Today the city couldn’t be more different from its infamous past since much has changed in Medellín since drug lord Pablo Escobar was eliminated by Colombian soldiers. When one thinks of Medellín, unfortunately the first thing that comes to mind is Pablo Escobar’s name. Despite occurring 25 years ago, the image still lingers in the minds of many. Escobar and his cronies made Medellín their stomping grounds and turned it into Colombia’s cocaine capital during the 1980s. In 1988 Time magazine wrote an article called ‘Welcome to Medellín, coke capital of the world,’ in which they described Medellín as the most dangerous city in the world. This extreme level of urban violence was caused by a war between Pablo Escobar’s Medellín Cartel and competing organizations.
In 1989 Forbes magazine considered Escobar the seventh-richest man in the world. The western media and Hollywood have also contributed to the stereotype of Colombia’s and Medellín’s reputation as a mecca for drug barons, terrorist bombs and kidnappings. Many outsiders are still leery of Colombia because of its dark past.
The good side of all this chaos was that the money produced from the sales of Escobar’s cocaine built malls, bars, restaurants, schools and transformed Medllín into a gem of a cosmopolitan city.
Today, Colombia is back on its feet and Medellín is known more for its growing tourism industry and architectural renaissance than cartel violence. Parks, libraries and museums abound, thanks to a decade-long urban revitalization effort that’s earned international acclaim, and a modern metro and tram system. Art galleries, and shops, this place feels more European than Latin American. If you were to compare Medellin with another city in Latin America, it would be Buenos Aires, Argentina. Medellin, is like a small version of Buenos Aires.
Once synonymous with drugs and bloodshed, and the recent winner of the biennial World City Prize that is routinely mentioned as one of the planet’s most innovative cities. Incredibly, In 2013 it was ranked by the Wall Street Journal as ‘Innovative City Of The Year.’ And if you visit Medellín it is easy to see why. For instance, they have an excellent metro system that connects basically all of the city, and the poor neighborhoods that run up the side of a mountain The metro then continues to the spectacular Arví Park, thus making this tranquil natural paradise accessible to both the cities richest and poorest residents