The Colombian community in London - Geography - Queen Mary ...

Trust was more commonplace among those from professional and managerial backgrounds
(with 69.5% saying they trusted others) compared with only 36% of those in elementary jobs.
This is probably linked with the greater precariousness of people‟s situation when they work in
elementary jobs for low wages and under poor conditions. It is also important to point out that
although people may state explicitly that they do not trust other Colombians or Latin
Americans, they continue to socialise with them and participate in many cultural and
commercial activities (see also below; Cock, 2011). For example, 48 year-old Alonso who
owned a restaurant pointed out:
„There is no trust, the community is totally divided, everyone. Everyone envies
everyone else. Everyone talks about everyone else, it‟s horrible that we are not united
... everyone does their own thing, everyone talks about people and things that they
shouldn‟t‟.
Despite these views, Alonso only socialised with other Latin Americans and when he went out
it was always to Latin American places such as a disco.
Although 76% stated that they identified with others from the same nationality, there were also
some tensions among different Latin American nationality groups with Colombians tending to
see other nationalities as more united. For instance, Edilma (interviewed in 2007) said: „there
is a lot of envy, they [Colombians] don‟t help each other, Ecuadorians are more united‟.
Colombians also suffered from stereotyping linked with drugs; they repeatedly complained
about others making comments about Pablo Escobar, mafias and so on. For example,
Alejandro (interviewed in 2005) stated: „Listen, when you‟re taken in, when you‟re questioned,
when you walk down the street, when you talk about Colombia, Colombia is always linked with
drugs‟. Julián (interviewed in 2005) echoed this:
„When I first arrived at the building where I work, all they would say was “Colombia
mafia, Colombia nice drugs”. This is really difficult. Very few would every mention
Colombia football, nice football, it was always mafia and drugs‟.
As a result of this continual stereotyping, people reported that they stopped saying they were
from Colombia, and instead, often said they were from another Latin American country or from
Spain.
Cultural activities
Attendance at Latin American cultural events was important for Colombians with more than
two-thirds participating in the summer carnivals such as the Carnaval del Pueblo (74%).
Hometown fiestas and Independence Day celebrations were also important, but participation
in these was lower (52% and 58% respectively). People participated in cultural activities
regardless of their occupational background or income although men were more likely to
attend festivals every year, for example, compared with women (40% and 22%). However,
although quantitatively there was little difference in participation in these events according to
social class, several middle and upper class people stated that the carnivals were too
„popular‟. For example, 29 year old Juan (interviewed in 2010) who was a city trader said that
although he enjoyed going to Colombian restaurants such as la Bodeguita, he didn‟t like the
carnivals:
„In 2004, I went to the Carnaval del Pueblo but it was very popular and very messy. I
didn‟t like it. It wasn‟t my taste. It was very popular. I prefer to go to the National
Portrait Gallery for example‟.
Another dimension of engaging with Latin American culture on a daily basis is through using
Latin American services and shopping areas such as Elephant and Castle and Seven Sisters
markets with levels of use very high (88%). The main services accessed were cafes or
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