Griselda Blanco with Pablo Escobar, in an archive photoLa Razón
Colombia had several very feared mafia bosses, some more bloodthirsty than others. However, among all of them, the period in which Griselda Blanco dominated stood out, since her story is much more sinister than the fiction of the film that Netflix has just made about her, with Sofía Vergara as the main character.
For this reason
For many Colombians who have suffered the scourge of the drug trade, reliving Griselda's life, even if it is a watered-down, Hollywood-style version, is not pleasant.
Blanco had several nicknames. They called her “The Black Widow” because she murdered three husbands, or “The Godmother” because of her comparison to the Francis Ford Coppola film “The Godfather,” which she was passionate about. Also for supporting Pablo Escobar Gaviria in founding the Medellín Cartel.
A harsh life at a young age that included abuse and violence turned her into a dominant woman with a brutal and cruel personality. Griselda was one of the “pioneers” of cocaine trafficking to the United States in the 1970s and 1980s and had an established organization that Escobar later continued to use. She was eventually, like many traffickers, executed in cold blood by her rivals.
Griselda's mother became pregnant by her employer, a rich man who did not want to acknowledge the baby. From that moment on, the woman lived as best she could in the Caribbean city of Santa Marta, in northern Colombia. When Griselda was 11 years old, they both moved to Medellin. The mother walked the streets of the city and the little girl began committing crimes with a gang she had founded. They engaged in petty theft and looting.