- [David] A couple of decades ago, the very mention of the city of Medellin struck terror in the hearts of millions of Colombians, and anger through much of the world.

Now, the Medellin region is an international tourist attraction and the city is one of the most vibrant in the Americas.

Yes, things have changed.

(light upbeat music) - [Announcer] Funding for "In the Americas" with David Yetman was provided by Agnes Howery.

Funding for "In the Americans" with David Yetman was also provided by the Guilford Fund.

(upbeat music) - This is one of the most famous parts of the department or state of Antioquia, Medellin is the largest city and the capital.

It is renowned throughout Columbia and South America as being a wealthy, prosperous state because it is also one of the most agriculturally productive.

But it also has a stormy history, and the story of Medellin itself is one of how a place can redeem itself from a history of violence almost unmatched in the history of the Americas.

The city of Medellin is the second largest in Colombia with about four million inhabitants, and its altitude of about 5,000 feet gives it a climate of perpetual spring.

It is located in the province of Antioquia, one of the fairest regions anywhere with a wealth of delightful landscapes.

You don't realize it when you're down below, but from up here, you can see we're completely surrounded by water, we're an island.

- [Marcela] And the Embalse here, it's about six kilometers wide.

- [David] So it's like a moat around a castle.

- Yeah, and the Penon is the castle.

So several generations ago, you had a family that arrived here and they decided to claim it as their own property.

And it has been passing on for several generations.

And it was not until about the 1950s, 1954, that one of the sons of the owner at the time decided that he wanted to climb the rock, the stone, and he did with some friends.

After that this became a tourist place.

- There's an interesting story from a natural history standpoint, a few million years ago, perhaps 30 million years ago, the surface of the earth was probably a few kilometers higher than this.

A blob of magma tried to find its way to the surface, to force its way up, this big bubble, but never arrived there.

Because the granite that is the cooled magma, is much more durable than the rock that was here before.

What's left behind after all the erosion is this great chunk, 600 feet high of heavy granite.

And now it is one of the most popular tourist attractions in all of Columbia.

In the 1960s the Colombian government decided that a dam should be built here, a hydroelectric dam, which now contributes mightily to Columbia's electricity product.

That dam and the lake it created flooded out the town of El Penol.

The leader of the hydroelectric project decided that that loss was so traumatic for the region that he led the creation of a replica of the town of El Penol.

It's a sentimental recreation, but it has become very popular among Colombians as a mark of something that was lost, but at least they can have an idea what it used to be.

The Penol is a very odd and spectacular natural feature and the lake makes it even more so.

But a physical feature introduced by people is perhaps even more spectacular from a cultural standpoint, and that's the town of Guatape.

- Guatape is one of the most colorful towns around the world, and one of the most beautiful towns in Columbia.

And it's because all the facades of the houses have different kind of zocalos, that is the name of the decorations in every place.

And right now we have three kinds of zocalos.

One is traditional, very simple geometric figures.

Another one is representative, because symbolize something about the town or the region, the rock, the lake, a boat, a flower.

And the third kind of zocalos is brand new three dimensions.

- [Marcela] Imagine if you live up there, you're not gonna want to go down, if you don't have a reason.

- My friend and traveling companion Marcela Vasques, is a native daughter of Columbia and an anthropologist, as well as an expert on Latin America.

The transformation of Medellin from a flashpoint of violent crime, to a prime center for art and culture is especially gratifying for her.

- So we're here in the Plaza de Bolivar in Medellin.

And this is around this area was where the city was first founded in 1675.

And it was called the town of Our Lady of La Candelaria of Medellin.

- [David] It's about 5,000 feet elevation.

Boy, that gives it an excellent climate.

It's never too hot, never too cold.

- City became the capital of the province of Medellin in 1826 when Columbia was still, like around Columbia, which was Venezuela, Colombia, Panama and Ecuador.

Then it fragmented into the country that we have today.

And then, you know, beginning of the 1900s the U.S. was very instrumental in the independence of Panama.

- [David] Now Panama found it needed to secede in order that the U.S. might build a canal.

- [Marcela] Exactly, because the central government in Columbia wanted money for the canal.

- [David] Why did the Gran Columbia break apart?

- [Marcela] Well, I think there was, you know, at the time that nation states were forming, there were a lot of wars, and there were a lot of different groups in different places.

So regionalism became important.

And of course you have the Andean region, you know, really high mountains dividing all these places.

So it was hard to keep it together, it was a shame.

And that's exactly what Bolivar wanted, to keep Latin America together, or at least parts of South America.

- The best known international image of the huge city of Medellin is the Plaza Botero.

This plaza, which has 23 sculptures donated by the artist Fernando Botero.

They are colossal and inviting.

(speaking in foreign language) - [Interpreter] This is a very important plaza.

And it is also located in front of the Museum of Antioquia.

Personally, I really like this work here, man on horseback, this sculpture has many distinctive features.

The first one is that, as in many plazas of the world, you see a lot of equestrian sculptures with important people on them.

In this case, this is just a common man.

It's related to the maestro's memories of his father who was a businessman that got around on horses and mules.

(speaking in foreign language) He could be any person and that's a beautiful thing because it's not a subject of that important character.

(speaking in foreign language) The name of the work is almost always what you can see.

For example, here we have cats, we have a dog, we have horses, we have women, men, a Roman soldier, and they all aim to show us things that are easy to recognize in the world, but they're all done in Botero's style.

(speaking in foreign language) Botero doesn't look for a model in the real world, he does his own models.

His characters of history through painting and Western sculpture and also from pre-Columbian tradition included there from indigenous cultures.

(speaking in foreign language) Maestro Fernando Botero doesn't really paint or sculpt fat people, he's interested in exalting reality and making it sensual, highlighting it.

Here we have two fragments of the human body, and it's very nice because Botero is a 20th century artist.

(speaking in foreign language) But he's supported, for example, by classic, Egyptian, Greek, Roman sculptures.

And those cultures often don't make it in one piece, but suffer mutilations along the way.

Botero also explores the showing of parts of sculptures.

The interesting part is the feeling you get when you're in front of them, he wants to transmit the same experience you get when you go inside a cathedral or a large building.

When people come here, they find a place that allows them to share, to hang around, to take photographs, and to get to know more about an artist that has gone around the world with his works.

That's why this place is a reference in the city.

- Medellin is the second largest city in Columbia.

The city itself has about 2.5 million people, and the metropolitan area more like four million.

The city has made a concerted effort to make it a pedestrian friendly downtown area, so this area is closed to traffic and people throng from all over with good reason to the city center to enjoy the life there.

They have also made a concerted effort here to control traffic and maximize pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

It has made a big difference in how the city operates, but it's just one of the important changes that Medellin has seen in recent years.

(speaking in foreign language) - [Interpreter] After going through the worst, after having been the most violent city in the world, when society gets together it succeeds in making things work.

What we did was to unite as a society and move forward.

(speaking in foreign language) This is a city that makes progress and proudly looks to the future.

And the changes and the transformation are permanent.

We switch from a culture of unlawfulness to a culture of lawfulness, a culture that respects life and people, and that invests in education, innovation, science, and technology.

We have a big challenge now, a global challenge.

The other challenge is fighting against corruption and making sure that money goes where it's supposed to, social investment.

We always have money and resources though, and what's worth highlighting is that here in Medellin, people pay their taxes on time, why?

Because they trust in their governments.

In our city, the investment criteria are centered on the neediest and most impoverished neighborhoods where inequality is higher.

We invest where it is needed, not necessarily where we obtained our votes.

(upbeat music) ♪ Let me show you what you got - A prime example where the city has invested heavily is known as Comuna Trece.

It has been transformed from a notoriously violent neighborhood to a location where residents are proud of where they live.

The boundaries of Comuna Trece, Community 13, extend beyond the white church.

Beyond those high rise, look like condominiums, and then follow along the hillside all the way around and behind us, and include a total population of about 140,000 people.

♪ A lil' sheen in it ♪ Then pat - 10, 15 years ago, it would have been impossible to come here.

So these gives me a lot of hope.

Columbia is a country that has been ravaged by war through most of its history.

Columbia has been a fragmented country, not only geographically, but also socially.

This comuna was formed by rural people who were displaced and came to settle here because there was nowhere else to go.

Experiences of kidnapping or experiences where people have been massacred in entire communities are experiences that mark all Colombians.

And today Columbia has one of the highest number of displaced populations in the world, internally displaced.

About five million people out of a population of about 45 million.

So going from that violence to see the Medellin of today is incredible.

To see how these young people and children are walking about without any fear.

This is something that their parents didn't experience before.

So growing up without fear creates a new kind of citizen.

Growing up knowing that you can construct, that you can build, that you can access education, and that you can beautify the region and the place where you live, it's huge.

(speaking in foreign language) - [Interpreter] Before 2004 the neighborhood, or comuna, was governed by paramilitaries.

And before that, by guerrerillos or guerrilla fighters.

People would live in fear in the commune hiding in their houses at a certain time, avoiding certain places, and moving from neighborhood to neighborhood was very dangerous.

Now there's more peace for this generation that I belong to, and for the next generation, where we can really walk the neighborhoods in the comuna, visit friends in other neighborhoods, be part of hip hop dancing, traditional dancing, sports, without living in fear that someone might do something to us, or that something might happen.

It's also a very uplifting thing that the neighborhood itself has chosen art as a reference, as a way to transform.

(speaking in foreign language) Culture, art, experiences through graffiti, through a song, that's what we express.

The graffiti history is very controversial here in this commune because the first people who brought graffiti here were armed groups.

Armed groups, guerrerillos, or guerrilla fighters usually arrived to a neighborhood and mark walls with their initials.

FARC, EPO, or AUC.

(speaking in foreign language) When real graffiti artists are making works of art they are concerned with placing their tags, and people reject them.

They think they are armed groups who are claiming control of the neighborhood.

(speaking in foreign language) This motivates artists to work harder to buy their own paints and spray paints and make works that seem more finished.

(speaking in foreign language) This graffiti, in particular, was made to represent two Black Hawk helicopters.

The hummingbird represents that helicopter that can stop midair shooting, because the hummingbird is the only animal that stops in the air to eat from flowers.

(speaking in foreign language) This one was made to represent the Afro descendant community.

This community is very important for the comuna, they are the vast majority.

The majority, I mean, because they come from Palenque, from the Caribbean region, from Chico areas that the state is absent, and they arrive to these more central cities looking for new economic opportunities.

The Pachamama, mother of the earth, is represented in a special way.

On one side she's sad, it's a sadness that becomes more serious within the gray of the conflict.

But there's a green part.

This green part represents hope, the hope that comes from music and art.

Those disorderly houses have to go through that gray section, that sad section, that difficult side of conflict before enlightenment through art, music and other cultural expressions.

And then with the ability to turn into color, into life, into what we are today in this comuna.

(speaking in foreign language) - [Interpreter] When shootings begin, we would hide in the sewers because the water would cover us and we'd be really small even though we couldn't swim.

Many things have happened in the Comuna Trece.

But thank God the Medellin Ladera viaduct was created in both section one and section two.

This is a transformation that will change things for me and for all my friends, now I have a life.

(speaking in foreign language) - [Interpreter] In 2004, armed groups decided to make an armistice.

And through a project called Citizen Commitment the town hall was able to arrive here in the comuna with projects like Goodstart, the Medellin Philharmonic, and with citizen participation scholarships.

It was very important in getting people to understand that there are alternatives, other paths, and that also art is one of those paths that can lead us to transformation.

There are three kinds of graffiti.

One of those kinds is tag T-A-G. All graffities have a signature, but bombing is still a signature, but it's a wider signature.

A signature that has a color, a filling, and that can be completed in around two hours.

Unlike the masterpiece, which takes more time, six hours to two days.

There are people here that study, people who make their dreams come true.

People who build art, who create things everyday.

The intended message with all of this is that we don't need to be a land of conflict.

We're a land where there's love.

What I'd like to say is that yes, there's love here.

(cheerful music) - [Marcela] I think an intelligent city is a city that is able to incorporate all of its inhabitants.

Where people feel part of a whole, where they belong, where they can really belong.

And they have done it through technology, because this city is not an easy city.

You see all these, you know, mountains inhabited by people who were fleeing rural areas, and they just settled without any planification.

(speaking in foreign language) - [Interpreter] The metro cable system is not just a transportation system, it is one part of a larger urban project.

Joining the metro cable stations are parks and public spaces for residents to enjoy.

There are also city service centers, healthcare facilities and police stations, all of them nearby.

All these services play an important community role for Medellin in making it a model for other cities.

We deserve points for innovation, for being the first city to construct a metro cable, mass transportation system.

(speaking in foreign language) - [David] The cable system is tied directly into the metro system, that is the train system, which has 26 kilometers in operation.

It takes 1.7 million passengers every day.

And in terms of cost, it's a good deal.

(speaking in foreign language) - [Interpreter] Ticket sales cover the operation, maintenance, and administrative expenses.

The technology we use has been in operation in the world for over 100 years, but it had never been applied in a city environment.

We did our research and came up with the first urban air cable system in the world, and we named it Metrocable.

The line here is 2,000 meters long and it covers 400 meters of sloped terrain.

Its capacity is 3,000 people per hour.

On a working day it provides mobility to around 50,000 people.

This system does not pollute and has almost no negative effects.

On the contrary, its effects are all positive for the population in general, especially for the users.

(speaking in foreign language) - For a lot of people who moved here as a result of violence in rural areas, young people who grew up without any services and feeling that they were marginal, marginal part of society.

The fact that there is a Metrocable that goes to where they are.

The fact that the city is thinking about them, makes them feel that they are part of a society that finally cares about them.

- Once we get to the top, we enter a completely different zone.

It's a park and it's not the forest as it originally was, but it is a very rich and varied forest.

About as different as any place could be.

And you're on Medellin, you can get on the Metrocable and be up in this, what looks like pretty pristine area.

- It took 16 minutes only.

We just went through a whole forest.

(speaking in foreign language) - [Interpreter] Right now we're at the center of what is known as Arvi Park.

Arvi Park is a nature reserve that offers a variety of ecotourism activities.

We have attractive spots to visit and have created community projects financed by family compensation funds of Antioquia.

These are located inside the natural reserve area of Arvi Park.

We have around 15 trails, some of them have themes while others are simply trails.

(speaking in foreign language) Here, the trails are marked with colors.

There's La Flora, Arroyuelo, and Ancestral.

(speaking in foreign language) Each one of them is named after something going on in them.

La Flora is related to the endangered flora.

(speaking in foreign language) Arroyuelo descends to the streams and ravines of the park.

Ancestral is named that way because it covers ancestral and prehistoric trails.

Every one of the trails has a brochure and a script that guides covered during guided tours.

The park is located between 7,200 and 8,500 feet above sea level and its average temperature is 60 degrees.

(speaking in foreign language) All of it is a nature reserve.

- The city of Medellin, during the last five decades of the 20th century, it was racked with unbelievable violence.

That violence was based upon social inequalities.

In the first two decades of the 20th century, the government of Medellin, the leaders of this city, decided they could make a difference.

And they did, but only by making massive government investment in public education, in infrastructure that extends the benefits to the poorer sectors of the community, and technology that reaches everyone, not just the privileged few.

Join us next time "In the Americas" with me, David Yetman.

(cheerful music) The Southern Mexican state of Oaxaca is the most indigenous, most Indian state of the republic.

Native traditions run deep.

(cheerful music) It is surprising to find here a wealth of European musical instruments called pipe organs.

(rapping in foreign language) (light upbeat music) - [Announcer] Funding for "In the Americas" with David Yetman was provided by Agnes Howery.

Funding for "In the Americas" with David Yetman was also provided by the Guilford Fund.

Copies of this and other episodes of "In the Americas" with David Yetman are available from the Southwest Center.

To order call 1-800-937-8632, please mention the episode number and program title.

And please be sure to visit us at intheamericas.com, or intheamericas.org.

(light music)