Can we get out of the insecurity gap facing Guayaquil and some of the country’s capitals? Recently, for professional reasons, I passed through Medellín (Colombia), which until the beginning of this century was considered one of the most dangerous cities in the world, with a series of stigmas and bloody legends that kept it under water for a long time, but in which in some sectors I could walk without major delays. Without the constant feeling of insecurity that is felt in Guayaquil right now.

With the high homicide rates that this Colombian city suffered in the nineties and the beginning of the 21st century, it is difficult to see how many urban processes have been able to change, although there are places that recommend not to get too close, that suggestion is still worth being marginal, while the biggest the expansion of the territory now acceptable for life thanks to the fact that many agreed to the board, considering themselves part of the solution.

Sectors like that of Commune 13, which many of us have seen portrayed in unfortunately famous films and series, which elevate the heads of various types of illegal trade to the category of antiheroes, are currently places where “not even a needle is lost”, for example, as Germán proudly said , a transporter that takes you to that place, now loaded with art, ingenuity and authenticity, and delivers you with all the confidence of the case into the hands of one of the founders of the neighborhood who lost her only son during the violence, excess of the 90s and is now dedicated to restoring the popular culture of the site .

Magic realism? Undoubtedly, but palpably, beyond the stories left to humanity by another Colombian pride, García Márquez. An experience that seems to defy logic. Political and social scenario? It could be to some extent, as there is no way to guarantee that all those who appear to have abandoned crime and informal trade meet such an obligation.

Too high a cost? And I don’t mean some kind of monetary payment for the transformation, or some kind of subsidy, but the social price, in lives, because it required the controversial armed intervention of the forces of order, which at that time entered the areas most threatened by the underground, in its various aspects, and by brutality , with blood and fire, accelerated the processes that civilized societies carry out in the studied phases. All this is to condemn “collateral damage”, which sows innocent victims in places where something harmful to society has been removed. A phase that we would never like to see Guayaquil in, but which seems acceptable to many who are looking for a firm hand rather than processes.

Medellín, the country of the media cartel and the confluence of multiple aspects of the underworld, has done it, is doing it, and for those of us pining for the Guayaquil of less than a decade ago, it makes us feel like what you’re experiencing won’t last forever. It can not be. Let’s learn from experiences like those lived in similar societies like La Paisa, let’s take the good, discard the bad and move on, because after every dark night there is inevitably a dawn. (OR)