Violence

The violence inherent to Colombian society, made so apparent by News of a Kidnapping, has been a long-standing characteristic of the country. A political assassination in 1948 set off a wave of killings between vying parties; it became known simply as "La Violencia." Just as some peace was returning to Colombia, guerrilla groups began to launch their own offensives.

By the 1980s, the drug traffickers were imbuing the country with their own brand of terrorism and violence. In the hands of the drug traffickers, Medellín became one of the most dangerous cities in the world. In the city's first two months of 1991, a massacre took place every four days and about 1,200 murders were committed; of these, almost 500 police officers, upon whom Escobar placed a bounty, were the victims. However, the police also made their contribution to the escalation and randomness of violence. Believing that most of the...