Crime in Colombia
In a country where state capacity has been weak in some regions, the result has been a grinding war on multiple fronts, with the civilian population caught in between and often deliberately targeted for "collaborating".
Colombia has had four major drug trafficking cartels which created a new social class and influenced aspects of Colombian culture.
At the turn of the millennium Colombia had the highest rates of kidnapping in the world, a result of being one of the most cost-effective ways of financing for the guerrillas of the FARC and the ELN, and other armed groups.
Large institutions that span across industries are example of major cases of corruption including: Ferrovias (national railroad administration), Caprecom (health care), Foncolpuertos (ports authority), Termorrio (energy), Dragacol (civil engineering), Chivor reservoir (water supply) and contracts with foreign companies such as Mexican ICA for the pavement of streets in Bogota are just some of them.
[21] Bogotá has gone to great lengths to change its crime rate and image with success, after being considered in the mid-90s to be one of the most violent cities in the world.
Though according to a 2011 article in the New York Times "street muggings and thefts on public transportation have surged since 2007", leading certain commentators to declare a crisis of security in the city.
[29] The surge in violence in Cali in 2011 was partly attributed to what was described as an ongoing 'mafia war' between the 'neo-paramilitary' groups Los Rastrojos and Usuga Clan.
[32] As of 2011 urban militias, known as Milicias Populares, of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia are active in the city and surrounding areas.
[36][37] These FARC militias in the Cali metropolitan area are thought to number more than 1000, and have caused serious concern among the authorities as they stepped up activity in 2011.
[citation needed] Medellín was once known as the most violent city in the world,[40][41] a result of an urban war set off by the drug cartels at the end of the 1980s.
In October 2002, President Álvaro Uribe ordered the military to carry out "Operation Orion," whose objective was to disband the urban militias of the FARC and the AUC.
[43] After the disbanding of the main paramilitary groups, many members of such organizations have been known to have reorganized into criminal bands known commonly as Aguilas Negras.
These groups have gained notoriety in Medellín for calling upon curfews for the underage population, and been known to distribute fliers announcing the social cleansing of prostitutes, drug addicts, and alcoholics.
[44] The extradition of paramilitary leader Don Berna sparked a crime wave with a sharp increase in killings.
[47][48] There is a disparity in crime rates by neighborhoods, with virtually no homicides in El Poblado to areas with open gunfights in the outskirts.
The city's downtown area is the most frequent location for armed robbery, because hundreds of thousands of people visit every day to go to work.
[52] Buenaventura has had a notorious history plagued by the Colombian armed conflict, drug trafficking, violence, and the presence of guerrilla and paramilitary groups.
[53] Due to the violence of Buenaventura, The New York Times published an article titled: "Cocaine Wars Make Port Colombia’s Deadliest City".
The money found was in shipping containers sent from Manzanillo, Colima (Mexico) and Houston (United States), that belonged to brothers Luis Enrique and Javier Antonio Calle Serna, also known as the ‘Combas’.
To counter the violence, the Colombian government set up a marine special forces unit in the worst area of the city.
[58][59] In 2011, President Juan Manuel Santos launched a "Borders for Prosperity" plan[5] to fight poverty and combat violence from illegal armed groups along Colombia's borders through social and economic development,[6] having spent as much as $32 million on infrastructure, education, agricultural development and governance by 2014.
