Why on earth would anyone go to Colombia? It’s violent, dangerous, filled with armed militias and Narco gangs. A very dangerous place for an American Tourist.
It turns out that this is an image that Colombia has moved past. There are many interesting lessons to learn, and parallels that can be drawn with the current situation in America.
Our oversimplified history of Colombia is based on several tours we took with English speaking guides, and a little wikepedia.
- In the 1800’s Simon Bolivar freed Colombia form the Spaniards. The new nation Gran Colombia was much larger than it is now.
- Due to disagreements between the various indigenous peoples, the country was broken up to create Venezuela and Ecuador.
- In the early 20th century the United States sent Gunboats and helped create the country of Panama in exchange For a 99 year lease and the right to finish building the Panama Canal.
- Colombia operated with 2 parties’ liberals and conservatives. (Sounds like America)
- The liberals had internal friction between radicals and a more centrist group. (Sounds like America)
- The two main parties enjoyed long periods in power. (Sounds like America)
- There was increasing polarization between the two dominant parties. (Sounds like America)
- Jorge Gaitan was the leader of the radical left and widely expected to win the election, but was assassinated in April 1948.
- Gaitan’s death sparked a 3 day riot that destroyed the capital of Bogota, and was the beginning of La Violencia. (Jan 6?)
- La Violencia lasted from 1946 to 1964 with 200,000 dead and an estimated 1,000,000 people displaced.
- Starting in the Early 60’s FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) came into being as a force for agrarianism and peasant rights.
- Other militias came into being at that time including ELN, M19 and right wing paramilitaries funded by large land owners. (BLM?)(ANTIFA?)
- With the United States as the biggest customer by far, the drug trade turned out to be enormously profitable. And some of these entities became more focused on the drug trade.
- The Narcos including the Medellin and Cali Cartels became the distributors and processors of cocaine through US affiliates like the Black Widow in Miami.
- Meanwhile refugees from the countryside began to settle in Medellin on the hillsides as squatters. Their first house were built from scraps salvaged from building sites and scavenging in the dump. But as squatters they had low housing costs and paid no tax. Over time they began small businesses in their neighborhoods, and as they became more prosperous they began to rebuild their shacks with red terra cotta bricks adding a floor for each new generation and creating part of the iconic Medellin skyline.
- Isolated from the business center of Medellin by the steep geography and lack of city planning, gangs of underemployed young men began to mark out their turf in these new areas of the city.
- In 1993, Medellin was the most dangerous city in the world with a homicide rate of 400/100000 and these new neighborhoods in the hills like Comuna 13 were the most dangerous neighborhoods in that city.
- Completed in 1995 the Metro system knits together the neighborhoods of Medellin with tickets that cost 1600 COP (about 0.50 USD) and include transfers to anywhere in the system. Before the system a campaign to educate the public in “Metro Culture” instilled pride for and good behavior on the new Metro. Almost 30 years after its inauguration our ride was on a modern smooth system that puts BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to shame.
- In 2003 a new major Sergio Farjado was elected as Mayor. He began a series of policies that he called “social urbanization” that put the best schools, parks and Libraries in the poorest neighbor hoods. This is often hailed as the moment that Medellin began to turn around. (would this work in America where the poorest neighborhoods often have the worst schools?)
- Starting in 2004 a series of Cable cars were added to the transit system allowing easy access to and from the hillside communities like Comuna 13.
- The guerrilla factions are of course in the comuna 13 and in in 2002 the government moves to remove them with operation Orion.
- Operation Orion has military helicopters hovering over the comuna 13 shooting people in support of ground troops. In all there were 80 civilians injured, 17 casualties committed by the Public Force , 71 people killed by the paramilitaries , 12 people tortured, 92 forced disappearances and 370 arbitrary detentions, according to the Corporación Jurídica Libertad.
- Many of the dead are in a mass grave on the hillside.
- So I am not a rapper but Hip Hop music has a part to play here. Hip Hop music evolved in New York using the music of Africa and rapping to create a music form that protests the injustice and oppression facing African and Hispanic Americans in the 60’s.
- Hip Hop came to Colombia not as music but in visual form via a movie called “Beat Street” other Colombian teens visiting America brought back music, break dancing and graffiti.
- Brothers La Etnnia ages 8 to 12 began to practice break dancing and would become one of leading Colombian Hip Hop groups.
- Hip Hop helped to get people back into the streets instead of hiding in their homes and breakdancing became a way for rival gangs to work it out without killing each other.
- More on Colombian Hip Hop movement Here
- One final overlay was the effect of Pablo Escobar and the various cartels, who took over the distribution and processing of Cocaine. In an attempt to control the cartels the Colombian government signed an extradition treaty with the United States for drug offenses committed in either country.
- The constitutionality of this was questioned and the cartels went to war with the government to try and overturn this treaty. Between 1989 and 1993 Pablo Escobar was responsible for the deaths of 657 policeman along with judges, politicians. He began to commit acts of terrorism with many car bombings.
- Today it’s all quiet in the country side, but Colombia remains as the largest exporter of Cocaine in the world.. More about that here.
One of the enjoyable aspects of the tours in Bogota and Medellin was trying to figure out the complex history of this country. I am certain I have missed a lot, but being merely a traveler I feel I have an obligation to try and understand but no responsibility to create a definitive history….
Colombia is highly recommended, don’t miss the highland cities. Their climate is wonderful and the cities have an almost European feel.
