Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria

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Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (December 1, 1949 to December 2, 1993) was a Columbian drug lord and leader of the Medellín Cartel, who at his peak, controlled more than 80% of the international cocaine trade. Escobar entered the cocaine trade in the early 1970s and became famous for waging war against the Columbian government, as well as ordering the assassinations of thousands of individuals including police officers, journalists, high ranking officials and politicians . However, he was also well known for his charitable qualities, investing large sums of money into such public works as the construction of schools, sporting fields and housing developments for the poor. Whilst portrayed as a terrorist and Villain by Columbian officials and the …show more content…

Sparked by the revolutionary rhetoric of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro, bandits roamed the jungles and perfected the Columbian art of terror. This period was known as “La Violencia” translating to ‘the violence’, in which was a ten-year civil war in Columbia from 1948-1958. La Violencia originated through an intense political feud between Liberals and Conservatives, for which there was no coherent structure to the conflict. Columbia’s population was divided through its citizen’s party affiliations, where party loyalties were treated almost as religion, where young children ‘inherited’ their status as a Liberal or Conservative by their family and neighbours and were often told to hate the other party. It was the election year of 1946, however, that marked the darkest times in Columbian history. The brutal violence and unprecedented levels of killings were described as “a nightmarish period of bloodletting so empty of meaning it is simple called la Violencia ”. The response of the Columbian government was forceful repression , which did nothing more than fuel the conflict rather than reduce it. The chaotic environment juxtaposed with political instability and poor law enforcement had a long-lasting effect on the Columbian society, causing a deep distrust for the government and its institutions. These events were predecessors for even more crime and …show more content…

With the substantial amounts of money he was making from his cocaine business, Escobar ‘bought off’ the majority of the Columbian authorities including the police, judges and politicians through bribes to allow him to run his cartel without facing persecution. Escobar’s famous policy in his war against the government was highlighted in his quote “Plata o Plomo” which translates to ‘silver or lead’. You either accepted his bribe, or you were met with his bullets. The money he had attracted the attention of others however, through this tyranny of fear and violence, Escobar’s power and influence was virtually untouchable. This was shown on November 13, 1981, when Jorge Luis Ochoa, a member of the Ochoa family in which were a highly respected long-time partner to Pablo in the drug business, informed Escobar that his sister had been kidnapped. She was being held ransom by the communist, left-wing guerrilla group M-19 for twelve million dollars. Escobar took these actions to his business partners as a personal offence, thus he held a meeting at Hacienda Nápoles attended by 200 drug traffickers across the country. Here, he established himself as the leader of the formation of their own paramilitary organization, ‘Muerte a Secuestradores (MAS)’, translating to ‘Death to Kidnappers’. Through this ruthless organisation, thousands of men were

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