Chile Forum

The stare game though it has peripheral merit is foolhardy and may eventually get you into trouble

Drift without paying attention for just a few blocks in the wrong direction...

The Dos And Don’ts To A Safe Trip In Chile’s Favorite Port City


It’s no secret. Most travel agents and Lonely Planet books will warn you to keep your guard up in any South American country. In fact, just about any “gringo” boarding a flight to South America is likely to know that they’re in for a risk. And indeed, between the herds of street dogs, labyrinthine alleyways, and tourist-preying muggers, a stroll through charming, colorful but poverty-stricken Valparaíso can bear its hazards.


What many “Valpo”-goers may not be aware of are the measures they can take to prevent such hazards before their vacation gets ruined by a pickpocket or worse.

There are plenty of tactics for staying safe in a foreign city, but with its concentrated population, 90-degree landscape, high poverty rate and criss-cross street grids, crime has assumed a much more grizzly guise in Valparaíso – Chile’s premier port city. Indeed, staying safe in “Valpo” can be an art in itself – to which end, the Valparaíso Times sought the advice of two men who have spent their lives pursuing just that: kickboxing instructor Raúl De Soto and Police Chief Jorge Castro.

A native of France, Raúl De Soto has lived in Chile’s Region V for 34 years and practiced martial arts for the exact same period. As a lifelong kickboxing competitor, De Soto has held professional championship titles in Spain, Chile and France, plus a one-time stint as Professional South American Champion. Now in his late forties, he devotes his time to his self-defense school in Viña del Mar. A veritable brick of a man, De Soto looks like he could disembowel Rocky on a good day – yet he is the first to admit that violence is not the answer to street survival.

Q: Do you teach your students how to attack a perpetrator?

A: I teach self-defense so that my students have the reflexes to react if they need to, but in Valparaíso, it’s never a good idea to put up a fight against a mugger if you can avoid it. The criminals around here almost always carry weapons, and you never know who’s going to pull a pistol on you. I can punch pretty fast, but sadly, a bullet can punch much faster.


Q: What should our readers watch out for?

A: Firstly, they should watch out for themselves. Many of the students I teach signed up for classes after being mugged, and when I ask them what happened, almost all of them tell me they were wearing big bags, rings, iPods in their ears, or cameras around their necks. The best thing you can do to avoid a mugging is try to not look like a tourist.

At the other end of the city, in southern Valparaíso’s Playa Ancha – a low-income suburb, Police Chief Jorge Castro watches over the locals who live on Valpo’s jagged hills. In his many years with the “carabineros” (Chile’s uniformed police), he has witnessed every manner of street crime.

Q: What should our readers watch out for?

A: The idea that muggings only occur at night is, unfortunately, a misconception. Many tourists who have their things stolen are daytime robbery victims. The key is to watch your surroundings instead of the clock. Avoid the poorer areas unless you’re with a large group, and keep your eyes open for narrow side streets or clusters of trees, where muggers often hide.

Chief Castro also advised to note the dress choice of any nearby loiterers.

Nobody is going to wear dress shoes if they’re planning to mug you. Anyone wearing running shoes, tracksuits and hoods are much more likely to attack you – it allows them to move faster, hide potential weapons and blend into a crowd after their escape.

However, while the streets of Valparaíso – and indeed all of Chile – can yield their dangers, both men are in agreement: the threat of a stolen purse shouldn’t detract from an afternoon “ascensor” (cable car) ride or an afterhours street cart snack.