Word: jaramillo
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...homicide rate about five times . as high as New York City's and most likely the world's steepest. In one 18- hour period at the beginning of February, Medellin police reported 13 killings. "It has other values not known to the world," says a defensive Mayor William Jaramillo Gomez. "But yes, as a result of drug trafficking we have to admit it is also a dangerous city...
...Jaramillo, an outspoken critic of the cartel as well as of Washington's drug policies, leaves office this week to make way for the first freely elected mayor in the city's history. Some 12 million Colombians went to the polls on March 13 to elect the mayors of nearly 1,000 cities and towns. The exercise in democracy -- until now the country's mayors have been appointed by Bogota -- is designed in part to give cities like Medellin new powers to fight such menaces as organized crime and drugs. Some feel that an administration with a direct mandate...
...apartment blocks carry shotguns, police shoulder automatic weapons, and occasionally a pistol is glimpsed tucked into a civilian's waistband. Some of the drug barons maintain armories that include U.S.-made AR-15 automatic rifles and Israeli-made Uzis with silencers and infrared sights for shooting at night. Says Jaramillo, pointing out of his office window to the hills: "They could be taking aim at me from two miles away over there." A U.S. embassy official in Bogota is more specific. "They will know you are there and what you are up to the minute you arrive," he warns...
...into the white powder that foreigners consume in such prodigious quantities requires laboratory facilities and technical skills. Medellin had them, as well as convenient proximity to the huge U.S. market and a work force willing to take risks. "There has always been an entrepreneurial spirit in this city," says Jaramillo. "These people found a way of controlling a big business with a growing demand...
...city's 1,200-member police force is overwhelmed by the violence. Minor offenses like a traffic violation generally receive more attention than serious crimes because they are easier and safer to deal with. "The cartel cannot be tackled in Medellin alone," Jaramillo says. "It is a worldwide problem and one that is created by demand in the U.S. Why doesn't the U.S. tackle consumption and then stop things like U.S.-made guns from reaching the cartel? Then we might get somewhere...