On December 2 1993, Pablo Escobar, the world's most well known drug lord of all time was shot dead on a Medellín rooftop. Fifteen years later, Colombia is still associated with its most famous (but dead) citizen.
There are very few tourists that come to Medellín without knowing that back in the 1980's and early 1990's this was the kingdom of Pablo Escobar. From here he fought his war with the Colombian government and the North American DEA.
The spirit of Pablo is still in Medellín. Young wannabe gangsters born after his violent death idolize him and some people -- unhappy with their current condition -- will think back to those Escobar days with melancholy. Others, journalists, judicial workers, politicians, are more than happy that those days are over.
The death of the drug lord is still subject to speculation. The official version goes that Escobar was killed by security forces, but recently a former member of the paramilitaries said that it was AUC supreme leader Carlos Castaño himself who shot his former boss. Castaño's assistant, Diego 'Don Berna' Murillo Bejerano later took over the drug trade in Medellín and Antioquia.
Even after the death of Castaño and the demobilization and extradition of 'Don Berna' the drugs haven't left the city. 'Don Mario' now allegedly controls the trade and neither the death of Escobar nor the persecution of his followers have seemed to diminish the production of one of the first world's most famous drugs, cocaine.
Following the extradition of the paramilitary heads, violence in Antioquia and the northern department of Córdoba has gone up sharply again and hundreds die yearly in the battle over the drug trade in what used to be Pablo's and only Pablo's territory.
The terror of Pablo Escobar has ended and Medellín's murder rate, despite the recent rise and the ongoing drug trade, is still much lower than it was before the drug lord's death. But the mysteries involving his life and death, the urban myths that were created and books and documentaries he was starring in make it difficult to forget Pablo Escobar.
For some of the lesser fortunate it's even a reason to long back to him.
Midnight
said:
 |
... I sometimes believe that the hunt for him is really what causes the mystic around him. That had the hunt not been so elaborate and had It made the kind of healines that he now does it woud have been a no show. |
Midnight
said:
|
... Pablo had a different kind of reign than terror. His reign depended solely on total reverence to the family not the drug, he let the dope go for the family and he survived for it. The hunt took forever and rumors have flown for years about it. The incredible thing is that the lessons learned while dealing with the family have still yet today to be mastered by most. This man will live on forever in history, in criminology classes everywhere and in the history of guerrilla warfare. I believe they still refer to the smugglers blues and he comes to mind. Larger than life. Never faded in death. What do you suppose that it would take to remedy that? A miracle? A man or a machine? Do tell? |
Don Francisco
said:
|
... 'Most well known'? Is this the 'most bad' mistake in the article? Or simply, 'the best known'? Why does evil make so much better 'copy' than goodness? |
Fernando
said:
|
... I dont think Pablo was evil. He was simply a man defending his profit. No different than that the oil tycoons defending their profit with wars the kill thousands. Remember this, there was a time when cocaine was not illegal. It was even an ingredient in "Coke Cola". It only became illegal when certain groups were not able to control the money it generated. Their will always be wars for profit. Look at the bigger picture. |
