Most of the world knows that Medellin in northwest Colombia was once known as the most dangerous city in the world. Now, however, it is a traveller’s destination; but if you come as a tourist without learning Medellin’s traumatic history, you will be missing out on a rather amazing story of resilience, optimism, and innovation and might not fully appreciate how Medellin came to be what it is in a very short period.
If you visit, you can definitely hunt out the town squares and parks and restaurants and museums and shopping areas and monuments and architecture and nightlife and outdoor pursuits or just enjoy the ‘eternal spring’ weather (a daily average of 22 degrees celsius brings about beautiful flowers and green spaces) - Medellin has it all. You’ll see why in a few minutes.
On our recent tour with National Geographic/GAdventures (shout-out to them), we arrived in this intriguing city of a few million people tucked in the Aburra Valley of the Andes Mountains after a delightful visit to coffee country and the Cocora Valley. We were certainly in for a different learning experience.
Contrary to my usual visits to a major city when I try to see as much as possible in a condensed period, our visit to Medellin was focussed on learning of this city’s traumatic past and how it has evolved from being the most dangerous to the most innovative. Two experiences showed us this city’s difficult and inspiring history. We started with a tour of Comuna 13 and followed with a ‘Dark History’ tour, but I’m going to talk about them in reverse order.
I doubt most North Americans can truly understand Colombia’s traumatic past, and I in no way pretend to understand; but here is what I have learned from reading and from a very thorough and invested tour guide.
We spent one afternoon learning about Medellin’s 'darkness'. Pretty much everybody in the world has heard of Pablo Escobar - books have been written, movies have been shot, documentaries have been produced, T-shirts have been printed, songs have been sung. In Medellin, he is a dividing figure. He built housing complexes for the poor, funded community soccer fields, championed the cause of the underdog, purchased soccer teams, was involved in politics, provided resources to the underprivileged, was known as a modern day Robin Hood, was a charismatic and rallying speaker . . . . but by his teen years, he was already a criminal, came to love wealth and was conniving in his ways to acquire it, was a womanizer, engaged in kidnapping, became a drug lord and “narcoterrorist”, developed the Medellin Cartel which became the largest provider of drugs to the United States, opened up international drug routes, became one of the wealthiest people in the world from the proceeds of his crimes, despised the law, engaged in bribery, fought rival cartels, killed at whim any politician or journalist or judiciary who exposed or tried to sanction him, killed hundreds of innocents who ‘got in the way’ of his many bombings including those who were in a well-known plane crash that targeted a specific person, and built his own jail so he could serve his prison term in luxury. Pablo Escobar was killed by authorities one day after his 44th birthday in 1993 (or committed suicide before the police bullets could kill him - the debate is out as his body had three gun shots in it, one on the side of his head from a handgun). It could be said that in the late 1970’s and 1980’s, Pablo Escobar was the ultimate crime boss in Medellin (in Columbia and the world?) and the main force behind Medellin being known as the most dangerous city on earth.
During our three hour ‘Dark History’ tour, we first visited a neighbourhood built for the poor by Pablo Escobar, a colourful neighbourhood which contains a small museum with walls lined with photographs and news headlines. This seemed a somewhat reverential view.
This are just some of the pictures in the small museum. Notice the smirking mugshot.
In contrast, we then visited the Inflexion Memorial Park which is built on the former site of the home of Pablo Escobar, his family, and his bodyguards and which honours those killed between 1984 and 1993 while trying to expose him or bring him to justice and also the hundreds of innocents who lost their lives due to bombings that he is believed to have orchestrated. This was a sobering and shocking experience.
This is the Hero's Walk. Each of the nine monuments memorializes someone who was killed while trying to expose Pablo Escobar or bring him to justice - politicians, journalists, judiciary.
Loosely translated, this memorial means: The fight for the ideals of justice, liberty, and life never ends.
The Plaza of Reflection and Memory is a black granite wall full of little holes, each representing one of the over 40,000 lives that were lost between 1984 and 1993. At night, the light shines through each hole from within - it would be a sight.
The back of the memorial wall remembers all of those who lost their lives during 'narcoterrorism' incidents (over 200 incidents) from 1984 to 1993.
'Peacebuiilders' is a statue remembering the dead, injured and missing police.
After this sombre experience, we ended with a ‘visit’ to Pablo Escobar's family gravestone, not out of reverence but to understand what a dividing figure he was. It was adorned with fresh flowers, a testament to the fact that he is still worshipped by some. As I said, Medellin is complex and contentious.
I highly recommend a ‘Dark History’ or similar tour in Medellin for insight into how this city came to be known as the most dangerous in the world but caution you to do your research. Ensure the tour tells the whole story and does not just glamorize Pablo Escobar’s philanthropy, his ranch, his personal zoo, and his own private jail (all now a theme park).
So the city of Medellin was in crisis, living in fear and traumatized by drug running, crime, and violence which also cemented Colombia’s world reputation as a very dangerous country (a view that still exists among many today). In 1991, Medellin was notorious for having about 7,000 murders, and Comuna 13 stands out as having been the most dangerous neighbourhood in the city. Comuna13 covers roughly seven square miles and is currently home to less than 200,000 people packed into several smaller barrios (a stark contrast to the gentrified hotel and neighbourhoods where travellers probably stay and to the modern highrises and fancy restaurants of the core). As with the favelas in Brazil (if you wish, please refer to my blogpost “Rio de Janeiro - A beautiful city to enjoy and respect”), Comuna 13 (and many other comunas in Medellin) were originally formed when people were forced to leave their rural lifestyle due to violence or political conflicts or illicit appropriation of land and start over in a large city, building shanty houses high on the hillsides. These communities were initially not recognized by the city government and thus lacked essential services such as hygiene and power.
Comuna 13’s physical location, jam-packed houses with tight and winding alleyways high on a hillside in a valley surrounded by mountains with little government surveillance, was a perfect location for cartels or militia groups to do their ‘business’ - drug running, fights between rival groups for control of the neighbourhood, recruitment of unskilled and poverty stricken young members, violence, kidnapping, death . . . I encourage you to read up on the drug cartel, guerrilla, military, and para-military groups of Medellin to get the full picture - for example, Pable Escobar’s Medellin Cartel, FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), ELN (National Liberation Army), and the CAP (Comandos Armados del Pueblo). In 2002, then President Alvaro Uribe sanctioned Operation Orion, a military strategy aimed at breaking up the guerilla groups in an attempt to bring peace to Comuna 13. However, the subsequent violent clash resulted in hundreds of innocent victims - either injured, deceased, or displaced - and the jury is out as to whether this operation was warranted. Some say it was the start of peace while those who lost family members might have a different view. Contentious, indeed. President Uribe, himself, and Operation Orion are fascinating topics to research. You can also check out numerous articles that report that even though murder rates were dropping in the city of Medellin after the death of Pablo Escobar, the murder rate in Comuna 13 in 2010 was still about 160 per100,000 people - and these are only the ‘documented’ deaths. (In comparison, I live in a city of about 110,000, and we are shocked if we have one murder per year.) This statistic paints a picture of the chaos, fear, and turbulence of Comuna 13 less than 20 years ago.
So, how did Medellin turn its reputation around and how did Comuna 13 evolve into a colourful and energetic neighbourhood for locals and travellers? “The Medellin Miracle” by the Rapid Transition Alliance https://rapidtransition.org/stories/the-medellin-miracle/ provides insight into how the city earned it’s ’most dangerous’ reputation and how it methodically forged it’s new reputation as being the ‘most innovative’. It’s highly worth a read. Focus was put on public education, community infrastructure, culture, green spaces, and libraries. Support was provided to small businesses in lower income areas. Public transport was developed, including a metro and a system of modern cable cars which allows citizens in lower income areas to travel for employment and leisure. A key point is that this was an inclusive effort by all levels of society - community leaders, politicians, non-profit groups, the elite, the disadvantaged - that addressed all socioeconomic factors and remains a social strategy for Medellin today.
And Comuna 13 received a modern cable car and a series of escalators. Art and music and hip-hop and reading and education and small businesses and athletic parks were encouraged. Tourists began to come. Today, Comuna 13 is a hub of activity, of creativity, of energy, of restaurants, of fruit stands, of noise, of boys playing basketball in a park, of life that is worth living and visiting. Some people think it might be ‘touristy’ but remember that art and business and tourism keep people busy and feeling good about themselves and their community - and those people generally don’t turn to drugs, cartels, gangs, and violence. I’m not sure of Comuna 13’s murder rate now, but Medellin reported a total of 300 murders in 2024 which equates to about 11 per 100,000, colombiaone.com “Medellin, Colombia, Records Lowest Homicide Rate in 82 Years”. (Remember, Comuna 13, alone, in 2010, reported a homicide rate of about 160 per 100,000 population.)
Enjoy this photo collage of the 'new' Comuna 13:
We learned so much from our two tours. We were able to see first hand how a city took control and turned darkness into light. Now, that's inspiring and amazing. (Of course, tourism brings about new challeges, but there is no doubt that if Medellin can rise from trauma, it can handle pretty much anything.)
So, DO visit Medellin, but amongst the highrises and restaurants and parks and clubs and museums, find some time to learn it’s dark past and how the community united in a good way with resilience and optimism to build a city that you just have to appreciate and admire. Some type of ‘dark history’ tour and Comuna 13 tours are readily available on line. Be selective. No city is 100% safe, though, so always travel wisely - don’t roam areas at night, carry minimal cash, leave your valuables at home, stay in a reputable hotel in a reputable area, use pre-arranged rides, don’t let yourself be requisitioned for anything, watch your alcohol use, and don’t use drugs - and enjoy the fascinating city of Medellin.
I will end with a symbol of Medellin’s past and future, the Bird Statues of Medellin by famed artist Fernando Botero. Initially, only one plump and happy bird sat in the Park San Antonio but in 1995, 22 pounds of dynamite were exploded at the base by the FARC (revolutionary forces), killing 30 concert goers and injuring many others. Botero replaced the bird on the condition that the original, much damaged, bird remain alongside as a symbol of the evil done, and the names of the victims are printed on the base. The new bird symbolizes Medellin's path forwards.
Next up on our tour is a happy day trip and a big climb.
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