Written by Meenakshi Nirmalan
Walking around Medellín’s Comuna 13 (San Javier) today, the vibrant atmosphere and captivating street art covering the district’s walls are amongst the first features called into attention. The district is warm and welcoming, attracting plenty of tourists nowadays, who are able to enjoy all that the region has to offer. However, this was not the case a couple of years ago – the region was consumed by turbulence, destruction and subsequent widespread poverty. The city of Medellín was the epicentre for drug-related violence in the late twentieth century. Medellín is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central region of the Andes Mountains. The proximity of the city to the Andes Mountains made it a prime route for drug trafficking and violence. Unfortunately, Comuna 13 was one of the areas most affected by this violence.
Originally, the area of Comuna 13 was a hamlet in the 1800s, called Las Granjas. Agricultural activity thrived in the area, as the altitude lends itself well to the production of various crops. The usage of the land shifted in the middle of the 20th century, as it started to become more of a residential area. Moreover, in the 1960s and 1970s, there was a rise in immigration to this area: many people were displaced, as a result of conflict in the rural regions of Antioquia and they were drawn to the area, thus marking the genesis of Comuna 13.
However, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, guerrilla groups, gangs and paramilitary groups such as FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) and also ELN (Ejército de Liberación Nacional) were occupying the barrio and in control. Numerous people were murdered daily and furthermore, many went missing. The extent of the violence escalated rapidly, and the region was proclaimed one of the most dangerous areas in the world. The influence of the state was limited and it was difficult for outsiders to enter and exit the region, as it was unsafe to do so.
In 2002, a new president, Álvaro Uribe, was elected and he decided that an intervention in Comuna 13 was necessary, to combat the guerrilla groups. Various military operations were launched, the most significant and final operation being Operation Orion, between the 16th and 19th of October 2002. According to a report by Peace Brigades International: “More than 1,500 troops from the 4th Brigade took part, in conjunction with the Department of Administrative Security (DAS, now dismantled), police special forces and members of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, to fight the urban militas.” This demonstrates the scale of the intervention in the barrio. During this brutal intervention, it is reported that at least 70 people were executed, almost 300 people disappeared, there were around 450 illegal detentions and around 2000 people were forcibly displaced.
Despite the fact that Operation Orion is said to have only lasted three days, the violence continued well into 2003. However, the government worked with paramilitaries to expel the guerrillas. After the operation, the government left the area; the paramilitary groups caused further disappearances of civilians, in the months following the operation. The paramilitary groups demobilised between 2003 and 2004. Prior to and during this period, numerous bodies were discarded in La Escombrera, a site of rubble in the mountains, on the outskirts of the urban areas of Comuna 13. La Escombrera is believed to be one of the largest mass graves in Latin America and the exact number of bodies that are buried under the rubble is unknown.
After this period of bloodshed and turbulence, the government felt that it was necessary to invest money in the area, to improve the lives of the inhabitants. In 2008, a cable car line was built to help to connect Comuna 13 with the other districts of Medellín, which has become a tourist attraction in itself, given the impressive views of the city and the mountains. In addition, in 2011, the government launched an urban renovation project in the area and installed a large 384-meter escalator, with six sections that scale the mountains, to further help connection and movement within Comuna 13. Moreover, various citizens have filled the walls with street art. These projects are realised with the aims of reinventing the city, whilst also honouring the memory of the past.
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