The Story of Pablo Escobar’s Life and Legacy
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (Colombian drug lord) was a man of great power and prestige who used his manipulative skills to take one of history’s most powerful criminal organizations to the next stage. His power was so great in the 1980s that he became the most-feared terrorist on the planet. He controlled a vast empire of drugs, murder, and extortion that spread across the world. But he also earned billions. Pablo Escobar grew from a low-middle class man to be in charge of an army, mansions with airplanes.
Escobar’s fame in Colombia was largely due to geography. This is still true today. The country borders five countries: Panama to the north, Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru, all of which are located in the south. Three Andean Mountain Ranges, some of the largest and highest in the World, run from west to east. To the east of the Amazon River, the Orinoco River flows through the dense jungle. The majority of Colombia’s population lives in the mountains and valleys. In the eastern part of the city, despite its clean and tropical surroundings, there is also a lot of chaos, including people, cars, and motorcycles. The skyline is formed by several buildings made of steel, cement, and glass. On all sides, houses made from concrete bricks, wood, straw, and clay are located next to these buildings (Peace).
Pablo Escobar’s birth took place on December 1, 1950, during a period of civil war in Columbia. The streets were filled with chaos and terror. Son of a rural peasant and school teacher, Pablo Escobar was raised in Medelln. La Violencia involved a civil war between conservatives (leftists) and liberals (rightists), which saw thousands of people die. Guerrilla armies carried out escapades throughout the country, robbing their enemies, raping them, and even killing them. The guerillas travelled from village to village, dragging victims out of the homes they lived in and killing them. As a result, the killings in Colombia were not limited to one area; they were accepted as a norm for many decades.
The war against violence spread across Medelln like wildfire. Guerilla peasants continued what could be called a bloody war. Colombias guerrillas wars were low-intensity, despite their impact on the people. Two Wars or one) – The guerrillas were independent, and they could not overcome the military to take control. But the army could not do so either. These horrific events prove that Columbia’s violence and death began well before Pablo Escobar.
Escobar, a young man who grew up in a rural area of poverty, knew that he would be rich someday. He was driven, ambitious, and had the goal of becoming president of Colombia. Escobar was not the evil, selfish man that most people remember him as. He had good intentions and ideas to help others. Roberto Escobar says in The Accountants Story that he wanted to be President of Colombia. If I was, I would take 10 per cent of the profits of the richest people and give it to the poor. We will use these funds to build roads and schools (17). Pablo Escobar is a man who has high hopes and dreams. He will not settle for less.
Escobar had a goal in mind: he wanted filthy riches. It didn’t matter how he got them, just that he was there. As a young car thief in Medelln he began his criminal career. However, he quickly rose to the top. In his teens, he reportedly also removed names from tombstones to sell them on to Panamanian smugglers and village people (Pablo Escobar). He made some of his most dangerous decisions shortly after. This led him closer to becoming a narcotics lord.
Escobar began to earn real money while he was in college. Like his grandfather, Escobar also became involved with contraband. The majority of leaders in the cocaine trade began as assistants at chains that imported contraband. The business was a way to ship goods from America into foreign countries without paying any fees, taxes or duties. This allowed the sellers to sell products at a lower price (Peace). The sellers were able to make a lot of money from this business.
Escobar, along with transporting goods and foods, began smuggling across electronics, tobacco, and jewelry. Alvaro Prieto was the multimillionaire who began this business. Escobar initially focused only on cigarettes, but then shifted his focus to other products. Colombias geographic location made it possible to have a large amount of international trade. The contraband industry was very successful, and everyone involved became wealthy quickly. Colombia was soon a free market, not a heavily controlled economy.
Escobar was among the contraband experts who quickly learned that there were more lucrative businesses. In the 1970s they found that exporting cocaine and other drugs would earn much more money, even if it was not comparable to what they were earning in contraband. This trade was more lucrative than marijuana. Exports of cocaine were organized much better. The business grew quickly to enormous proportions. Colombian traffickers flooded the United States market with cocaine at the height of the demand. The Colombian traffickers were able make enormous profits (Smugglers) as a result. Escobar now had the opportunity to start the ride that would change his life.
The cocaine industry is now a part of our society. The cocaine business is widely known and exposed in many countries. Escobar has made Colombia notorious as a cocaine exporter. Colombias drug supply is 75 percent more diverse than the rest of the world. Colombians are involved in every stage of the drug industry: production, refinement and transportation of the product, as well as the final distribution (Drug economies). Colombians in the late 1970s were also familiar with cocaine. They knew the best places to buy it, knew how it is made and, more importantly, knew how it can be sold. They were very good at what they did.
Cocaine is a popular drug made from coca leaves, which grow in jungles in Peru, Bolivia Colombia Ecuador. Even before the drug was used, cocaine was widely available in Peruvian jungles. Indians chewed the substance to get energy. In over 150 year ago, a German scientist figured out how to extract a white powdery substance which gave people euphoria (Bowden 14.16). The leaves will be transported to labs hidden in Colombias rainforests where cocaine is produced. It’s then shipped to countries like Mexico and Panama. The cocaine is then loaded onto planes or boats as soon as it reaches the next destination. Wholesalers in major cities, such as Miami and New York City, sell cocaine to dealers throughout the United States.
Cucaracho is the Roach. This man asked Escobar and Gustavo his cousin to join him in Peru. They would then make a business deal. Gustavo Escobars closest worker was considered to be his partner. The deal was to travel three times to different countries and transport cocaine. Escobar dropped a package at the Ecuadorian border after driving to it. Then, Escobar would travel to Ecuador in a separate car, deliver the package at Colombia’s border. Final destination was in the neighborhood of Beln, in Medelln. It is here that he would refine coca in the laboratories and then ship it to the market for sale (Escobar 30-31).
Escobar was soon at the top of Medelln’s crime scene, and he had a great deal of control. He was responsible 80 percent of all cocaine that entered the United States. Escobar would order the murder of anyone who stood in his way. Escobars order led to Fabio restrepo’s death, a Colombian lord of drugs. Escobar expanded his organization after taking over Restrepo’s. In 1982, he won the Colombian Chamber of Representatives election under the New Liberalism political party. Nevertheless, he was expelled and kicked from the New Liberalism party. He responded by assassinating Luis Carlos Galan during his presidential campaign (Smugglers). Escobars success was complete for Minster.
Escobar was one of the world’s most notorious criminals at the height of his power. Forbes magazine ranked him as the seventh richest person in 1989. He owned a huge empire, many cars, planes that had their own landing strip, mansions in Colombia, and apartments. According to some reports, he also owned a private animal park (My Father). Escobar accumulated so much illegal wealth that he needed to conceal its source by using businesses like car dealerships and hotels, auto shops and interior design, modeling agencies. He had a personal fortune of up to $24 billion dollars at one time (Peace).
Pablo Escobar was also interested in being liked by others and not just as an outlaw. Escobar spent millions to build schools, stadiums and churches. He even provided housing for the poor. He helped the locals get jobs and interest free loans. He also made the working class rich and helped thousands to escape the ghetto. Escobar offered to pay Colombia’s $13 billion foreign debt. Escobar’s repeated orders to kill hundreds was a bad thing, but Escobar tried to be a good person. He used his money to do something good and helpful for his community.
Escobars very first encounter with the legal system occurred in 1976. He was captured on a drug shipment to Ecuador. He got away with it because he had the police officers killed. The case was soon dropped (Biography Escobar). Escobar was not concerned with the identity of the individual; as long as they caused Escobar some inconvenience, they would be killed. He was a drug-smuggler who used violence, but in a strategic way. He was also a loving husband and father.
A few decades later, Colombia signed a Treaty with the United States that allowed extradition for any Colombian who was found guilty by the United States of exporting illegal drugs. Pablo Escobar’s cartel, the Extraditables formed a group that released violence throughout Colombia. The drug traders persuaded the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) to amend the Constitution, which prohibited the extradition Colombians. Escobar handed himself in as soon Escobar completed his task. La Catedral was not a very good prison. Escobar’s headquarters had a Jacuzzi a Jacuzzi a Jacuzzi a Jacuzzi a Jacuzzi a Jacuzzi a Jacuzzy a Jacuzzi a Jacuzzi a Jacuzzi a Jacuzzi a Jacuzzi a Jacuzi a Jacuzzi a Jacuzzi a Jacuzzi a Jacuzzi a Jacuzzi a Jacuizzi a Jacuzzi a Jacuzzi
Drug Enforcement Agency and the United States Military joined forces in order to combat the Extraditables. Search Bloc is a US-trained task force that was created to track down Pablo Escobar. He had escaped prison twice before a successful task force (Peace) went after him. Hugo Martinez, a colonel in the Colombian law enforcement, was charged with locating Escobar. 200 policemen died within the first week of the manhunt. Three years went by without the drug lord being captured. Martinezs military was able, in the end, to isolate Escobar. This was achieved by Martinezs soldiers by destroying Escobars’ cartel. The Colombian authorities were led by this to the refugee’s safe house on December 2 1993, where he was killed. As he was trying to escape, they shot him. The legend was killed by a bullet in the torso of his body, then through his leg. The most wanted man in the world would meet his end.
Escobar, however, was not just another criminal. Escobar had the characteristics of an outlaw. An outlaw’s legacy will last for many years. It lives long after his death. And it represents something. Some call him the king of crime, while others call him an outlaw. Pablo Escobar will always remain, despite the differences of opinion.
