Two small lights illuminate the threshold of the room. On the table there is a ceramic figure of the Santo Niño de Atocha and above it on the white wall is a portrait of Pablo Escobar with his mustache and curly hair, wrapped in a golden frame. The altar in honor of the drug trafficker has been erected in this house for more than 20 years, where he is worshiped as a pagan god. “Every day I ask the Lord to watch over his soul and let him rest in peace,” says the owner, María Eugenia Castaño, who reflexively kneels in front of the picture while cleaning. “I’m not one to judge him, let the person up there do it,” he adds, crossing himself.
These small terraced houses, perched on a hill crisscrossed by cables, were built by Escobar in the 1980s, when he was the richest man in the world. Here he resettled poor families who lived on a landfill over which scavenger birds fluttered. The neighborhood bears his name and has long remained unnoticed, but the global fame achieved by the Colombian bandit has made it a place of pilgrimage for foreign tourists visiting Medellín. The phenomenon triggers curiosity and horror in equal measure. Thirty years after his death, which marks the anniversary this Saturday, Colombia is wondering what to do with the unpleasant memory of the drug trafficker who returned from the dead and transformed himself into a pop icon.
Altar dedicated to Pablo Escobar in the house of María Eugenia Castaño, on November 21, 2023. Santiago Mesa
Escobar flooded the United States with cocaine between the 1970s and 1980s. On one of his estates, which he called Naples, he set up a private zoo with rhinos, giraffes, hippos, zebras and kangaroos. At dusk he liked to watch the white birds he had brought with him from Africa, which, as he had trained them, perched on the branches of the trees to roost. At that time, he and other partners ran the so-called Medellín Cartel. He stood out from the rest of the drug traffickers for his extreme cruelty: he killed friends, enemies, judges, ministers, presidential candidates; He shot down a plane and planted a bomb in Bogotá’s most prestigious club. His power and internalized sense of greatness were such that he believed he could become President of the Republic. He became a congressman and was expelled from his own party when it was discovered that he was actually a drug lord.
“He thought and acted like a politician. He strongly believed that no matter how much money you have, if you don’t have political power, you don’t have real power. He understood that his empire was made of paper if it was not accepted by others,” recalls Marta Ruiz, journalist and member of the Truth Commission. She believes we need to stop being outraged by her character and “try to understand her.” Pablo is alive because he has a lot to say about Colombian society at the time: “He achieved what many of my generation wanted: to be rich.”
He is buried in a beautiful cemetery of low graves, the Montesacro Gardens. In his grave he rests with his parents and the last assassin who accompanied him when they killed him, El Limón. In the middle the mother, on the right the father and on the left Escobar. For the thirtieth anniversary, her brothers decorated the place with an arch of white flowers and a carpet on the sides. In the middle a black acrylic heart with red roses. A piece of marble from the Napoles estate is embedded in the recently painted black cement.
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Several tourists approach Pablo Escobar’s grave to take photos, in Medellín, Tuesday, November 21, 2023. Santiago Mesa
On a weekday, tourists approach the tomb, observe it for a few minutes and then continue on their way. These are narcotours offered by local tour guides.
Elvis from Puerto Rico, wearing a Miami Heat t-shirt, takes photos with his cell phone.
-Why did you come here?
—He seems to me to be a brutal character. I watched the Netflix series and what do I know, it made me curious,” says Elvis.
Nico comes from Canada with a group of great friends.
—He was a piece of shit, killed a lot of people— [Era un pedazo de mierda, mató a mucha gente…] he says contemptuously.
Federico works at the foot of the grave from nine in the morning to one in the afternoon and talks about Escobar’s life in exchange for a tip. His friend Gilberto does this from one to six. “All of this skyrocketed after the pandemic and because of the Netflix series. I saw people kneeling and everything. “That’s why so many people come to Medellín,” smiles Federico.
Alfonso Buitrago, author of the book El Chino. Pablo Escobar’s Personal Photographer, a delightful chronicle of the drug trafficker’s camera portraitist, believes that we should not shy away from the myth or fear its ghost. In his opinion, the important thing lies elsewhere: “We need to examine much more the context in which Escobar became a special chapter in the war on drugs.” A common mistake is to believe that Escobar is a Colombian product. International productions wanted to show us that the drug trade is a local peculiarity and has shaped Colombia’s identity. “In reality, it is a very violent global phenomenon.”
In the Escobar neighborhood it is obvious that Damian is a tourist. T-shirt, shorts and sandals with socks. He is taking a tour advertised by a Polish agency as “KOLUMBIA – ŚLADAMI ESCOBARA,” priced at $7,390 for a 14-day tour of Colombia. “You travel all over the country, but they call it Escobar to attract more customers,” explains Damian. Behind him, on the wall that marks the entrance to the neighborhood, hangs a mural of his face. It says: “Welcome, there is peace here.” A nearby barber shop sells hats, key chains and refrigerator magnets. His memory has become an industry.
Several tourists walk through the streets of the Pablo Escobar neighborhood. Santiago Mesa
Omar Rincón, journalist, academic and essayist specializing in culture and entertainment, considers this a phenomenon difficult to explain: “The guy was ugly, not cool at all and by all accounts it is the worst thing ever.” is Colombia happened. But he was a folk hero, he meant access to pure capitalism for the poor class who suddenly had money. He has become a pop star, unfortunately he is our Che Guevara.” For this he attaches great importance to television: “Escobar fell into obscurity, but El Patrón del Mal (the Colombian series), which was supposed to educate young people about the evil of Pablo , has transformed him.” be charming, lovable, lovable. Then the Netflix version Narcos revives him as a handsome and spectacular guy in bed.”
When Rincón travels abroad, he sometimes presents himself as someone from the country of Escobar. His thesis is that with the arrival of the 21st century, a culture of success has been established that needs to be showcased, just as reggaeton artists, influencers and football players do. “Everyone went narco-style,” he continues. “Cristiano Ronaldo has the attitude of a drug dealer, and so does Trump.” The unstoppable rise of Escobar’s spirit is presented in this context.
Wall with photos from Pablo Escobar’s personal archive in a hair salon in Medellín.Santiago Mesa
Pablo’s younger sister – there were seven of them, he was the third – has been looking after the grave for 30 years and not letting it fall into disrepair. If life gave her the opportunity to choose him as a brother again, she would do it. “Without hesitation,” says Luz María Escobar, 68, a woman with short, dyed blonde hair. He may have been a womanizer, but he was an excellent father, sorry. “He left us a very important life lesson: We must say no to drug trafficking, no to weapons, no to violence and yes to life, reconciliation and love.” But how could he teach that when he did exactly the opposite would do? “Because he never forgave and that’s why there were a lot of victims.” She had three children from whom she initially hid who her uncle was, but when the time came and the children heard stories at school, she had to tell them the hard one Tell the truth. There was something that tormented her: “I was afraid that one of them would become like Pablo.”
At this point, what to do with the dark legacy of Pablo Escobar? Colombian society, traumatized by the terror he perpetrated in the 1980s, is now stunned to see his face on T-shirts. It is not easy to live with this contradiction. Escobar, the ruthless murderer, has risen from the grave to leave no one alone.
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