Violence in Medellin

Medellin is better known for its past violence. During the 1970s and ‘80s it was a major center of cocaine trafficking and was home to the once powerful Medellín Cartel led by the notorious Pablo Escobar. During this time, Medellin was an unsafe place to be. Parties full of innocent people got bombed, schools got shut down regularly because of kingpin activities, relatives of the rich were kidnapped and had their limbs cut off one by one until a ransom price was paid. At the height of its power, the Medellin drug cartel was smuggling 15 tons of cocaine a day, worth more than half a billion dollars, into the United States.
"Escobar’s ruthlessness was legendary. His rise was opposed by many honest politicians, judges and policemen, who did not like the growing influence of this street thug. Escobar had a way of dealing with his enemies: he called it “plata o plomo,” literally, silver or lead. Usually, if a politician, judge or policeman got in his way, he would first attempt to bribe them, and if that didn’t work, he would order them killed, occasionally including their family in the hit. The exact number of honest men and women killed by Escobar is unknown, but it definitely goes well into the hundreds and perhaps into the thousands." (latinamericanhistoryabout.com)If Escobar wanted you out of the way, there was nothing you could do about it. Even rumored to be responsible for the 1985 attack on the Supreme Courts, Pablo Escobar was ruthless. Death by him was not easy. He taunted and tortured his victims until they slowly died. He did not care if they were innocent bystanders. Nothing would stop him. His best years were in the mid 1980's. Even Forbes magazine recognized this listing him as the 7th richest man in the world. His empire included an army of soldiers and criminals, ready to take orders from his at the snap of a finger, a private zoo, mansions and apartments all over Colombia, private planes he used for drug transport, and of course his wealth.
Pablo Escobar was shot and killed by Colombian authorities in 1993. Even then, the violence in Medellin was not over. The Colombian guerilla group, the FARC soon came to power, doing basically everything that Escobar was doing. The FARC are notorious for kidnapping, drug dealing, bombings, and killings. With the FARC in power, it is extremely dangerous for any foreigner to travel to Medellin. They love kidnapping foreigners, especially Americans, because it is a way for them to rebel against the US government, who is continuously trying to stop their evil antics. As the LA times states,"The White House denounced the kidnapping this week of two Americans by suspected leftist guerrillas. The captors said they wanted to protest President Bush's visit for the drug summit Thursday."
Guerilla territory is one of the most inhospitable in the world, with reported surprising accommodations once inside their housing. This makes it nearly impossible for authorities to get a hold of them, and sadly, all of their kidnapping victims are within their territory. As of right now, the guerillas are responsible for most of the crime in Medellin. They are just as ruthless as Pablo Escobar, bombing, torturing and killing innocent people just to get what they want. They displace people out of their homes, turning them into drug houses.
The violence in Medellin is definitely the biggest concern of the Colombian authorities, but there is very little they can do about it because of the guerilla's shady locations. Guerilla activity has been decreasing slowly over time, but as of today, it still exists.
WORKS CITED
1."Biography of Pablo Escobar." About.com Latin American History. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2013. 2. "Medellin Cartel Gives Up 3 Cocaine Labs." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 14 Feb. 1990. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. .