Narcos on the front line: How Colombian woman saved son from guerillas

A brave mother has recalled how she stood up to militia in what was once the murder capital of the world.

A brave mum of 10 has revealed how she saved her son from an M16 wielding militia in what was once the murder capital of the world.

Comuna 13, a desperately poor suburb on the hills of Medellin in Colombia, was a hotspot for crime and corruption for decades.

Pablo Escobar ruled the area with his signature “plata o plomo” – bullet or bribes – strategy to run billions of dollars of drugs through the town.

But when Colombian police gunned him down on a terracotta roof in 1993, things became worse for the residents of Comuna 13.

Two warring paramilitary groups stepped into the power vacuum created by Escobar’s death.

Rosa said she remembered the moment when a young local boy warned her that the guerillas were about to execute her son.

Rosa, 59, lives in Comuna 13 in Medellin, Colombia, and has seen her suburb controlled by Pablo Escobar's drug cartel and then paramilitaries after his death in 1993. Picture: Jason Edwards

Watch episode 7 of the Narcos on the front line series above.

“The guy warned her and she went directly to the place where her kid was,” she said in a translated interview in her home.

“And she said, “Oh, she’s my he’s my kid, and you got to respect him. If you want to kill him, you have to kill me, too.”

Rosa faced the gunman alone. Her son, one of 10 children, was allowed to live.

Not everyone was as lucky in Comuna 13, with many “disappeared” people suspected of being murdered and buried in unmarked graves on the hills outside Medellin.

Her daughters were also victims of the violence.

Pablo Escobar in his mug shot.

The army patrols the streets of Medellin. Picture: Eric VANDEVILLE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

“They came into my house, my daughters had to hide under the bed and in the cupboard, they were inside,” she said.

Rosa, who did not wish her surname to be published, has lived in Comuna 13 for almost 50 years.

Her home has two rooms, each about 2.5m long by 2.5m wide. The ground floor included a kitchen, bathroom and bunk bed area on the ground floor.

Four people live in the brick property, which has a prepaid electricity supply.

Rosa bravely stood up for her son. Picture: Jason Edwards

Rosa was surrounded by her extended family, posing for photographs with her granddaughter Balaria, 6, who was in grade 1 at school.

“When I was growing up the time was really heavy,” she said.

“I don’t want that for my grandchildren, I want something better.”

Colombia’s cocaine trade has taken a toll on Rosa’s life, and the lives of her neighbours.

“I wish that the drugs would be gone, it’s definitely not good for the kids, but it’s part of Colombia’s economy,” she said.

Originally published as Narcos on the front line: How Colombian woman saved son from guerillas