International
Murder rate plummets amid ‘gangster peace’ in Medellin
AFP | Hervé Bar
Seven days without a single murder: The month of August marked a security record for Colombia’s second city Medellin, the onetime fiefdom of infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar.
“In Medellin, security is measured in lives” saved, said Mayor Daniel Quintero as he welcomed the breakthrough.
Medellin has seen a vertiginous drop in homicides by 97 percent in the 30 years since Escobar’s death, transforming what used to be one of the most violent cities in the world into a popular tourist destination.
The success is attributed in large part to an unofficial but mutually beneficial understanding between narco gangs, paramilitaries and the security services.
“Peace is good for business,” explained Medellin drug dealer “Joaquin” (not his real name) of the traffickers’ motivation for avoiding violence.
Joaquin is 37 years old — two of those spent behind bars. He wears an oversized baseball cap and sagging jeans.
A Beretta pistol peaks out from under his hoodie.
Joaquin is a “capo,” a junior boss supervising drug trafficking in the streets of “Comuna 6,” a poor neighborhood perched on a mountain slope in Medellin’s northwest.
He belongs to a gang, which he declined to name, that follows the rules imposed by an organized crime “federation” known as the “Oficina de Envigado” or the “Office of Envigado” after the name of a nearby town.
Joaquin claimed the Oficina and its member gangs acted “in solidarity with the community.”
This included meting out “parallel justice” when the system fails them.
“Escobar? He was much too violent. Too many deaths for nothing,” Joaquin told AFP.
‘The population with us’
“Everyone lives in peace on our territory,” said the capo, keen to portray himself as a good Samaritan.
“We do not want to frighten the traders and the people. We need the population with us.”
Thirty years after Escobar was shot dead on a Medellin rooftop while trying to evade capture, the drug trade still dominates many poor neighborhoods of the city of nearly three million people.
A stone’s throw from a football pitch where mothers watch their children play, heavy foot traffic at a small, nondescript house indicates the presence of a drug den.
A black garbage bag covers the window where money trades hands. The purchased merchandise drops down from another floor in a tin can on the end of a string.
A variety of product can be found here: marijuana, cocaine and “tucibi” or “basuco” — two cheap and particularly toxic new drugs akin to unrefined “crack.”
“Everything is organized, it’s like a business. There are those who take care of the sale, the logistics, the soldiers. The bosses pay our salaries, we do the job,” said Joaquin.
He and his colleagues move with incredible ease and assurance through the maze of sloping alleys and small, rickety brick houses. Neighborhood teenagers skulk around, acting as security.
Joaquin and his accomplices pop into one shop after another, shaking hands with acquaintances everywhere while they casually slip a gun into a bag here, deliver a package there.
For the most part, Medellin’s dealers are able to operate in peace due to an understanding among rival gangs as well as with members of the security forces — many of them on the take.
As long as they keep the streets peaceful, the gangs say police turn a blind eye to their lucrative illegal dealings.
Joaquin calls it a “gangster peace.”
“There is nothing better than peace,” added “Javier,” an associate who met up with Joaquin and another colleague in a squatted house.
They pack out their guns on a table between religious trinkets in a filthy, lightless living room where horse posters vie with a crude rendition of the Last Supper on the wall.
“Every group manages its territory as it wishes… The bosses talk among themselves. Everything is arranged calmly,” said Javier.
‘City of bandits’
After Escobar’s demise, the face of organized crime in Medellin changed. Long controlled by a single cartel, the drug trade is now shared between several gangs under the umbrella of the Office.
The gangs had previously collaborated with paramilitary groups and the security forces to help bring an end to Escobar’s Medellin Cartel and oust leftist guerrilla groups that had tried to fill the power void it left.
As things settled down and every group found its place in the new reality, Medellin’s homicide rate dropped from 350 per 100,000 inhabitants in 1992 to 10.2 per 100,000 so far this year — nearly half the national average.
“The armed groups set the peace and war agenda in the city,” said Luis Fernando Quijano, director of the Corporation for Peace and Social Development, an NGO.
Colombia’s new leftist president, Gustavo Petro, has vowed to bring “total peace” to conflict- and crime-ridden Colombia, including by offering an amnesty to gangsters willing to give themselves up and abandon the trade.
“We are willing to listen. We will do what the bosses decide,” Pedro said of the plan.
But for Joaquin, “to think that everyone will give themselves up is a dream.”
“Never forget one thing: Medellin is and will always be the city of bandits,” he insisted.
-
A local man rests on a balcony at the Comuna 13 neighbourhood in Medellin, Colombia, on September 28, 2022. - One word sums up the history of Medellin over the last twenty years: metamorphosis. After the dark decades of 1970-2000, Colombia's second-largest city is now a transformed, peaceful, dynamic, and attractive city. And one neighborhood, more than any other, symbolizes this renaissance: the famous "Comuna 13". (Photo by JOAQUIN SARMIENTO / AFP)
International
China calls for dialogue amid rising Iran-Israel conflict
The Chinese government emphasized on Monday the importance of “creating the conditions to return to the proper path of dialogue” between Iran and Israel, which have exchanged attacks in recent days resulting in more than 20 Israeli and over 220 Iranian deaths.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun expressed deep concern at a press conference over the Israeli attacks on Iran and the “sudden escalation” of the military conflict.
Guo called on all parties to “take immediate measures to ease tensions and prevent the region from descending into further turmoil,” stating that “force cannot bring lasting peace.”
“If the conflict between Israel and Iran continues to intensify or even expand, the countries of the Middle East will be the first to suffer the consequences,” he added, while noting that China “will continue to maintain communication with the relevant parties, promoting peace and dialogue.”
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke last Saturday with his Iranian and Israeli counterparts to condemn the Israeli airstrike on Iranian territory, which he described as a “violation of international law” with the potential to trigger “disastrous” consequences.
In both calls, Wang reiterated China’s rejection of the use of force, defended diplomacy as the only solution to the Iranian nuclear dispute, and offered China’s mediation to prevent further destabilization in the Middle East.
International
Suspect arrested in killing of Minnesota legislator and husband, governor Says
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced on Sunday the arrest of Vance Luther Boelter, 57, the main suspect in the killing of Democratic legislator Melissa Hortman and her husband in a Brooklyn Park suburb on Friday night.
Boelter, who also reportedly shot State Senator John Hoffman and his wife early Saturday morning, was apprehended in Sibley County following an intensive manhunt involving hundreds of law enforcement officers.
In a public statement, Governor Walz condemned Boelter’s “unthinkable actions,” which resulted in the death of a woman who “shaped the core of who we are as a state.”
“We cannot become numb to this. We are a deeply divided nation,” Walz said in a statement posted on his X account.
“We move forward not with hatred or violence, but with humility, grace, and civility,” he added.
Expressing solidarity with the victims’ families, Walz said the entire state of Minnesota is in mourning. He also thanked law enforcement for their bravery and professionalism: “They have saved lives,” he emphasized.
“As we heal, we will not let fear win,” Walz concluded. “We must honor Melissa by moving forward with understanding, service, and above all, humanity.”
Throughout Sunday, police and sheriff units searched a rural area in Minnesota for Vance Luther Boelter, a security company director and preacher who, according to Governor Walz, acted out of politically motivated violence.
International
40,000 tourists stranded in Israel amid airspace shutdown over Iran conflict
Approximately 40,000 tourists are stranded in Israel following the closure of the country’s airspace amid escalating hostilities with Iran, the Israeli Ministry of Tourism reported on Monday.
The ministry has set up a virtual office to provide information via email (virtual@goisrael.gov.il) and phone (+972-53-583-5808), as well as a Facebook page called Israel Virtual Tourist Office.
Israeli Tourism Minister Haim Katz is in contact with hotels and accommodations across the country to offer support to tourists in need, the ministry added.
Many stranded travelers are considering crossing overland into Jordan or Egypt to seek flights from those countries. The Israel Airports Authority reminded the public that land border crossings remain open.
Three German tourists stranded in Jerusalem told EFE today that they have not received any assistance from their country’s embassy in Israel, and their primary option currently is to cross into Jordan to catch a flight from there.
Since early Friday morning, Israel launched operations against Iran, targeting military personnel and infrastructure, including energy and nuclear facilities, as well as numerous residential areas in Tehran.
In response, Iran has fired hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel, some of which have struck various locations across the country, leaving at least 24 dead so far, according to Israeli authorities.
Iranian health officials report at least 224 deaths, mostly civilians, including at least 17 senior military officials—nine from the Revolutionary Guard—and more than a dozen nuclear scientists.
The Israeli military has warned that many more “targets” remain, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guard declared on Monday that it will continue missile attacks against Israel until its “destruction.”
China calls for dialogue amid rising Iran-Israel conflict
Suspect arrested in killing of Minnesota legislator and husband, governor Says
40,000 tourists stranded in Israel amid airspace shutdown over Iran conflict
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
-
International4 days agoOne survivor confirmed after Air India flight crashes with 242 on board
-
International4 days agoShark attacks child in Florida
-
International4 days agoOver 200 dead after London-Bound plane crashes in India
-
International4 days agoUncle Sam used in DHS poster calling for public to report immigrants
-
International2 days agoChina shows at the UN its “condemnation” of Israel for the “violation of Iran’s sovereignty”
-
International4 days agoAt least five others involved in attack on Miguel Uribe Turbay
-
International4 days agoHegseth dodges lawmakers’ questions on potential U.S. invasion plans for Greenland, Panama
-
International3 days agoICE under fire for detaining undocumented teen from Florida foster care
-
International4 days agoArgentine government says Cristina Fernández sentence was fair and free of political influence
-
International2 days agoDonald Trump’s government pauses its program of indiscriminate raides against migrants
-
Central America23 hours agoNicaraguan exile coalition urges Costa Rica to receive U.S. deportees fleeing Ortega regime
-
International2 days agoTrump says he knew “everything” about the attack on Iran and assures that the dialogue remains open
-
International3 days agoIsrael warns of retaliation after iranian missiles hit civilian areas
-
International2 days agoRight and far right leaders aspire to win the next elections in Latin America
-
International4 days agoEight Killed in Gaza as Hamas allegedly attacks Israel-Backed aid group
-
International3 days agoCalifornia sues Trump over deployment of military forces in immigration arrests
-
Central America22 hours agoFirst woman elected president in the Americas, Violeta Chamorro, dead at 95
-
Central America6 hours agoGuatemala cracks down on prison corruption with over 20 raids in recent weeks
-
International2 days agoMore than 2,000 protests in the US will condemn Donald Trump’s “authoritarianism” this Saturday
-
International6 hours agoChina calls for dialogue amid rising Iran-Israel conflict
-
International2 days agoCriticism of ICE in Florida for arresting a minor from Honduras and taking him away from a foster family
-
International6 hours agoJudge to rule next week on injunction against Trump’s student visa restrictions
-
International6 hours agoSuspect arrested in killing of Minnesota legislator and husband, governor Says
-
International6 hours agoTrump directs ICE to focus deportation efforts on democratic-led states
-
International6 hours ago40,000 tourists stranded in Israel amid airspace shutdown over Iran conflict
-
International6 hours ago
Israeli strike targets Iran’s state news agency amid escalating conflict
-
International6 hours agoNetanyahu: Israel is ‘changing the face of the Middle East’ amid Iran strikes