Pablo Escobar once ruled the Medellin drug cartel

Medellín, Colombia, was infamous for decades as one of the most violent cities on the planet. Drug cartels, urban guerilla and paramilitary cells fought to take control, killing thousands and spilling rivers of blood.

However, in the last few years rates of violence have drastically decreased and the city is living a renaissance of peace and hope. To what does Medellin owe this new phenomenon?

BBC World Service Journalist/Presenter, Luis Fernando Restrepo returns to the city where he was born and grew up, to investigate reasons for its transformation. Through his personal account he describes life amidst urban warfare during the years of his youth.

On his journey, Luis Fernando interviews survivors of massacres and bomb attacks, people who worked with the drug baron Pablo Escobar and political leaders of Colombia, such as President Alvaro Uribe, the Vice-President Francisco Santos and the Mayor of Medellin, Sergio Fajardo, who is considered instrumental in the transformation of the city.

 Listen to the programme

This programme is also available as a podcast/download.

This programme was first broadcast in May 2007 and was produced by Luis Restrepo of the BBC's Spanish Service.