Medellín, which for a decade was the most dangerous city in the world due to drug trafficking violence Pablo Escobaris undergoing an urban, social and cultural transformation to free itself from this burden without forgetting its past or the wounds of its most turbulent period.
This city, the second in Colombia, which experienced Escobar’s terror in the 80s and early 90s, began a modernization process after the kingpin’s death on December 2, 1993 that has allowed it to move away from the stigma of drug trafficking and being a regional reference.
The power of drug trafficking was such that In April 1988, the then mayor of New York, Edward Koch, proposed “bombing Medellín”a city that in 1991 became known as the most violent city in the world, with almost 400 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.
According to a study by Jorge Giraldo Ramírez, PhD in Philosophy from Eafit University, the “most pronounced” declines in the city’s homicide rate have as their “precise starting points” the dismantling of the Medellin Cartel and the death of Pablo Escobar.
“Being a citizen of Medellín at that time was not easy at all. A war broke out between the State and the Medellín Cartel, and civil society was left in the middle of bullets and bombs. Many of our friends were victims of that barbarism without being part of the conflict,” former police officer Edison Vanegas Álvarez told EFE.
Vanegas, now a film director, is the author of the book “Pablo: secrets of the hunt against Escobar” with unpublished testimonies from members of the Search Block, the special elite unit created by the Government of that time to put an end to the kingpin.
Beginnings of the transformation
After the years of terror, the metamorphosis began for the city with public-private infrastructure projects such as the Medellín Metro, inaugurated in 1995; the Metrocable (2004), a cable car that connects the neighborhoods with the urban center; a tram and the EnCicla public bicycle system.
Other symbols of the transformation are the escalators to climb the slopes of the Comuna 13, one of the most violent neighborhoods during Escobar’s time; the library parks and the neighborhood interventions known as Articulated Life Units (UVA).
The city also opened Plaza Botero, an open-air gallery with sculptures by artist Fernando Botero, and Ruta N, an innovation and business center that has facilitated the settlement of foreign companies and the strengthening of the business fabric.
For the architect Jorge Alberto Pérez, director of the Administrative Department of Planning of Medellín between 2012 and 2015, a “practically unviable” city became a city for life with a process of overcoming crises through infrastructure, planning , urbanism and “an immense capacity for collective resilience.”
This urban regeneration caused Medellín to be classified in 2013 as the most innovative city in the world in the “City of the Year” contest, organized by The Wall Street Journal and Citigroup.
Memory, art and tourism
The deputy director of the Casa de la Memoria Museum, Rafael Núñez Rodríguez, praises the strength of social organizations, human rights defenders, victim groups and academics to document what happened and build memory, an area in which “there is still a lot to do” in relation to Escobar himself as a subject, drug trafficking, hitmen and “other contexts favorable to crime.”
“Medellín is a strong city, but not only in the strong sense, but also in resistance to the violence of drug trafficking, the State and actors such as urban militias,” Núñez told EFE.
The expert assures that The majority of museum visitors are foreigners seeking to know more about Escobarbut they find a space for reparation for victims that shows a “resilient” Medellín, that has wanted to move forward and that has true social fighters.”
Although 30 years after Escobar’s death his image continues to be sold in ‘souvenirs’ or attracts tourists to the so-called “narcotours”, Medellín has become a travel destination and cultural agitation with events such as the Feria de las Flores, Colombiamoda and a busy agenda of concerts, mainly reggaeton.
According to the Tourist Intelligence System (SIT), in the season that begins this December 1 and concludes in the second week of January 2024, Medellín will receive more than 200,000 visitors to enjoy its Christmas lighting and the festival of the singer Karol G .
“Medellín has gone from fear to hope. Without ignoring what we have experienced, it shows that Medellín can also be transformed,” summarizes filmmaker Vanegas.
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