The public views infamous figures in a variety of ways. Some may love a certain person, while others may hate that individual. In the book Killing Pablo, the author Mark Bowden describes Pablo Escobar as a villain and a hero. Pablo Escobar lives his life as a drug lord in Colombia. He starts out selling cigarettes and cassettes to residents within Colombia, and later on in his life turns to illegal drug trafficking worldwide. Pablo builds an empire; as one of the richest and most powerful men in the world at the height of his reign, which leads to the extensive manhunt for him and his cartel. Pablo Escobar violently terrorizes the streets of Colombia for almost two decades, yet Colombians look upon him as a hero for building schools and helping …show more content…
In the United States, the American government publishes articles daily about the horrendous acts Escobar commits. The American government instructs the media to influence the public's opinion of Escobar, because the government knows they need the support and money from the average American taxpayer to bring down Escobar. “The federal government needed any type of money they could find, as they were using every nickel on the pursuit of Escobar.” (148). The American government needed every single dollar they could obtain to invest in the capturing of Escobar. When Pablo decides to run for president in Colombia, the Americans immediately start to investigate him and his wealth. When they interview Escobar and question his success, he claims he earns his money as the owner of a Colombian taxi company. When the Americans follow one of his taxis throughout the streets of Medellin, they find almost a kilo of cocaine in the trunk. This sparks a reaction from the American press, which results in the government deploying men and resources into Colombia in the effort to find Escobar, as “The hunt for Pablo had consumed years and thousands of lives and many millions of American dollars (123). The American government preventing the smuggling of narcotics across our border is worthy of any sum of money, according to DEA agent Steve Murphy in the television show Narcos. He claims, “The primary goal for the American …show more content…
Colombian citizens experience and live through the good and bad things Pablo does, when Americans only hear about the negative actions Escobar commits. Hearing versus seeing plays a vital role in the difference of perspectives between the Colombians and Americans. In the United States, only hearing about Pablo Escobar leads to confusion among different people as “For what, exactly, isn’t easy to understand without knowing Colombia and his life and times” (15). American civilians not knowing personally know why they hate Escobar reflects poorly on the United States. The media does not inform the general public about all the great and generous things Escobar accomplishes for Colombia, and only publishes the stories of his cartel killing innocent people. From the perspective of Colombians, they only know Escobar as a hero of Colombia as “At his death, Pablo was mourned by thousands. Crowds rioted when his casket was carried into the streets of his home city of Medellin” (15). Colombians create a national mourning day for Escobar after his death, when the Americans celebrate their success in killing him. This represents the difference in opinion of Escobar between the two countries. Pablo made promises and he conqueres them; he said he would end poverty as he provided education and housing to the poorest people inside of Colombia. On the other hand,
“ Life is full of surprises, some good, some not so good.” Pablo Escobar once said this when he became the leader of the Medellin Cartel in Colombia. Another person who had the same mentality is Joaquin Guzman also known as El Chapo the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. The similarities of these men are that they quickly rose to power through illegal ventures. For many years these two men were causing havoc all over the world. Pablo and El Chapo both became the most wanted men in the world at one point in their lives. People wanted these men off of the streets to for the can be put in jail. Finally the people got want they wanted and they men both got thrown in jail.
There was piece in the streets, no more bombs, less violence, kidnapping, etc… I want people outside of Colombia to know about what truly Colombia is about. We always take into the fact that when people associate Colombia they associate it with the negative actions of Pablo Escobar and how he smuggled Cocaine into the United States. When people associate Colombia, they do it with Pablo Escobar, when the actual reality is that Pablo Escobar was at war with
Pablo Escobar is remembered around the world as a criminal, a drug lord, and a gang leader. Escobar is believed to be responsible for the deaths of over 4,000 police officers, soldiers, lawyers, and politicians. Still to this day, almost every person in Colombia knows someone whose life has been affected by the actions of Pablo Escobar. He is recognized not only for his notorious crimes, but also for his generous support to the poor and his donations to many underprivileged communities. Despite his death over twenty years ago in 1993, the actions and decisions Escobar made while he was alive still have major influences on the world today.
In The Accountant's Story, Pablo's brother and accountant, Roberto Escobar, discusses the means by which Pablo rose from middle class simplicity and obscurity to become one of the world's wealthiest men. At the height of its power, the Medellín drug cartel was smuggling fifteen tons of cocaine per day, worth more than half a billion dollars, into the United States. According to Roberto, he and his brother's operation spent $1000 per week purchasing rubber bands to wrap the stacks of cash, storing most of it in their warehouses; 10% had to be written off per year because of "spoilage" by rats that crept in at night and nibbled on the hundred dollar bills.[8]
Throughout the first chapter of Open Veins of Latin America, Eduardo Galeano discusses the oppressio...
Steven Dudley in his book, Walking Ghosts: Murder and Guerilla Politics in Colombia, seeks to explain the internal political issues of what has been considered to be the earliest and most promising democracy of the Latin American region. In his book, the author delineates the process by which political upheaval has been able to inject itself into the social and political schedules of the country. Unlike many other cases involving genocide, Colombia has been part of what seems to be an eternal political genocide. Based on information provided by the author, one can conclude that the war, which the Colombian government is currently attempting to defeat, was in fact triggered by its own inept decisions of the past. Although very complex, the
It is unknown when Joaquin Guzman was born. In fact, very little is known about his childhood. A man who did not have the opportunity to receive an education, had an abusive father and had lost brothers in his youth. Joaquin is regarded as a hard worker by some of Mexican people that he was able to influence throughout his lifetime. Others, and these beyond the realm of Sinaloa regard him as a drug kingpin, known for the murder of many and the ruining of even more. A man known to have at one point handled over eighty percent of Chicago’s drugs, his arrest presented a discussion that had been ignored by international standards but that those affected most by poverty in the rural regions of Mexico had felt for years. The Mexican government had
The book is split up into two parts being the escape of Pablo and his death.The first part starts off with Morris Busby, U.S. ambassador to Colombia, receiving a phone call from President Gaviria of Colombia telling him that Pablo Escobar had escaped his prison at La Catedral. Somehow, Pablo had managed to escape his prison after several Colombian Military platoons had been sent in order to capture him and send him to another prison where he would not be able to live so leisurely. At La Catedral he would enjoy hookers, drugs, and even the most expensive technology money could buy. It was a prison run by guards who he payed and the inmates were Pablo and his most trusted assassins or Sicarios. If Pablo could pay off his prison guards and was at one point on Forbes Top 10 richest men in the world then he could bribe even the army. Pablo was able to escape after one of the military platoons had let him slip away deliberately. He had been able to get his way either through bribing the captain in charge or threatening to kill
It additionally finished an existence of wrongdoing that started with offering stolen headstones, made him an uncrowned lord with homes and plane armadas, won him a place in the National Assembly and earned him a notoriety for being an executioner who exploded neighborhoods, strip malls and even a jetliner. In any case, he was additionally observed as a Robin Hood who manufactured houses for poor people, cleared streets, raised games stadiums and gave occupations to thousands. 'The Triumph of Law' . Life on the run and the demise or surrender of a considerable lot of his lieutenants had extremely disintegrated the volume of cocaine that Escobar's could ship to the United States and Europe. Want, Need , Goods , for all intents and purposes contrary to popular
At that time, the U.S government was facing a huge corruption issue and there was an inside war to fight it. There was always a corrupt FBI agent or a seal team member that worked in favor of Pablo Escobar and his business in order to improve their own welfare . This kind of corrupt authority individuals were a very convenient way to keep up Pablo’s drug cartels business. That was very handyl for Pablo, because he was eager to expand his business and always found a way to find someone who will work for him by his side in the FBI department or in the seal team. Either way, anybody who would have helped and worked for Pablo Escobar, in return would have gotten very wealthy. In the late 70’s in the U.S. most important society values were to make money or get it any way possible, which was a very favorable circumstance for Pablo and his drug cartel. The main culture value that I will explore from this movie is how to drug cartels affected young teenagers, their parents and adults by trafficking them to the U.S.. Many people got addicted to drugs, because 95% of the drugs at that time came from Pablo Escobar’s illegal drug
Bibliography Bibliography Belov, D. “Drug Problems of Colombia,” International Affairs, Vol. 44 (Nov. 1998) pp. 125-129. Boudon, Lawrence. “Guerillas and the State,” Journal of Latin American Studies, Vol. 28 (May 1996), pp. 279-297. Chepesiak, Ron. “Narco Paralysis in Colombia,” New Leader, Vol. 80 (Jan. 1997), pp. 6-10. Knoester, Mark. “War in Colombia,” Social Justice, Vol. 25 (Nov. 1998) pp. 85-109. Maullin, Richard L. Soldiers, Guerillas, and Politics in Colombia (Lexington, Massachusetts, 1973) pp. 84-109. Oquist, Paul. Violence, Conflict, and Politics in Colombia (New York, 1980) pp.108-129. Osterling, Jorge P. Democracy in Colombia: Clientist Politics and Guerilla Warfare (New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1989) pp. 261-300. Posada-Carbo, Eduardo. Colombia: The Politics of Reforming the State (New York, 1998) pp. 111-125. Richani, Nazih. “War Systems in Colombia,” Journal of Interamerican studies and World Affairs, Vol. 39 (Summer 1997), pp. 37-81. Steiner, Roberto. “Colombian Income from the Drug Trade,” World Development, Vol. 26 (June 1998), pp. 1013-1031.
Pablo Escobar, also known as “The King of Cocaine”, was a notorious Colombian drug lord, who at the height of his career supplied about 80% of the cocaine, which was smuggled into the U.S. (Wikipedia web). In the 1970’s, Pablo Escobar rose to power when began to take control over drug trafficking and the selling of cocaine. He was known to be a very violent and ruthless person, who showed no mercy that did not follow his simple commands. He became wealthy because no one stood in his way,
Pablo Escobar played by Wagner Moura in the Netflix original hit show, Narcos, is the best villain because of how well he portrayed the real Pablo Escobar and what he stood for. He is ruthless, cool headed, resourceful, charismatic, and determined to change the Colombian government. In this TV series, the story of a man named Pablo Escobar is trying to run the Medellin drug cartel in Colombia as he is hunted down by the Colombian government, American military, DEA, CIA, and special forces. DEA agent Steve Murphy does all he can to try to take down the biggest cocaine empire in Colombia. As Escobar does all he can to save this Medellin cartel, get rid of extradition, and get away with becoming the leader of one of the world’s biggest drug cartels.
Drug cartels have been able to build up their reputation and claim a stake in the country. They are able to put fear into Mexicans because they have turned the country around. They even made it “the kidnapping capital of the world (Cawley).” Many cartels use kidnapping as a way to remind people who they are and also a way to ransom money out of the people and government. This trend spiked around the same time ex-President Felipe Calderon’s assault on organized crime. Many of Mexico’s well-known cartels were significantly affected, causing them to lose revenue from drug trafficking. But it also stimulated newer, smaller criminal organizations to rise, though they found other ways to make an income besides drug trafficking. The problem seems to continue grow and change from drug trade to other criminal activities. This makes it unsafe for the citizens of Mexico, government officials and any organize crime groups because they all get caught up in the killing. The United States is also affected because United States is one of the main places that Mexico’s drug cartels supply and the United States are helping fund the Mexican government in their war against drugs. They have invested, “over 100 million per year in military and police assistance, including world-class weapons, training and intelligence
He was ranked as the 7th richest man to be alive seven years in a row. He was so rich that he paid pilots 500k to smuggle cocaine in the tires of their airplanes into the united states. In attempt to change the law of extradition, Escobar paid off all of Colombia’s debt of 10,000,000,000 dollars. He always said extradition was his biggest fear because he didn’t want to spend his last days in an American jail cell. Escobar ran out of places to locate his money so he started putting it in barns and places where it could eventually spoil. That’s exactly what it did, 10% of Escobar’s earnings were lost to spoilage from humidity and rats. This fact I am about to share is one thing Pablo Escobar was famous for. While running from the police, Escobar’s daughter, Manuela, grew ill. To keep her warm instead of shivering, Escobar burned approximately $2,000,000 dollars to keep her warm. He had a special love for his family, even though he was involved in many affairs, he loved his wife and two children (4,Picone,Kiri). Pablo made a deal with the Colombian government that he would do jail time as long as he built and manufactured his own prison. They agreed and soon enough the La Catedral was built. This prison shouldn’t even be considered a prison because it held a casino, a nightclub, and even a spa. It was known to be a luxurious prison. This man had more money than he knew what to do with. He