The Old and the New

“It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams.” Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Cartagena is very much a city that has entered the modern world, with its towering skyscrapers and active commerce. Situated on the Caribbean Sea and surrounded by protective topography, it is not prone to hurricanes unlike so many other locations on the same sea.   And since the government and FARC reached a form of peace a few years back, the city has begun in earnest to build a tourist trade, just as the country has been building a strong economy (rocked somewhat by declining oil prices—petroleum is a major export).

This is a city with a rich (and sometimes horrifying) history. It was home to a thriving indigenous culture before the arrival of the Spaniards.  Once the conquistadors arrived, it became the most important port in the Caribbean for the Europeans, as it was a nice, protected place to ship back the treasures found in South America and/or looted from the native populations. 

But with the launch of those ships came the activity of the pirates.  There were two types of pirates: buccaneers, who pillaged for their own profit, and privateers, who pillaged on behalf of their governments. One such privateer was Sir Francis Drake, whose home is in the old section of Cartagena and is now worth an estimated $7 million.  Nothing like acquiring wealth, prestige and a title by pirating.  Aaarrggh.

Cartagena’s fortifications were strong—I saw today the main fort that protected the city—and were only penetrated once, by a French attacker.  One failed attack was by the British admiral, Edward Vernon. His forces, which outnumbered the Spanish forces appreciably, were defeated not by cannons or strategy, but by their arrival in April, the apex of the hot, humid mosquito season.  More than 1,000 of his sailors died from malaria that spring.

Given the loss of the battle, and the loss of so many men, Vernon was unwilling to return to England, so he instead visited the parents of one of his men, Lawrence Washington, George Washington’s half-brother.  Vernon was embraced by the Washington family, so much so that his name became that of the first American President’s estate:  Mt Vernon.

With the conquistadors and pirates came two other scourges to the local populations:  disease and the Inquisition.  It is well-known what European diseases did to indigenous populations in the Americas.  What I had not known was that Spanish priests and missionaries decided to “convert” the people in what is now Colombia by means of torture, gruesome executions, and enslavement as punishment for worshiping a different deity and other lesser blasphemies.

But that was then. Now Colombia is growing, and Cartagena is an example of its modern presence. In addition to the home of Francis Drake, we also saw the homes of the likes of Julio Inglasias and Gabriel Garcia Marquez in the modern sections of the city.

Cartagena is a city that owns its past and is making its future.

Next up: the Panama Canal