Medellin’s Comuna 13: From the shadow of war to the light of hope

Comuna 13 in Medellin has become one of the most visited places in the city in recent years, and in a moment you will understand why.

This agglomeration of several neighborhoods, in the Northwest area of Medellin, has gone from being a place where until not too many years ago one could not even approach because of the violence of guerrillas, paramilitaries, gangs and drug traffickers, to a kind of open-air museum which seeks to tell the story of Comuna 13 and how it came to be what it is today.

What to know before visiting Comuna 13

When I visited Colombia in May 2021, I knew. One of the places I definitely wanted to visit was the Comuna 13 of Medellin, given my keen interest in places with a dangerous past behind them (suffice it to say that in Rio de Janeiro I lived in a favela just to get a sense of how the locals really live).

I learned a lot about the social inclusion programs that have been applied in the city of Medellin, and how they have contributed to its transformation.

When I got there, then, I realized that the transformation was real. There were no dangers in sight, and the place in general had changed completely in just a few years mainly because of the multiple murals, which exude a more than contagious cheerfulness.

Today there is no longer any direct relationship between Comuna 13 and violence thanks to the efforts of the community, especially the young artists and residents who contribute daily to the improvement of the place.

I assure you that by now Comuna 13 has become a popular tourist attraction and visiting it is completely safe.

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Brief history of the Comuna 13

Comuna 13, also known as “Pablo Escobar’s Cradle,” in the 1990s was an epicenter of violence, precarious houses built in the middle of hills and steep, narrow streets. These streets, just as happens in Brazilian favelas, generated multiple alleys and vantage points, ideal for criminals and the drug trade.

Two of the city’s bloodiest and best-remembered military operations took place in Comuna 13: Operation Mariscal and Operation Orion. But let’s go step by step.

The city of Medellín is located in a valley surrounded by mountains. The comunas surrounding the city, were built illegally on the slopes of the mountains.

The origin of the comunas comes from their inhabitants, most of whom were displaced from rural areas in conflict with guerrillas or paramilitaries. When the displaced people built their own shacks on the slopes of these mountains, they had no services whatsoever, and that was the case for a long time.

The authorities completely turned their backs on the residents of the communities. The guerrillas of the ELN, FARC and PAC (Comandos Armados del Pueblo) were initially intended to help the comunas, but it did not take long for them to turn into a nightmare.

The first child soldiers who were recruited by these guerrillas, and the violence that followed, was the turning point.

Then paramilitaries arrived to drive out the guerrillas, who began a full-scale war of violence and thousands of killings.

Not to mention that the Medellín cartel has not helped resolve this war of shootings and deaths at all hours of the day and night.

Pablo Escobar’s cartel, in fact, cultivated youth with no future to turn them into hit men, kidnappers or extortionists.

For Pablo, the fact that Comuna 13 was hell on earth had been nothing but a “blessing.”

Operation Orion

Another of the moments that most marked Comuna 13 was Operation Orion.

Álvaro Uribe, the former Colombian president, in October 2002 to drive out FARC, ELN and PAC guerrillas, sent about 1,500 soldiers and police, along with tanks and helicopter gunships.

During the operation, which lasted several days, the number of casualties was very high. About 80 civilians wounded, 17 murders committed by security forces, 71 people killed by paramilitaries. Also, 12 people tortured, 92 enforced disappearances and 370 arbitrary detentions.

The controversy continues, as La Escombrera, a place where construction materials and garbage are piled up, which still stands in front of Comuna 13, is where those who disappeared during Operation Orion were said to be buried. At the time they tried digging for the bodies of the missing, but without success.

So the expulsion of the guerrillas did not bring Comuna 13 back to peace, but was the gateway for the paramilitaries. The Cacique Nutibara group in particular, from then on began to commit merciless murder, torture and enforced disappearances.

Violence in Medellin’s Comuna 13 was again the bread and butter.

Comuna 13 of Medellin in the present day.

After such a terrifying past, it is surprising to see how the citizens of the commune today see the future with optimism for the first time in their suffering existence.

One of the main reasons why Comuna 13 is no longer dangerous today is that the authorities began to invest in improving services there.

They began by building a cable car, useful for making it easier for Comuna residents to travel to downtown Medellin.

They also invested in free escalators (which replaced about 350 concrete steps) so that it would be easier for everyone to get up and down the sloping alleys.

 

Graffiti Tour Comuna 13

Some of those people who were hit men for the drug cartels are now tour guides explaining the history of the neighborhood and the meaning of the different graffiti.

Each of the graffiti you will see in Commune 13 represents moments or people who have transcended the history of the commune.

The tour is very interesting because they will tell you firsthand the stories that make this place different. It went from being a place with no future or opportunity to having real hope.

Particularly stuck in my mind was the story of one of the museum guides from Comuna 13: of his brothers, all of whom were assassins, he was the only one who had managed to survive Operation Orion. The suffering he felt could be read in his eyes as well as in his words. He told of how he was able to start his life over again away from crime, and how he would continue to fight in the memory of his brothers who were brutally murdered.

In addition to graffiti by Comuna 13 artists, there is also graffiti by artists from around the world who have been invited to leave their artistic mark on these walls.

It is incredibly exciting to see how young people decided to start “graffitiing” their sad, blood- and bullet-stained walls, giving them a color that now attracts thousands of tourists from all over the world every day.

Even the soccer field, which during and several wars was used as a place for public executions (a very common practice in slums throughout South America), has once again become a place for friends to play.

How much does the Graffiti tour cost?

The graffitour has no fixed price. At the end of the tour, you estimate how much to tip the guide according to your experience; in any case, usually the tip is about 20,000 Colombian pesos, or about 7 euros.

The route they normally take on the Graffiti tour starts from the San Javier station. The guides will first give you some recommendations to keep in mind (none of which have to do with safety) such as not littering the streets, not touching dogs, and not giving money to children. Once you arrive at the entrance to the Comuna, you will visit the following points:

• Independence (they will explain the history of Comuna 13).
• Graffiti (Graffiti is constantly changing, but each one has a deep meaning that will be explained to you by the guide).
• Escalators (you will go up the escalators to get to the top).
• Street art exhibitions (You will attend several hip-hop shows, live music and more).
• Gift stores (from T-shirts and caps to handmade earrings and bracelets).
• El Mirador (the lookout) is the last stop on the tour from which you can see all of Comuna 13 from above.

My guide’s name was Luisa, and she was really a lovely girl. As is often the case in the slums of any city in the world, Mary had had a difficult life: in her early thirties, she had two young children she was raising alone.

He told me that he had never left Medellin and hardly ever left the Comuna. She told me that one day she would like to travel the world as I did, but then added that it would never happen because there is no room in the world for people like her.
When Comuna 13 was still a dangerous place, Luisa was only a few years old, yet she remembered every single detail of all the violence she endured.

I like to visit the difficult neighborhoods of every place I visit to discover the hidden face of the city. Experiences like this make us realize how lucky we were to be born in Europe, even though we often do not realize it and get fossilized over futile “first world” problems.

There is always a way to get back up, even when it seems impossible, just as the residents of Comuna 13 in Medellin did.

How to get to Comuna 13 in Medellin

To get to Comuna 13, the best way is to use the city’s public transportation, especially the subway. Medellín residents are extremely proud of their public transportation system. They always joke that they have a subway and the capital, Bogota, does not.

Perhaps this is the reason why the subway is immaculate and very well maintained, with no vandalism.

The Medellin metro is also useful for getting to Comuna 13: the stop is called San Javier, which is at the end of the orange B line.

The alternative is to take Uber, which is still the best option especially if you are traveling as a couple or in a group, as the cost of rides is really very low, especially if we compare it to cab prices in Europe.

Conclusion

Spending a day in Medellin’s Comuna 13 could really open your eyes to what Colombia was until a few decades ago. You can go in without a guide, but it is highly advisable to take the tour with a local, not because it is dangerous, but simply because they will explain the history of what happened from the time of the guerrillas to the present day.

After all, what is the point of visiting a new country if you do not immerse yourself in its culture by learning its history?