion of being "more civilized" yet a few times a year my local PD gun down some unarmed jr gangbanger in his driveway. the lives of the "dregs of society" tend to have little value, no matter what locale.
Very astute observation Harry , me oul' nutzack .
yeah yanks love it but how lawless can a 3 year old be they did not show the kids in this, they are not all junkies and robbers.
true enough, but dont forget the conservative south american plantation caste mentality: "you are what you come from". such a mindset is becoming more prevalent here in the usa, though not nearly to the extent it exists down south, at least currently. one need only observe the cultural dehumanization of the dreaded "illegal" and insidious "anchor baby" currently winding it's way through america's heartland to see how easily americans can be convinced to hate even toddlers, let alone packs of juvenile subsistence shoplifters. ive also got to point out that the job position hasnt been advertised here yet, but im certain there would be NO shortage of applicants if it were to be though.
reminds me of my city...only more ²bar's² & better looking people !
The people of Columbia support and tolerate this horrible
system. They should be ashamed ... all internatioal aid and
support to this country should be discontinued until they
clean up this filthy situation......
lolwat? 99.999% of people don't that **** here. And docus like these with all its sensationalism and fakeness (because it's quite fake and the translations are totally misleading) only help to make bigger a problem that doesn't deserve such treatment. opinions like yours, based on slogans and cliches and a total ignorance of the problem don't help at all.
OMG!!!!! First, Columbia is a city in Indiana, here we are talking about Colombia. It shows that you have no idea of the real situation in this country. To change the negative things of Colombia, international aid is not enough ...
Great Documentary.
Normally our biggest issue is What do do with our free time.
there are laws in the US and Europe to protect us from the worst of this stuff. Even so, harming the defenseless is widespread, even here and in Europe. If I were you, reading this, I'd think long and hard about the thin veil of societal laws that protect us all. Because, there is no moral imperative, you can bet your ass on that. Get a copy of the Constitution and kiss it.
lol @ society for child death squards.
Arguably one of the most pathetically ridiculous things I have ever heard of...
Im gonna assume that these people are flagging themselves as "M early Fighting The Good Fight"... along side all the other freedom fighters and vigilantes in the world.
I wonder what the internal suicide rate in these groups is.
I really don't see what so funny about it. If they could get away with it in the "developed word"...they would.
They do, only the crimes are more "white collar"
Im an alien and i dont get this planet.
We live here and we don't get it either. Have you come to save us or eat us? :)
I am only here to observe.
Good one!!!
Bad enough that nothing is done to help the kids but to allow death squads and police to kill them, what the hell? They don't even pretend to care, it's like rentokill, pest control. Sick. :(
It's the beauty of the free market. Ron Paul and his libertarians would heartily approve, I'm sure.
The Capitalist system is not the same as a 'Free Market system' even if both appear to exist at the same time. Free markets may exist even under a monarchy-the baker sells his bread, the shoe-maker sells his shoes. Capitalism means your first priority is money, rather than justice and good will towards others. Capitalism fosters greed and inhumanity. The ancient system of free markets historically allowed bartering, sales, and even credit, all without devouring humans and their quality of life.
Dr. Jaime spent many years trying to help these children