00:05My name is Raúl Leal, I am a co-founder of the Mariapaz neighborhood.
00:11We've been here, in this place, for over 30 years now.
00:17I arrived here with my hands down, looking for work, and here I found a place.
00:22For the Mariapaz neighborhood, we are currently managing approximately 10 to 20 uniformed officers per shift.
00:47Mariapaz was born in the late 1980s as an informal settlement on land belonging to Corabastos.
00:53Thousands of families built their homes here long before the neighborhood was recognized.
00:57It was finally legalized on August 20, 1998, and only after almost three decades of waiting,
01:04Nearly 1,500 families received property titles for their homes in 2018.
01:10This neighborhood was named after the president at that time, who had a daughter named Mariapaz.
01:20We happened to reach a consensus here at that time to name it in honor of the gentleman's daughter
01:31President Gaviria
01:32so that he could help us because yes, this entire sector is truly displaced from the various forms of violence that have occurred
01:45there have been.
01:45I arrived here with my hands down, looking for work, and I found a place here with very few things, even my colleagues...
01:53They helped me
01:54And that's how I gradually got ahead.
01:57We all have pretty much the same situation, some of us are Venezuelan, some of us are Colombian,
02:03But here we are all working informally.
02:07My name is José Silva, I come from Venezuela, I have been working here for five years.
02:14I arrived in Patio Bonito, living here in Patio Bonito, and from here I got to know this area and I came here
02:21to work here.
02:29It is a fairly large town, and we must take into account the amount of population that this town manages.
02:35Approximately more than 1,200,000 people, which we can compare to cities like Barranquilla,
02:43which has approximately 1,400,500,000 people.
02:45Regarding the issue of neighborhoods, it has approximately 488 neighborhoods, which are different types of urbanizations, and it has more
02:54of 11 UPCs.
02:57The thing is, María Paz is located practically next to the Corabastos central market.
03:06And let's remember that Corabastos is the main distribution point for the largest food products in the country.
03:14country.
03:14No, Maria Paz, it's unsafe for someone who's with the bad guys or something; you don't know how to walk.
03:22Although I've been here for nine years, I've never been robbed, nothing has ever been done to me.
03:27There was a boy I used to preach to, and they killed him there, on the corner.
03:32Then I do remember that it's not very pleasant, that it's not very...
03:36But here we are, brother. What are we going to do?
03:41In recent years, authorities have pointed to the presence of structures such as the Tren de Aragua,
03:46as well as other gangs dedicated to micro-trafficking, extortion and homicides.
03:50In 2026 alone, two alleged members of that organization were captured in María Paz while collecting extortion money.
03:57Recently, six other members of that structure who operated in sectors of Kennedy were also captured.
04:05That it is one of the most unsafe neighborhoods, I could say that it may be more of a stigma than a reality.
04:12In 2025, a major blow was dealt to the Tren de Aragua gang, resulting in the arrest of some members of this organization.
04:19criminal.
04:33The dispute over public space in María Paz has been going on for more than 15 years.
04:37In 2011, a judge ordered the district to reclaim this area due to problems with insecurity, garbage, and illegal occupation.
04:43streets and sidewalks.
04:44Sometimes we put things away and they come to pick them up at midnight.
04:50Because here, sometimes with our colleagues, one stays one day, another stays another day, and then goes
04:54taking care not to, because we don't have storage facilities.
04:57No, we've spoken with the mayor's office to see if they can place him, advise him better, so that we can have a good [event/problem/etc.].
05:04exercise, or perform work well.
05:06Otherwise, one day they come and say no, that they're trying to make it clear, and then they come back another day.
05:14to pick it up at night.
05:16There are people here who don't bathe; six months, eight months go by and they haven't been able to bathe.
05:22They lack the necessary equipment to clean their own toilets.
05:25So, there's no public restroom here, if any lady wants to go to the bathroom, because there isn't one.
05:31public restroom, there is no part where we are allowed to go, or the people who are in Cali.
05:38I would advise the mayor's office not to leave us alone, to provide support, and to bring us closer together.
05:50towards that society.
05:51That he would improve things really nicely, that they would even place him in the mayor's office, which is like being one's parents.
05:58You're going to stand here, we're going to arrange this properly, and you're not going to leave here, if that's the case.
06:03to set up some kiosks for us so that we can organize it properly.
06:08But nothing, we're not adrift here.
06:12Although María Paz continues to face security challenges, many of its residents insist that the neighborhood has
06:18changed.
06:18For them, today work, solidarity, and the desire to leave behind the stigmas that have plagued them weigh more heavily.
06:24accompanied for decades.
06:25There is peace in María Paz. What I can tell you is that María Paz has very kind people.
06:32good and that, like all the neighborhoods in what corresponds to Colombia,
06:37They have their positive aspects in terms of security, as well as some threats and risks that the National Police...
06:45He is working hard to maintain the issue of coexistence and security.
06:50During this time, I'm noticing that the bands that used to be here have moved away a bit. This
06:57He's calmer now.
06:58María Paz was a neighborhood that welcomed me and I have felt good here, it has welcomed me.
07:05We are focused on working and doing good. We don't dwell too much on bad things because we
07:13We believe that at least God takes care of us.
07:23María Paz is a growing neighborhood. A neighborhood that, as the word suggests, is already showing its true colors. Peace.
07:38Maria Paz.
07:38I, for example, am personally very grateful. I get my food here daily. I am 87 years old and they still allow me to eat.
07:50I feel finished working at this site.
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