Medellín, Colombia — After years of demands to search for those forcibly disappeared in Medellin’s La Escombrera landfill, Colombia’s transitional justice body, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), has officially announced it is the site of a mass grave.
With four bodies found so far, and many more thought to be buried at the site in the city’s western Comuna 13 district, the relatives of victims of state-sanctioned disappearances and killings move one step closer to justice.
But the excavation may be too little, too late to repair trust in the government, with a legacy of state violence and years of stalling fracturing relations between residents and authorities.
For many Comuna 13 locals, yesterday’s announcement was the culmination of more than two decades of petitioning the government to investigate the La Escombrera dump.
During the 2002 Operation Orion, a bloc of the infamous United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) paramilitary group was recruited to fight alongside the state to eliminate leftist militias in the area.
This was just one of 34 military operations in the neighborhood from 2001 to 2004, according to the JEP.
During this period of intense violence, hundreds of civilians were caught in the crossfire – injured, detained, tortured without trial. In the worst cases, people were forcibly disappeared or killed.
Many of these victims spent their final hours at the paramilitary base in Comuna 13, located beside La Escombrera — which was then used to dispose of their bodies, according to the JEP.
For decades, families of the victims have implored the state to excavate the landfill and exhume the bodies.
But relatives are only now gaining a sense of closure over the disappearance of loved ones.
Margarita Restrepo, whose daughter Carol disappeared in 2002, responded to the recent discoveries in La Escombrera.
“The most satisfying thing is that the anguish of a family that has been suffering for years, searching for their loved one, is going to end,” she said in a statement shared by the JEP.
Other members of the community described to Latin America Reports the pain they felt upon hearing the news of the findings at La Escombrera, with most residents from the older generation having some connection to someone who disappeared.
But relief and sadness are just two of the many emotions being felt by the neighborhood’s residents.
Among these is a palpable sense of frustration towards the government, which ignored the community for so many years.
Jasmín, a lifelong resident of Comuna 13 who spoke to Latin America Reports near La Escombrera, criticized the suffering inflicted by authorities’ failure to act sooner.
“As a mother, you want to know if your child is dead, or if something else happened to them… so for me, [the government] are very late, they should have looked for a solution early on,” said Jasmín.
Other residents echoed these views, exhibiting distrust and cynicism towards the government.
Claudia, a local business owner, criticized the government for not acting sooner to excavate La Escombrera, believing that it cares more about money than its citizens.
Her distrust in authority stems from what she views as the state’s inability to eradicate crime from Comuna 13.
“Even now, in terms of crime in the neighborhood, people continue to disappear. Youths, children disappeared,” Claudia told Latin America Reports.
“The violence continues despite being whitewashed by a few escalators and tourism,” continued Claudia, referring to local regeneration projects that turned Comuna 13 into a popular tourist destination.
For others in the community, distrust runs even deeper.
Oscar, who has lived next to La Escombrera his whole life, doubts that remains were even found at the site.
“Show the people [the remains]! Show them the close up images. And film it. Why aren’t they filming while they excavate the remains? It’s a fabrication,” said Oscar.
The 66-year-old expressed deep skepticism towards the government, claiming that for decades before and after the conflict in Comuna 13, all of Colombia’s presidents have been “corrupt.”
(Latin America Reports has decided not to publish the full names of the Comuna 13 residents who spoke with us out of an abundance of caution for their safety).
While Oscar’s views may be extreme, they appear to capture an underlying distrust in the state and its willingness to support the community.
Years of inaction and a perceived government failure in rooting out crime have produced a general air of pessimism among the community.
Although the excavation of La Escombrera is a step towards justice for 20 year old crimes, it provides little comfort to residents who witness new violence every day.
“The fact is this is something that will never end. Because it would mean an end to the armed groups, and that will never happen,” said Claudia.
But still, life goes on for Comuna 13’s residents.
Claudia continued: “In any case, one has to make peace with the situation and learn to live.”
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