Obtain the data you need to make the most informed decisions by accessing our extensive portfolio of information, analytics, and expertise. Sign in to the product or service center of your choice.
On Sunday (24 March), Medellín recorded five separate murders
within a 24-hour period, bringing the total number of homicide
victims in the city during 2019 to 141. This represents a 15%
increase on the figure recorded in March last year and continues
the rising trend in violence that has been evident since 2015.
According to Medellín's mayoral office, there were 626 homicides
during 2018, an increase of nearly 8% on 2017. Hotspots include:
Comuna 10 (Candelaria), Comuna 12 (La América), and Comuna 7
(Robledo), as well as Comuna 13 (San Javier), where homicide
numbers have nearly doubled from 48 cases in 2017 to 91 cases in
2018. The Bello municipality, on Medellín's outskirts, has also
seen rising levels of violence, leading authorities to ban riders
from having passengers on motorbikes in an effort to clamp down on
drive-by shootings.
The recent rise in homicides has revealed shortcomings in the
security strategy pursued by Mayor Federico Gutiérrez Zuluaga.
Although his administration has prioritized the capture of criminal
leaders, enabling some high-profile arrests, this has failed to
dismantle the illicit structures over which these individuals
presided. Indeed, some arrests are likely to have fostered violent
competition between and within the city's criminal groups who seek
to take control of vacated drug-trafficking and small-scale
extortion activities. In December 2018, there were 12 registered
shootouts between the city's two major criminal structures, La
Oficina de Envigado and La Alianza de Estructuras Criminales.
Although the majority of victims have some link to organized crime,
there have been reports of an increasing number of locals who are
unconnected with such activities who have been injured or killed in
gang shootouts. In late December, for example, a graphic designer
in Laureles, one of the city's more affluent districts, was killed
when criminals opened fire on a bar where their rivals were
assembled. In February 2018, a metro carriage was hit by bullets
near Cisneros stations. In April that year, a metro carriage was
evacuated on Line J as a result of a gunfight in Comuna 13. There
will be indicators of an escalation in collateral injury risks for
foreign visitors should there be an increase in violence in the
upmarket Pobaldo district, or along popular tour routes through
Comuna 13.
Posted 28 March 2019 by Arthur Dhont, Senior Analyst – Americas, Country Risk, IHS Markit