Comuna 13 was once labeled the most crime-ridden neighborhood in Medellin because it had the highest homicide rate in the Colombia.

In the last 15 years, Comuna 13 has been transformed into a livable neighborhood safe for residents and tourists to walk the streets.

So how did this transformation happen?

History

Medellin is made up of 16 comunas (neighborhoods). Comuna 13, also known as San Javier, is a crowded, low-income neighborhood which crawls up the west hills of the city with thousands of brick and cement homes stacked close to one another.

In the 1980s and 1990’s the area was controlled by various groups involved in illegal activities. Its location was ideal for crime, as it leads directly to the main highway (San Juan Highway) providing easy transportation of guns, drugs, and money. The residents were prisoners in their own homes afraid of being forced into one of the gangs or being caught in cross-fire when gangs fought for territory and control.

Over the years, the Colombian government and military tried numerous times to drive out the gangs and restore peace in the neighborhood with little success.

The turning point was in October of 2002 when the Colombian military carried out “Operation Orión”. Over 1,000 police, soldiers, and aircrew in helicopters attacked the area (comprised of roughly 100,000 inhabitants). Anybody with a gun or weapon was considered a gang member.

At the end of the two-day operation, 243 people were arrested, hundreds were wounded, hundreds more simply disappeared, and 9 people were killed (including 3 children). The community was outraged and took to the streets in solidarity to end the fighting.

Medellin Graffiti Tour of Comuna 13

A very popular tour for tourists is the Graffiti Tour of Comuna 13.

Kathy and I took the tour last week. After meeting our guides, we headed to Comuna 13 on the metro. Once we arrived at the closest metro station, we hopped on a bus which took us to the base of the neighborhood. We then met up with a neighborhood guide who led us through the streets providing history and background of the area.

Our Tour Guides

You may ask, why is this called “Graffiti Tour”? After the fighting stopped at the end of 2002, residents of the community began painting graffiti on public buildings, houses, and structures. The graffiti expressed love and hope to the community. This is not graffiti you typically think of which is gang related and a way to claim territory. These are beautiful works of art.

The graffiti started to bring the community together and comuna leaders petitioned the city of Medellin for support.

Medellin built a cable car line which is part of Medellin’s transportation system. Before the Metrocable was built, the only options for residents to descend from the hilly informal settlements were infrequent, unreliable buses or journeying on foot, which could take hours. The cable cars allowed residents to easily reach the city center and to be less isolated from the rest of Medellin because the cable cars gave them access to the rest of the metro and to the entire city. Residents could now find employment outside of their neighborhood.

The Metrocable was the focal point of a broad neighborhood upgrading effort focused on the city’s poorest and most violent areas. This effort included support for social housing, schools, and small businesses.

In addition, wider roads were built allowing goods to flow to and from the neighborhood. The government even constructed a series of escalators to minimize walking up and down stairs. There are six of these escalators allowing people easy access to various levels of the neighborhood.

It used to take residents well over half an hour to climb the equivalent of 28 stories to the highest point in the neighborhood. The walk now takes only 6-7 minutes.

The government even provided paint to residents to paint their brick and cement houses in vibrant colors.

During our tour, we witnessed a group of hip-hop dancers putting on a show in the streets. The hip-hop scene is very alive in this neighborhood and plays an instrumental role in the transformation.

The locals are friendly and proud of their neighborhood.

Our guide took us to an area where a young boy was killed by a stray bullet years ago. The community responded by building a slide along the stairs where the incident took place. The purpose of the slide, we were told, is to encourage children to play and be children. All of us on the tour were encouraged to be a child for a moment as we slid down the slide in remembrance of the young boy.

After the tour ended, Kathy and I had a chance to reflect on what we saw. Although this is called the Graffiti tour there are many examples of vibrant graffiti throughout the city. In fact, Medellin hosts a graffiti festival every year and artists from Colombia and around the world come to Medellin to create beautiful art.

During one of my morning runs, I witnessed this beautification first-hand in the park next to our apartment. Two women artists created works of art on a climbing wall located in the park. Every time I run by it, I am reminded of the transformation of Comuna 13.

Footnote

Comuna 13 has come a long way from a notoriously dangerous neighborhood to a livable, thriving neighborhood. But as even the locals admit, it has a long way to go. On November 23^rd of 2018, a grenade was tossed from a moving car into the street in Comuna 13 and five people were injured. Several weeks before, there was a shooting. Because of these incidences, several tour operators have suspended tours in the area.

Medellin is a work in progress as it continues to work on transforming the city and neighborhoods to provide security and opportunity for its residents.