Violence and Legitimacy:

State and Criminal Organizations from the Perspective of Young People in Medellín, Colombia

Abstract

Objective: the purpose of this research was to gather the perspective of 256 young people from Comuna 13 in the city of Medellín regarding their perception of the legitimacy that criminal organizations have achieved in exercising violence and establishing territorial orders in the city. Methodology: The process was divided into two phases. The first involved analyzing the State’s main theories to understand its unity without competing with other armed organizations for territorial hegemony. The second phase focused on analyzing the perspective of the youth in Comuna 13 regarding the legitimacy of violence that many of these organizations acquired, especially in the first 10 years of the 21st century. Results: In the case of the city of Medellin, a brief review was made of the background of violence and territorial domination. This review spanned from the beginnings of the Medellin Cartel in the 1980s, through the expansion of paramilitarism, to the consolidation of the different criminal organizations that operate in the city. These organizations dominate “security” in the neighborhoods and, in turn, are the cause of extortion, homicides, micro-trafficking of weapons, drugs, people, and forced displacement of the civilian population. Conclusions: It is possible to consider that, at this moment, the city of Medellín, as well as many municipalities
in Colombia, have a serious problem of legitimacy in exercising control and security processes over neighborhoods, communes, or districts (depending on the city). This should lead to the rethinking of public security policies and the consideration of the idea of quadrants in the case of police action.