Medellín: The Most Violent City in the World

Abstract

Throughout the twentieth century, Colombia was plagued by violence, as a bitter civil war was fought between the Liberal and Conservative parties, over a period which also saw the formation of Marxist guerrilla groups and paramilitary groups. However, violence in Medellín in the 1980s greatly exceeded levels of violence in the rest of the country and is particularly associated with the rise to power of Pablo Escobar and his Medellín Cartel. This chapter analyses the factors involved in Medellín’s violence in terms of how violence became part of the processes via which power and authority were gained in the city. High levels of inequality, insecurity, and exclusion contributed to a context in which the cartel, urban militia, and paramilitary groups were able to gain power by promising work, upward mobility, and security. However, the role of the State in direct military action in certain civilian areas, political populism, and a blurring of formal and informal politics, as well as legitimate and illegitimate authority, are crucial and often overlooked factors in understanding Medellín’s violence.