How Medellin relentlessly deceives its people about deteriorating security

Medellin Mayor Federico Gutierrez greets local police officials. (Image: Telemedellin)

Medellin Mayor Federico Gutierrez is pulling all kinds of propaganda stunts to pretend crime has not spiked since he took office.

Gutierrez recently celebrated that his administration achieved the highest number of days without homicides, 302 to be precise.

This is true, but ignores the fact that the city’s homicide rate has been going up ever since Gutierrez took office, 25% between 2016 and 2018 to be precise.

So far this year, homicides are up another 2% compared to the same period last year.


Medellin’s latest propaganda hoax cost local taxpayers $370K


When fact checking website Colombiacheck called out Gutierrez’ security secretary’s office about his attempts to distort reality, they pulled out a graph showing that the average homicide rate under the current administration is lower than any of his predecessors.

This is also true, but only because under his predecessor, governor candidate Anibal Gaviria, the city’s homicide rate dropped from 67 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants to its lowest point in history, 20 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.

The mayor has avoided any public mention about the staggering increase in street robberies, a crime that victimizes a lot more people than homicide.

Street robberies in Medellin have been going up since 2011, but have gone through the roof since Gutierrez took office.

Gaviria ended his term in 2015 with 6,611 street robberies. In 2018, 21,079 street robberies were registered, an increase of almost 320%.


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Despite the more than $15 million a year Medellin’s city hall reportedly spends annually on propaganda, including deceitful propaganda about the city’s crime rates, Medellin’s deteriorated security situation is felt by its residents.

According to Medellin Como Vamos, which surveys residents annually, the paisas’ security perception has dropped from 51% in 2016 to 41% last year.

Fifteen percent of Medellin’s 2.5 million residents, or 375,000 people, said to have been victim of crime last year.

Most crimes go unreported as most people in Medellin know that the city’s prosecution is notoriously ineffective and the police notoriously corrupt. To make matters worse, Gutierrez’ security policy has only fueled crime and violence in the city, according to multiple analysts.

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