Pablo Escobar was the most famous, influential - and dangerous - drug lord in Colombia. He was head of the Medellín cartel, responsible for shipping two to three tons of cocaine to the US - every day. Since he was shot in 1993, the situation in Medellín has improved a lot: no more car bombs, no more drive-by shootings. At least during the daytime, it is safe to walk around most parts of the city.
To show visitors what Medellín was like in Pablo Escobar's time, there are two companies offering Pablo Escobar tours. I joined one of them today.
The tour showed us various houses that the Medellín cartel had built. All of them were white - allegedly as a reference to the color of cocaine, as the rest of Medellín is built with red bricks. This one was bombed by the cartel's rivals just after it was finished. And this is what a car full of TNT does to a house:
Some people in Colombia seem to believe that Escobar is not really dead, and consequently there is graffiti like this, saying "Pablo lives:"
During the time car bombings and shootings were daily business in Medellín, our guide was in school. Nobody knew how to deal with the constant fear, many had lost friends or relatives, and so their way of coping was to invent jokes. This is one of them: Do you know what Pablo Escobar's daughter will receive as a Christmas present this year? - Barbie Car Bomb!
In 1993, Pablo Escobar was shot to death. There are different stories around as to who did it - rivals, the police, the CIA, he himself as a response to being cornered - but the result, his death, is almost undisputed. This was his aunt's house where he passed his final hours:
We also visited his grave in Medellín's cemetery:
After his death, the Medellín cartel suddenly found itself without a leader. As a consequence, its rival, the Cali cartel, took over the business. Today, Colombia still is the world's biggest producer of cocaine, but the violent cartel wars seem to have shifted to northern Mexico. According to our guide, the situation there today is very similar to the one in Colombia before Escobar's death.
All is not well in Colombia, however. There are still high levels of corruption among police and government. Just recently, our guide explained, police confiscated four tons of cocaine. Two days layer, it was scheduled to be destroyed - but had been replaced with flour in the meantime.
Drug usage also seems to be a problem. Although the consumption and acquisition of drugs is not legal, Colombians are allowed to carry one gram of cocaine and an ounce of weed for personal use. There seem to be tolerance zones in the city where it is ok to smoke weed, as long as you do it after five. And then there are the basuco addicts. Our tour van passed one street corner where people were smoking cocaine paste, or basuco, in broad daylight. Extremely cheap, and extremely addictive - these people live only for the next smoke. Presumably, this is an area tourists should refrain from exploring on foot ;-)
To show visitors what Medellín was like in Pablo Escobar's time, there are two companies offering Pablo Escobar tours. I joined one of them today.
The tour showed us various houses that the Medellín cartel had built. All of them were white - allegedly as a reference to the color of cocaine, as the rest of Medellín is built with red bricks. This one was bombed by the cartel's rivals just after it was finished. And this is what a car full of TNT does to a house:
Some people in Colombia seem to believe that Escobar is not really dead, and consequently there is graffiti like this, saying "Pablo lives:"
During the time car bombings and shootings were daily business in Medellín, our guide was in school. Nobody knew how to deal with the constant fear, many had lost friends or relatives, and so their way of coping was to invent jokes. This is one of them: Do you know what Pablo Escobar's daughter will receive as a Christmas present this year? - Barbie Car Bomb!
In 1993, Pablo Escobar was shot to death. There are different stories around as to who did it - rivals, the police, the CIA, he himself as a response to being cornered - but the result, his death, is almost undisputed. This was his aunt's house where he passed his final hours:
We also visited his grave in Medellín's cemetery:
After his death, the Medellín cartel suddenly found itself without a leader. As a consequence, its rival, the Cali cartel, took over the business. Today, Colombia still is the world's biggest producer of cocaine, but the violent cartel wars seem to have shifted to northern Mexico. According to our guide, the situation there today is very similar to the one in Colombia before Escobar's death.
All is not well in Colombia, however. There are still high levels of corruption among police and government. Just recently, our guide explained, police confiscated four tons of cocaine. Two days layer, it was scheduled to be destroyed - but had been replaced with flour in the meantime.
Drug usage also seems to be a problem. Although the consumption and acquisition of drugs is not legal, Colombians are allowed to carry one gram of cocaine and an ounce of weed for personal use. There seem to be tolerance zones in the city where it is ok to smoke weed, as long as you do it after five. And then there are the basuco addicts. Our tour van passed one street corner where people were smoking cocaine paste, or basuco, in broad daylight. Extremely cheap, and extremely addictive - these people live only for the next smoke. Presumably, this is an area tourists should refrain from exploring on foot ;-)
