'Love for Medellin': how state propaganda and terrorism instilled a culture of fear in Colombia's 2n

[Judi Lynn]

‘Love for Medellin’: how state propaganda and terrorism instilled a culture of fear in Colombia’s 2nd largest city
by Adriaan Alsema March 13, 2020

Pablo Escobar never made Medellin the world’s most dangerous city. Local authorities and media who turned a public relations campaign into a terrorism campaign did, according to multiple studies.

There is no doubt that the late drug lord was a terrorist, but Escobar never invented the “for every dead cop at least 10 dead young people” policy that ended up killing more residents of Colombia’s second largest city than the Medellin Cartel between 1988 and Escobar’s death in 1993.

The terrorism practices became particularly common after newspaper El Colombiano’s owner Juan Gomez became mayor in 1988 and late army General Harold Bedoya embarked on “Plan Genesis.”

Multiple studies of the violence in Medellin indicate that most homicides committed during the city’s most traumatic years were not committed by the Medellin Cartel , but death squads with ties to the security forces and the local elite.

More:
https://colombiareports.com/love-for-medellin-how-state-propaganda-and-terrorism-instilled-a-culture-of-fear-in-colombias-2nd-largest-city/

[marble falls]

1. Sometimes the only way to tell the cops from the criminals is by the uniform.