English

Reading log #3
Text Title: ESCOBAR
Text type: Extended text

Born in Colombia, on the 1st of December, 1949. Pablo Escobar, one of the most wanted men in history. This book is based on the life of Escobar and the truth of the rise and reign of the Colombian drug lord. This is told by the one man who was with him every step of the way, his brother Roberto. In the year of 1976 Pablo collaborated with other criminals to form the Madellin Cartel, a ruthless drug organization who would supply and smuggle cocaine into the United States. Growing up, Roberto tells us that his family was very poor and Pablo had told their mother Hermilda Gavaria that he would later become rich. This statement made by Pablo was true as he was one of the richest criminals of all time. The cartel controlled approximately 80% of the cocaine supply in America. Pablo's cartel was making $60 million USD everyday, which would equal $420 million USD weekly and meant an yearly income of $22 billion. So yes, Pablo was absurdly rich.

Believe it or not, this man was considered a 'hero' to some people in Medellin because he helped the poor in certain parts on the city. For example, he donated to schools, gave money to the poor and built parks. This gave him the name 'Robin Hood'. Pablo once told family and friends "I will become president of Colombia" and in 1982 was elected an alternate member of Colombia's congress. The thought sounds insane right? A drug lord becoming president. It was obvious Pablo had no chance because the reasons behind his wealth later came out to the public. As a result, Pablo was forced to resign. After his dream of becoming president was scattered and when he finally came to realize he had no shot of such a high role, Escobar started to seek revenge on his enemies. He was responsible for thousands of deaths. His violence claimed the lives of innocent people including judges, politicians, journalists and police.

I was actually quite shocked that people would even think of him as a hero because you can't really call someone that if they were responsible for dozens of massacres, bomb attacks, kidnaps and so on. He was ruthless and did everything he could just to keep his business running, even if it meant killing innocent people. Seeing by his actions towards the poor people in Medellin, I believe that the act of kindness and 'generous' donations was to try and win the people over. Maybe he wanted to gain more power or even loyalty by having the people of Medellin look up to him. This text gave me a clear insight as to how far one would go just to get what they want, and how they would simply get rid of anyone who would try getting in their way.

This text definitely got me thinking of 'El Chapo' who was also affiliated in the drug business around the same time as Pablo. The crimes carried out by the two were very similar, for example, they would both smuggle cocaine, they were both drug traffickers and killed people.
You can't really say that Pablo is disliked by everyone. There are still some people who think he was a great man and are completely fascinated by him. I think for the people who are wanting to follow in his footsteps should really be aware of the consequences.
Pablo's brother Roberto talks about Pablo's capture and before he knew it, Pablo was wanted for all of the crimes that he did commit. Colombian forces were assisted by US forces as well as the CIA and DEA to search for him, the search continued throughout 1992-1993. Just one day after his birthday in 1993, Pablo Escobar was captured trying to flee across a tile roof. The Search Bloc who were three special groups made up to capture and kill highly dangerous individuals/groups are believed to be the ones who killed Pablo.

Overall, the book is filled with a bunch of interesting information about the city of Medellin and what impact it had on the people during the time Pablo was alive. I'd recommend it if you enjoy learning about different countries. I also recommend the series 'Narcos' on Netflix that tells the story about the Medellin Cartel, Pablo and his families lives.