Medellin is a city that transformed greatly from its recent tragic past and we were eager to learn more about it during our visit here.
In the afternoon we went on a tour to Comuna 13, a neighborhood that just over twenty years ago was one of the most dangerous places on earth now turned into this unique artsy district trying to reinvent itself while healing the wounds of the past.
We had a young guide who witnessed the latter stages of these horrors and lived through the great transformation. He presented the story of this district which for 50-60 years was completely neglected by the government and became a place of fighting for left-wing guerrillas, right-wing paramilitary groups, and later drug lords with poor people just being used as pawns. The guide refused to even say the name of this most famous drug lord, show any of the graffitis with him as the community feels a great hatred towards him.
The guide shared his own experience of his life in the early 2000s. The daily shootings and killings were the norm. They were ducking under the tables while in school while shootings were happening and he witnessed their teacher getting shot during the class. He had a friend who was made to kill a person while still being 8 years old. Hearing such stories from the person who witnessed it was haunting.
The life of the community became even more tragic in the late 90s and early 2000s when the government decided to use military force to bring order to the district. In 2002 they witnessed 3 days of constant bombardment, military treating anyone in the district as a potential enemy, and killing innocent people and children along the way. There are numerous murals in the district dedicated to this event.
At some point came the realization that it’s impossible to make improvements just by using force. The city government decided to invest in the infrastructure creating unique supermarket-style escalators connecting different parts of the district, building cable-car and metro lines. Also, social programs were investing in culture, arts, and sports that gave young people alternative and hope. Unique escalators and artsy streets became a hit in Colombia and later in the whole world bringing the first tourists to the district. With the new flow of money, people started opening shops, cafes and worked hard to push any crime away from this area. It was an incredible transformation that is still ongoing. Only 2 years ago government officially declared this place as touristic bringing even more awareness, security, and money. Local people love tourists here as this industry gave people hope and opportunity for the first time. Now, incredibly, this is one of the safest places in the city.
In the evening we tried cable-car as a mode of transportation and it has to be the craziest and the most efficient thing at the same time. We took a 20-minute loop that went from the 13th district to even more outer layers of the city. The cable cars went super fast up and down sometimes being very close to the roof of the buildings, sometimes going a hundred meters above the ground over the hills which made us realize that the city is much bigger than we first perceived.
