Renewal Is Not the Whole Story of Medellin’s Comuna 13

Renewal Is Not the Whole Story of Medellin’s Comuna 13

In the hills overlooking Medellin, Colombia's second-largest city, with roughly 4 million residents and a growing expat community, a sprawling bald patch of dirt called La Escombrera, or “the dump,” glares down toward the city’s valley floor, crowded with skyscrapers and brick apartment buildings. Luis Fernando Álvarez, or El Aka as he is better known, sees it wherever he goes in his home city. The large dirt mound looming over the city also loo…