Medellin street art

After years of indiscriminate violence between drug lords, right-wing guerillas, left-wing paramilitaries and an overwhelmed government, Medellin became recognised in the early 1990s as the murder capital of the world. However, the death of the city’s most infamous son, Pablo Escobar, in 1993 signalled a positive change of direction for the majority of the city’s 16 comunas (or communities). But, for the inhabitants of Comuna 13, the change of direction was to actually sink further into violence, chaos and — eventually — military conflict. The very location and construction of the comuna — a warren of makeshift housing clinging to the hillside with easy access to the San Juan Highway and the mountains — made it a prime site for moving cocaine out and bringing weapons in. So, with a vulnerable and poverty-stricken population at the mercy of drug gangs loyal to Escobar and armed guerillas, the area essentially became a lawless battlefield. <a href="https://tonyperkins.medium.com/medellin-street-art-dbd8cbf914b7">Learn More</a>