“Sometimes I feel like God… When I order someone to be killed-they die the same day”. Escobar is a man that has been slowly been creeping back into society even though he’s been dead for 23 years. His influence has inspired a new Netflix TV show appropriately named ‘Narcos’. But why is he becoming a talking point again? What made the man one of Columbias biggest drug kingpins and why did he feel that the only way to achieve his goals was using violence. Some may argue that he had a positive impact on Columbia, building schools, housing and giving money to the poor, others will certainly argue that he was a murderer, thug, drug lord and without a soul. In this blog it’ll look at the life and times of this notorious man as well as looking at both his positive and negative impacts on the society of Columbia and the people who brought the cocaine king down off of his throne that he’d fought so hard for.
Background.
Born on the 1st of December 1949 in Antioquia, Columbia. Escobar came from a relatively modest background, his father was a peasant farmer and his mother a school teacher, however he was never happy with what he had. He began to tell friends and family that he wished to become President of Columbia. However this was never meant to be.
Escobar soon married a young 15 year old girl named Maria Victoria Henao in 1976. She bore him two children, son, Juan Pablo, who later changed his name to Sebastian Marroquin and a daughter called Manuela. Escobar adored his children, always giving them presents and spoiling them, however towards the end of his life the family tried seeking asylum in Germany but were denied entry. His son who has gone onto write a book called “Pablo Escobar: My father” stated in an interview that “My fathers not a person to be intimidated, he showed us the path we must never take as a society because it’s the path to self-destruction, the loss of values and a place where life ceases to have importance”.
Escobar’s life of crime started off petty, stealing cars before eventually moving into the smuggling business. His biggest form of “training” came during the “Marlboro Wars” where it saw the control of Columbias cigarette smuggling market.
No one could of anticipated the rise in which Escobar would make in such a short amount of time.
Rise to power.
“In Columbia, people enter drug trafficking as a form of protest. Others enter it because of ambition” (quote from Escobar).
In the early stages of the 1970s, Columbia became a prime smuggling ground for weed. But soon the cocaine market began to grow and Columbia geographical location became its biggest asset. Situated at the northern tip of South America between thriving coca cultivation epicentres of Peru and Bolivia. Columbia came to dominate the global cocaine trade. America being its biggest market.
Escobar saw the cocaine trade as an opportunity to further himself as well as seeing a chance to gain wealth he had so hoped for as a young child and later as a young man. Escobar didn’t waste any time and soon began to take control of the cocaine trade. Pablo would do anything to make sure he was seen as a force to be reckoned with, that’s why in 1975, Medellin drug trafficker Fabio Restrepo was murdered. His killing is believed to have to come at the orders of Escobar who quickly seized power and began to expand Restrepo operation, it was to become something the world never expected or had seen before.
Soon Escobar was seen to be controlling more than 80% of the cocaine smuggled into the US. The Medellin Cartel under Escobar was reported to have smuggled 15 tonnes of cocaine daily into the US, netting the Cartel as much as $420 million a week.
Escobars rise to power was swift and quick. Many have argued that he rose to power so quickly as he used violence as a means to get what he desired. However Escobars reign of terror was not meant to last. He soon became too greedy, resulting in the deaths of many police officers as well as innocent people.
Escobars wealth and how he used that wealth.
Escobar soon began to realise that his wealth was becoming vast and large, he knew that he needed to spend some of this wealth. His cash was becoming so prevelant that he bought a Learjet just to transport the money his was bringing in.
Pablo had the wealth he had could of only ever dreamed of as a child. Forbes named him one of the richest people in the world, estimating his worth at a cool $30 billion dollars. Escobar soon built himself a palace, in which he felt was appropriate for the vast amount of money he was earning. This house became almost like a wonderland, offering multiple bedrooms, exotic animals, pools, entertainment and so much more.
However as his fame and wallet grew, Escobar never gave up on his dream to be seen as a leader. He knew that he needed to be seen as a man of the Colombian people, he soon began using his wealth to influence this. He was seen to be giving out money to the poor as well as bringing the funding for soccer fields, and began food programmes in deprived neighbourhoods.
Soon Escobar found that influencing the poor with money he could begin his journey into the Colombian world of politics. His money and terror soon got him into power by being elected into the Colombian congress as an alternative member in 1982. However his vast amount of wealth and his previous criminal convictions and doings soon landed him in hot water with the congress. Rodrigo Lara, justice minister at the time soon exposed Escobar inevitably forcing him to resign after just two years. However Lara was soon to meet a gruesome end when he was murdered at the orders of Escobar whilst travelling from Congress. Arguably this shows the side of Escobar that so many of us know about, like a child, when he could not get his own way he would throw a temper tantrum and commit an act of pure violence.
Soon Escobars need for power became so strong that he felt the need to spill the blood of his enemies to gain true status and influence.
Height of power and reign of terror.
Whilst Pablo’s political career had failed, his war with the Colombian government hit its peak. Furious over the fact that he could no longer be a part of congress he unleashed his anger on his enemies. With the US government pushing for his capture and extradition, Pablo began a major war on both fronts.
Escobar was terrified of being extradited to the US, he always said he’d rather die than ever be held in a US prison, so with the money he had accumulated he began to influence Colombian politics by pushing a no extradition clause, this meant that it allowed drug barons to accept amnesty however it came with a heavy price. They had to give up the drug trade that they had accumulated all of their wealth from. Whilst this clause worked for a while, Escobar was still determined to remain the king of cocaine and soon began a reign of terror on the people of Colombia.
His ‘terror’ campaigns soon began to result in the deaths of thousands of people, this including, politicians, civil servants, journalists and ordinary citizens. The violence also led to the killing of three Colombian presidential candidates , an attorney general, scores of judges and more than 1,000 police officers. Most of the police officers in Colombia had a price on the head, just for being part of a force trying to catch Escobar.
Soon though, the Medellin cartel was to take the violence to a whole new level when Escobar decided to make an attempt on the life of presidential candidate, Cesar Gaviria.
On the 27th of November 1989 , flight 203 left for its routine flight to California, it never made it. It was bombed over the town of Soacha, just outside the city. The bomb killed all 107 people. Investigators believed the bombing to be a personal attack on Gaviria by Escobar. However Gaviria was never on that flight, in fact he made some last minute changes to his schedule which Escobars henchmen did not know until the news revealed the information.
Gaviria ironically enough went onto win the presidential election and soon launched an anti-drug crusade which made him the number one enemy on Escobar’s list. Soon after the bombing Escobar’s popularity began to decline, not only with the people of Colombia but soon his relationships with other drug traffickers. Escobar’s terror didn’t end with the bombing, he also began to bomb town centres, taking the lives of many of the people who had shown him loyalty in the beginning of his drug career. His terrorism though soon gained the interest of the US, they knew he needed to be stopped and soon vowed to the Colombian government that they would provide any sources necessary. However this was soon to become a major problem for the US because of the new extradition clause that the Colombian government has implemented earlier on in the year.
Steve Murphy and Javier Peña
Steve Murphy and Javier Peña played a key role in the capture of Escobar and other members of the Medellin cartel. Being lead investigators for the DEA, they found it to be their personal mission to catch Escobar and extradite him back to the US.
In 1991, Murphy, who had been working undercover in Miami for four years was transferred to Bogota, Colombia in what was to be the biggest manhunt of a known drug kingpin anyone had seen. Murphy knew that this job came with risks, in fact most DEA agents had a price on their heads, drug cartels were asking for the deaths of these agents with a price of $300,000. Teaming up with Peña, Murphy soon learnt and worked with the Colombian landscape, carefully gaining informants and soon were tracking down leads for the CNP (Colombian National Police). However Murphy didn’t achieve all of this alone, Javier Peña was also a man with a drive to catch Escobar.
Peña was a key asset when it came to catching Escobar, he joined the DEA in 1984 and within four years he started working on the case of Escobar. Peña took personal responsibility in the capture of Escobar, stating in an interview once that “It was personal for me, he had killed a lot of people I know. The search for Escobar was purely about revenge. It wasn’t going after dope, it wasn’t after money. It was just revenge because of all the cops he had killed along with all those innocent people”.
Peña and Murphy soon got their desired outcome, however it was a struggle for them both. Both now retired, they have become consultants on the hit Netflix show ‘Narcos’ where their stories are part of the back bone of the show.
Pablo’s surrender and escape.
In June 1991, Escobar took the executive decision to surrender to the Colombian government. However Escobar had rules to his surrender, he wanted the threat of extradition to be lifted and he was allowed to build his own prison. He was granted all requests which angered the US government.
The “prison” that he built for himself was nicknamed ‘La Catedral’. This prison had no rules, in fact it came with a casino, spa and a night club. It also had drugs, prostitutes, as well as Escobar running his Cartel from within the prison. Pablo also picked the men that guarded him, they were all men that worked for the cartel.
Soon however the Cartels peace within the prison was to be disturbed. In June 1992, authorities attempted to move Escobar to a more standard holding facility, this did not go down well with Pablo and soon he escaped. His escape caused the longest and biggest man hunt the world had ever seen, he evaded capture for 16 months. During his imprisonment, Pablo’s world was crumbling down around him. Police were raiding his offices and soon killing the cartels leaders.
Escobar soon meant his long awaited fate, with very little money and no loyalty being shown to him Escobar was set for failure.
Death.
December 2 1993, the day after his birthday, Pablo Escobar was shot and killed in a middle class neighbor hood in Medellin. For 16 months the CNP and DEA fought to catch him and bring him to justice, what ensued was a firefight of guns and manpower across rooftops. The death almost seems incredibly underwhelming for a man who fought so hard to scare people into submission that he eventual demise was one of relief and happiness for the people of Colombia as well as the people who’d risked their lives trying to fight him.
Even though it’s easy to say, well he got what was coming to him, we must also remember that he was a father. His absolute need for power meant that he put his family’s life in danger, his children were surrounded by violence that he created and yet, he never once showed aggression towards his family, portraying himself to others as a family man when in reality he was a sadistic killer.
Conclusion
It is easy to say that Escobar was a sinner of massive proportions but it’s also easy too see that he did have a small amount of good in his heart, he clearly showed a deep love for his country but at the same time, he was a man so driven by this need to have everything all at once, that he never realised the pain and destruction he was causing along the way. Why did one man feel the need to take so many lives just to reach one ultimate goal? These are questions that may never be answered, but one thing is certain, Escobar got what he wanted in some ways. He will certainly never be forgotten.
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