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![Forever alone | PABLO EMILIO ESCOBAR GAVIRIA (/ˈƐSKƏBⱭːR/; 1 DECEMBER 1949 – 2 DECEMBER 1993) WAS A COLOMBIAN DRUG LORD AND NARCOTERRORIST WHO WAS THE FOUNDER AND SOLE LEADER OF THE MEDELLÍN CARTEL. DUBBED "THE KING OF COCAINE," ESCOBAR IS THE WEALTHIEST CRIMINAL IN HISTORY, HAVING AMASSED AN ESTIMATED NET WORTH OF US$30 BILLION BY THE TIME OF HIS DEATH—EQUIVALENT TO $64 BILLION AS OF 2021—WHILE HIS DRUG CARTEL MONOPOLIZED THE COCAINE TRADE INTO THE UNITED STATES IN THE 1980S AND EARLY 1990S.[1][2] BORN IN RIONEGRO AND RAISED IN MEDELLÍN, ESCOBAR STUDIED BRIEFLY AT UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA LATINOAMERICANA OF MEDELLÍN, BUT LEFT WITHOUT GRADUATING; HE INSTEAD BEGAN ENGAGING IN CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, SELLING ILLEGAL CIGARETTES AND FAKE LOTTERY TICKETS, AS WELL AS PARTICIPATING IN MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT. IN THE EARLY 1970S, HE BEGAN TO WORK FOR VARIOUS DRUG SMUGGLERS, OFTEN KIDNAPPING AND HOLDING PEOPLE FOR RANSOM. IN 1976, ESCOBAR FOUNDED THE MEDELLÍN CARTEL, WHICH DISTRIBUTED POWDER COCAINE, AND ESTABLISHED THE FIRST SMUGGLING ROUTES INTO THE UNITED STATES. ESCOBAR'S INFILTRATION INTO THE U.S. CREATED EXPONENTIAL DEMAND FOR COCAINE AND BY THE 1980S IT WAS ESTIMATED ESCOBAR LED MONTHLY SHIPMENTS OF 70 TO 80 TONS OF COCAINE INTO THE COUNTRY FROM COLOMBIA. AS A RESULT, HE QUICKLY BECAME ONE OF THE RICHEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD,[3][4] BUT CONSISTENTLY BATTLED RIVAL CARTELS DOMESTICALLY AND ABROAD, LEADING TO MASSACRES AND THE MURDERS OF POLICE OFFICERS, JUDGES, LOCALS, AND PROMINENT POLITICIANS,[5] MAKING COLOMBIA THE MURDER CAPITAL OF THE WORLD.[6] IN THE 1982 COLOMBIAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION ESCOBAR WAS ELECTED AS AN ALTERNATE MEMBER OF THE CHAMBER OF REPRESENTATIVES AS PART OF THE LIBERAL ALTERNATIVE MOVEMENT. THROUGH THIS, HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR COMMUNITY PROJECTS SUCH AS THE CONSTRUCTION OF HOUSES AND FOOTBALL FIELDS, WHICH GAINED HIM POPULARITY AMONG THE LOCALS OF THE TOWNS THAT HE FREQUENTED. HOWEVER, ESCOBAR WAS VILIFIED BY THE COLOMBIAN AND U.S. GOVERNMENTS,[7] WHO ROUTINELY STIFLED HIS POLITICAL AMBITIONS AND PUSHED FOR HIS ARREST, WITH ESCOBAR WIDELY BELIEVED TO HAVE ORCHESTRATED THE DAS BUILDING AND AVIANCA FLIGHT 203 BOMBINGS IN RETALIATION. IN 1991, ESCOBAR SURRENDERED TO AUTHORITIES, AND WAS SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS' IMPRISONMENT ON A HOST OF CHARGES, BUT STRUCK A DEAL OF NO EXTRADITION WITH COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT CESAR GAVIRIA, WITH THE ABILITY OF BEING HOUSED IN HIS OWN, SELF-BUILT PRISON, LA CATEDRAL. IN 1992, ESCOBAR ESCAPED AND WENT INTO HIDING WHEN AUTHORITIES ATTEMPTED TO MOVE HIM TO A MORE STANDARD HOLDING FACILITY, LEADING TO A NATION-WIDE MANHUNT.[8] AS A RESULT, THE MEDELLÍN CARTEL CRUMBLED, AND IN 1993, ESCOBAR WAS KILLED IN HIS HOMETOWN BY COLOMBIAN NATIONAL POLICE, A DAY AFTER HIS 44TH BIRTHDAY.[9] ESCOBAR'S LEGACY REMAINS CONTROVERSIAL; WHILE MANY DENOUNCE THE HEINOUS NATURE OF HIS CRIMES, HE WAS SEEN AS A "ROBIN HOOD-LIKE" FIGURE FOR MANY IN COLOMBIA, AS HE PROVIDED MANY AMENITIES TO THE POOR. HIS KILLING WAS MOURNED AND HIS FUNERAL ATTENDED BY OVER 25,000 PEOPLE.[10] ADDITIONALLY, HIS PRIVATE ESTATE, HACIENDA NÁPOLES, HAS BEEN TRANSFORMED INTO A THEME PARK,[11] AND HE HAS BEEN BOTH PRAISED AND CRITICIZED FOR IMPORTING HIPPOPOTAMUSES TO COLOMBIA.[12] HIS LIFE HAS ALSO SERVED AS INSPIRATION FOR OR HAS BEEN DRAMATIZED WIDELY IN FILM, TELEVISION, AND IN MUSIC.PABLO EMILIO ESCOBAR GAVIRIA WAS BORN ON 1 DECEMBER 1949, IN RIONEGRO, IN THE ANTIOQUIA DEPARTMENT OF COLOMBIA. HE WAS THE THIRD OF SEVEN CHILDREN OF THE FARMER ABEL DE JESÚS DARI ESCOBAR ECHEVERRI (1910–2001),[13] WITH HIS WIFE HERMILDA DE LOS DOLORES GAVIRIA BERRÍO (D. 2006),[14] AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER.[15] RAISED IN THE NEARBY CITY OF MEDELLÍN, ESCOBAR IS THOUGHT TO HAVE BEGUN HIS CRIMINAL CAREER AS A TEENAGER, ALLEGEDLY STEALING GRAVESTONES AND SANDING THEM DOWN FOR RESALE TO LOCAL SMUGGLERS. HIS BROTHER, ROBERTO ESCOBAR, DENIES THIS, INSTEAD CLAIMING THAT THE GRAVESTONES CAME FROM CEMETERY OWNERS WHOSE CLIENTS HAD STOPPED PAYING FOR DEATH AND THE SUBSEQUENT FRAGMENTATION OF THE MEDELLÍN CARTEL, THE COCAINE MARKET BECAME DOMINATED BY THE RIVAL CALI CARTEL UNTIL THE MID-1990S WHEN ITS LEADERS WERE EITHER KILLED OR CAPTURED BY THE COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT. THE ROBIN HOOD IMAGE THAT ESCOBAR HAD CULTIVATED MAINTAINED A LASTING INFLUENCE IN MEDELLÍN. MANY THERE, ESPECIALLY MANY OF THE CITY'S POOR WHOM ESCOBAR HAD AIDED WHILE HE WAS ALIVE, MOURNED HIS DEATH, AND OVER 25,000 PEOPLE ATTENDED HIS FUNERAL. SOME OF THEM CONSIDER HIM A SAINT AND PRAY TO HIM FOR RECEIVING DIVINE HELP.[49] VIRGINIA VALLEJO'S TESTIMONY SEE ALSO: VIRGINIA VALLEJO, ALBERTO SANTOFIMIO, ALFONSO LÓPEZ MICHELSEN, ERNESTO SAMPER, AND ÁLVARO URIBE ON 4 JULY 2006, VIRGINIA VALLEJO, A TELEVISION ANCHORWOMAN ROMANTICALLY INVOLVED WITH ESCOBAR FROM 1983 TO 1987, OFFERED ATTORNEY GENERAL MARIO IGUARÁN HER TESTIMONY IN THE TRIAL AGAINST FORMER SENATOR ALBERTO SANTOFIMIO, WHO WAS ACCUSED OF CONSPIRACY IN THE 1989 ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE LUIS CARLOS GALÁN. IGUARÁN ACKNOWLEDGED THAT, ALTHOUGH VALLEJO HAD CONTACTED HIS OFFICE ON 4 JULY, THE JUDGE HAD DECIDED TO CLOSE THE TRIAL ON 9 JULY, SEVERAL WEEKS BEFORE THE PROSPECTIVE CLOSING DATE. THE ACTION WAS SEEN AS TOO LATE.[50][51] ON 18 JULY 2006, VALLEJO WAS TAKEN TO THE UNITED STATES ON A SPECIAL FLIGHT OF THE DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION (DEA), FOR "SAFETY AND SECURITY REASONS" DUE TO HER COOPERATION IN HIGH-PROFILE CRIMINAL CASES.[52][53] ON 24 JULY, A VIDEO IN WHICH VALLEJO HAD ACCUSED SANTOFIMIO OF INSTIGATING ESCOBAR TO ELIMINATE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE GALÁN WAS AIRED BY RCN TELEVISION OF COLOMBIA. THE VIDEO WAS SEEN BY 14 MILLION PEOPLE, AND WAS INSTRUMENTAL FOR THE REOPENED CASE OF GALÁN'S ASSASSINATION. ON 31 AUGUST 2011 SANTOFIMIO WAS SENTENCED TO 24 YEARS IN PRISON FOR HIS ROLE IN THE CRIME.[54][55] ROLE IN THE PALACE OF JUSTICE SIEGE AMONG ESCOBAR'S BIOGRAPHERS, ONLY VALLEJO HAS GIVEN A DETAILED EXPLANATION OF HIS ROLE IN THE 1985 PALACE OF JUSTICE SIEGE. THE JOURNALIST STATED THAT ESCOBAR HAD FINANCED THE OPERATION, WHICH WAS COMMITTED BY M-19; BUT SHE BLAMED THE ARMY FOR THE KILLINGS OF MORE THAN 100 PEOPLE, INCLUDING 11 SUPREME COURT MAGISTRATES, M-19 MEMBERS, AND EMPLOYEES OF THE CAFETERIA. HER STATEMENTS PROMPTED THE REOPENING OF THE CASE IN 2008; VALLEJO WAS ASKED TO TESTIFY, AND MANY OF THE EVENTS SHE HAD DESCRIBED IN HER BOOK AND TESTIMONIAL WERE CONFIRMED BY COLOMBIA'S COMMISSION OF TRUTH.[56][57] THESE EVENTS LED TO FURTHER INVESTIGATION INTO THE SIEGE THAT RESULTED WITH THE CONVICTION OF A HIGH-RANKING FORMER COLONEL AND A FORMER GENERAL, LATER SENTENCED TO 30 AND 35 YEARS IN PRISON, RESPECTIVELY, FOR THE FORCED DISAPPEARANCE OF THE DETAINED AFTER THE SIEGE.[58][59] VALLEJO WOULD SUBSEQUENTLY TESTIFY IN GALÁN'S ASSASSINATION.[60] IN HER BOOK, AMANDO A PABLO, ODIANDO A ESCOBAR (LOVING PABLO, HATING ESCOBAR), SHE HAD ACCUSED SEVERAL POLITICIANS, INCLUDING COLOMBIAN PRESIDENTS ALFONSO LÓPEZ MICHELSEN, ERNESTO SAMPER AND ÁLVARO URIBE OF HAVING LINKS TO DRUG CARTELS.[61] DUE TO THREATS, AND HER COOPERATION IN THESE CASES, ON 3 JUNE 2010 THE UNITED STATES GRANTED POLITICAL ASYLUM TO THE COLOMBIAN JOURNALIST. RELATIVES ESCOBAR'S WIDOW (MARÍA HENAO, NOW MARÍA ISABEL SANTOS CABALLERO), SON (JUAN PABLO, NOW JUAN SEBASTIÁN MARROQUÍN SANTOS) AND DAUGHTER (MANUELA) FLED COLOMBIA IN 1995 AFTER FAILING TO FIND A COUNTRY THAT WOULD GRANT THEM ASYLUM.[62] DESPITE ESCOBAR'S NUMEROUS AND CONTINUAL INFIDELITIES, MARIA REMAINED SUPPORTIVE OF HER HUSBAND, THOUGH SHE URGED HIM TO ESCHEW VIOLENCE. MEMBERS OF THE CALI CARTEL EVEN REPLAYED THEIR RECORDINGS OF HER CONVERSATIONS WITH PABLO FOR THEIR WIVES TO DEMONSTRATE HOW A WOMAN SHOULD BEHAVE.[63] THIS ATTITUDE PROVED TO BE THE REASON THE CARTEL DID NOT KILL HER AND HER CHILDREN AFTER PABLO'S DEATH, ALTHOUGH THE GROUP DEMANDED (AND RECEIVED) MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN REPARATIONS FOR ESCOBAR'S WAR AGAINST THEM. HENAO EVEN SUCCESSFULLY NEGOTIATED FOR HER SON'S LIFE BY PERSONALLY GUARANTEEING HE WOULD NOT SEEK REVENGE AGAINST THE CARTEL OR PARTICIPATE IN THE DRUG TRADE.[64] AFTER ESCAPING FIRST TO MOZAMBIQUE, THEN TO BRAZIL, THE FAMILY SETTLED IN ARGENTINA.[65] LIVING UNDER HER ASSUMED NAME, HENAO BECAME A SUCCESSFUL REAL ESTATE ENTREPRENEUR UNTIL ONE OF HER BUSINESS ASSOCIATES DISCOVERED HER TRUE IDENTITY, AND HENAO ABSCONDED WITH HER EARNINGS. LOCAL MEDIA WERE ALERTED, AND AFTER BEING EXPOSED AS ESCOBAR'S WIDOW, HENAO WAS IMPRISONED FOR EIGHTEEN MONTHS WHILE HER FINANCES WERE INVESTIGATED. ULTIMATELY, AUTHORITIES WERE UNABLE TO LINK HER FUNDS TO ILLEGAL ACTIVITY, AND SHE WAS RELEASED.[66] ACCORDING TO HER SON, HENAO FELL IN LOVE WITH ESCOBAR "BECAUSE OF HIS NAUGHTY SMILE [AND] THE WAY HE LOOKED AT [HER]. [HE] WAS AFFECTIONATE AND SWEET. A GREAT LOVER. I FELL IN LOVE WITH HIS DESIRE TO HELP PEOPLE AND HIS COMPASSION FOR THEIR HARDSHIP. WE [WOULD] DRIVE TO PLACES WHERE HE DREAMED OF BUILDING SCHOOLS FOR THE POOR. FROM [THE] BEGINNING, HE WAS ALWAYS A GENTLEMAN."[67] MARÍA VICTORIA HENAO DE ESCOBAR, WITH HER NEW IDENTITY AS MARÍA ISABEL SANTOS CABALLERO, CONTINUES TO LIVE IN BUENOS AIRES WITH HER SON AND DAUGHTER.[68] ON 5 JUNE 2018, THE ARGENTINE FEDERAL JUDGE NESTOR BARRAL ACCUSED HER AND HER SON, SEBASTIÁN MARROQUÍN SANTOS, OF MONEY LAUNDERING WITH TWO COLOMBIAN DRUG TRAFFICKERS.[69][70][71] THE JUDGE ORDERED THE SEIZING OF ASSETS FOR ABOUT $1M EACH.[72] ARGENTINIAN FILMMAKER NICOLAS ENTEL'S DOCUMENTARY SINS OF MY FATHER (2009) CHRONICLES MARROQUÍN'S EFFORTS TO SEEK FORGIVENESS, ON BEHALF OF HIS FATHER, FROM THE SONS OF RODRIGO LARA, COLOMBIA'S JUSTICE MINISTER WHO WAS ASSASSINATED IN 1984, AS WELL AS FROM THE SONS OF LUIS CARLOS GALÁN, THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE WHO WAS ASSASSINATED IN 1989. THE FILM WAS SHOWN AT THE 2010 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL AND PREMIERED IN THE US ON HBO IN OCTOBER 2010.[73] IN 2014, MARROQUÍN PUBLISHED PABLO ESCOBAR, MY FATHER UNDER HIS BIRTH NAME. THE BOOK PROVIDES A FIRSTHAND INSIGHT INTO DETAILS OF HIS FATHER'S LIFE AND DESCRIBES THE FUNDAMENTALLY DISINTEGRATING EFFECT OF HIS DEATH UPON THE FAMILY. MARROQUÍN AIMED TO PUBLISH THE BOOK IN HOPES TO RESOLVE ANY INACCURACIES REGARDING HIS FATHER'S EXCURSIONS DURING THE 1990S.[74] ESCOBAR'S SISTER, LUZ MARIA ESCOBAR, ALSO MADE MULTIPLE GESTURES IN ATTEMPTS TO MAKE AMENDS FOR THE DRUG BARON'S CRIMES. THESE INCLUDE MAKING PUBLIC STATEMENTS IN THE PRESS, LEAVING LETTERS ON THE GRAVES OF HIS VICTIMS AND ON THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH ORGANIZING A PUBLIC MEMORIAL FOR HIS VICTIMS.[75] ESCOBAR'S BODY WAS EXHUMED ON 28 OCTOBER 2006 AT THE REQUEST OF SOME OF HIS RELATIVES IN ORDER TO TAKE A DNA SAMPLE TO CONFIRM THE ALLEGED PATERNITY OF AN ILLEGITIMATE CHILD AND REMOVE ALL DOUBT ABOUT THE IDENTITY OF THE BODY THAT HAD BEEN BURIED NEXT TO HIS PARENTS FOR 12 YEARS.[76] A VIDEO OF THE EXHUMATION WAS BROADCAST BY RCN, ANGERING MARROQUÍN, WHO ACCUSED HIS UNCLE, ROBERTO ESCOBAR, AND COUSIN, NICOLAS ESCOBAR, OF BEING "MERCHANTS OF DEATH" BY ALLOWING THE VIDEO TO AIR.[77] HACIENDA NÁPOLES AFTER ESCOBAR'S DEATH, THE RANCH, ZOO AND CITADEL AT HACIENDA NÁPOLES WERE GIVEN BY THE GOVERNMENT TO LOW-INCOME FAMILIES UNDER A LAW CALLED EXTINCIÓN DE DOMINIO (DOMAIN EXTINCTION). THE PROPERTY HAS BEEN CONVERTED INTO A THEME PARK SURROUNDED BY FOUR LUXURY HOTELS OVERLOOKING THE ZOO.[42] ESCOBAR INC IN 2014, ROBERTO ESCOBAR FOUNDED ESCOBAR INC WITH OLOF K. GUSTAFSSON AND REGISTERED SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST RIGHTS FOR HIS BROTHER PABLO ESCOBAR IN CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES.[78] HIPPOS MAIN ARTICLE: PABLO ESCOBAR'S HIPPOS ESCOBAR KEPT FOUR HIPPOS IN A PRIVATE MENAGERIE AT HACIENDA NÁPOLES. THEY WERE DEEMED TOO DIFFICULT TO SEIZE AND MOVE AFTER ESCOBAR'S DEATH, AND HENCE LEFT ON THE UNTENDED ESTATE. BY 2007, THE ANIMALS HAD MULTIPLIED TO 16 AND HAD TAKEN TO ROAMING THE AREA FOR FOOD IN THE NEARBY MAGDALENA RIVER.[79][80] IN 2009, TWO ADULTS AND ONE CALF ESCAPED THE HERD AND, AFTER ATTACKING HUMANS AND KILLING CATTLE, ONE OF THE ADULTS (CALLED "PEPE") WAS KILLED BY HUNTERS UNDER AUTHORIZATION OF THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES.[80][81] AS OF EARLY 2014, 40 HIPPOS HAVE BEEN REPORTED TO EXIST IN PUERTO TRIUNFO, ANTIOQUIA, FROM THE ORIGINAL FOUR BELONGING TO ESCOBAR.[82] WITHOUT MANAGEMENT THE POPULATION SIZE IS LIKELY TO MORE THAN DOUBLE IN THE NEXT DECADE.[83] THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL PRODUCED A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THEM TITLED COCAINE HIPPOS.[84] A REPORT PUBLISHED IN A YALE STUDENT MAGAZINE NOTED THAT LOCAL ENVIRONMENTALISTS ARE CAMPAIGNING TO PROTECT THE ANIMALS, ALTHOUGH THERE IS NO CLEAR PLAN FOR WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THEM.[85] IN 2018, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PUBLISHED ANOTHER ARTICLE ON THE HIPPOS WHICH FOUND DISAGREEMENT AMONG ENVIRONMENTALISTS ON WHETHER THEY WERE HAVING A POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE IMPACT, BUT THAT CONSERVATIONISTS AND LOCALS – PARTICULARLY THOSE IN THE TOURISM INDUSTRY – WER | image tagged in forever alone | made w/ Imgflip meme maker](http://i.imgflip.com/59dmjf.jpg)
