The magazine of the art-form of the photo-essay
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Mar 2016 back issue
by Frederico Rios
Comuna 13 is an impoverished neighborhood on the outskirts of Medellin, which still endures the terror and cold-
blooded violence that made Colombia famous years ago.
The home of drug lord Pablo Escobar, Medellin was once named as the most violent city in Latin America. As a result,
the city underwent a transformation and became a picture of modernity. But this was nothing more than a mirage
hiding a very different reality; a terrible war between gangs fighting for drug control.
The city’s isolated location facilitated its role as a transfer point for illegal drugs, kidnapping and human trafficking.
Since 2011, Medellin has had over 1500 murders in a city of less than 3 million inhabitants.
20 years ago, Comuna 13 residents, afraid and vulnerable to increasing gang violence, began soliciting help from
terrorist rebel groups FARC and ELN. The guerrillas began to surround the neighborhood. By 1999 a three-way war
erupted between these groups and the paramilitary organization AUC, forcing the Colombian military to step in. Two
controversial government operations then followed in 2002: Operation Mariscal and Operation Orion saw thousands of
soldiers, tanks, and helicopters ostensibly aimed at ridding the area of the FARC. Hundreds were killed and the
international media portrayed Colombia as potentially on the brink of becoming a failed state in the middle of a bloody
war.
Out of the spotlight, warfare quietly continues. Paramilitaries, local gangs, the mafia and the police all vie for control in
a deadly game carried out in the neighborhood´s rickety stairs and narrow walkways. Authorities have documented
more than 400 illegal groups and of these about 200 are active, with a total of 5,000 members.
The sector is divided by invisible marks which impose rules of life and death on the streets. The conditions for life are
very simple, as one of the gang members said, "The rule is simple: not seen, not heard and good living street."
Death is the hallmark of Comuna 13. The challenges this neighborhood faces are unfortunately not unique in Colombia.
Comuna 13 is a spotlight on a case that perhaps reflects the state of the nation as a whole.
Comuna 13.
