GRAFFITOUR COMUNA 13

Comuna 13 is one of the most significant examples of the social transformation process that Medellín has undergone in recent years. Security has improved greatly and the San Javier neighborhood, one of the 22 barrios of Comuna 13, is even the most popular city tour in Medellín! Small businesses and artists' studios have sprung up, and hundreds of families now live directly and indirectly from tourism. You can go there alone, but the visit is more interesting with a local guide. The Graffiti Tour of Comuna 13 was created by Casa Kolacho, a cultural center that brought together artists from the neighborhood to spread a message of peace through hip-hop culture.

The story begins in the early 2000s. At the time, Comuna 13 was controlled by the ELN and FARC popular militias. To "pacify" the neighborhoods, the newly elected president Álvaro Uribe launched Operation Orión on October 16, 2002: 3,000 police, military and paramilitary members of the AUC (United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia) stormed Comuna 13, leaving hundreds of people dead and missing, mostly among the civilian population. The neighborhood was cordoned off for several days for "cleaning" (the bodies were thrown into dumps). Comuna 13 passed into the hands of the AUC, who allied themselves with the Medellin Cartel. Civil society organized to change the situation and effective social urban planning policies allowed the situation of the inhabitants to improve thanks to the opening up of the neighborhoods (escalators, cable car...). However, narco-paramilitarism is still present and in 2009, Héctor Pacheco, alias "Kolacho", one of the leaders of the collective, was assassinated. Casa Kolacho was created in his honor.

Ten years later, Comuna 13 is no longer the lawless zone it was. The cultural center, which refuses public subsidies to keep its independence, finances its actions in favor of the young people of the district partly thanks to the Graffitours. During the walking tour, you can admire some superb graffiti, but above all you learn about the importance of the hip-hop movement in the process of social transformation. The tour is currently only offered in Spanish and English, but some local agencies offer accompaniment with a French-speaking interpreter. It would be a shame not to understand the explanations given by these young artists, who are so eager to transmit their history and that of their neighborhood.