Describing Pablo Escobar's Legend

Pablo Escobar Outline

Introduction

• Introduction to Pablo Escobar and his legendary status as an outlaw
• Brief overview of his rise to power and influence

Background and Early Life

• Description of Colombia's geography and historical context
• Escobar's childhood and upbringing during La Violencia
• The prevalence of violence in Colombian society

Escobar's Ambitions and Early Criminal Activities

• Escobar's desire for wealth and power
• His entry into criminal activities, including car theft and contraband

The Rise of the Drug Trade

• Escobar's involvement in the cocaine trade
• The profitability and growth of the drug business
• Escobar's control over drug trafficking and distribution

The Reign of Terror

• Escobar's increasing power and influence
• His use of violence and intimidation to maintain control
• Acts of violence and assassinations ordered by Escobar

Economic and Social Impact

• Escobar's wealth and its impact on Colombian society
• His efforts to improve his public image through philanthropy
• The consequences of his actions on Colombia's economy and society

The Manhunt and Death of Pablo Escobar

• Escobar's evasion of capture and the formation of the Search Bloc
• The final confrontation and death of Pablo Escobar
• The legacy and enduring fascination with the legendary outlaw

Pablo Escobar Essay Example

The Legend of Pablo Escobar

One of the greatest outlaws known to mankind, a manipulative individual of power, prestige, and violence, Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria was a Colombian drug lord who took his leadership of one of the most influential criminal organizations in history to more than just the next level. The reach of his power in the 1980s made him the most feared terrorist in the world. Not only did he control a cosmic kingdom of drugs and murder that expanded across the globe, but he also made billions of dollars in the process. Pablo Escobar transformed from lower middle class, to the ruling of airplanes, mansions, even an army of soldiers, and finally, to a legend that will live on forever.

In Colombia where Escobar earned his fame, geography remained, and still does remain, a vital feature. It borders five countries, including Panama on the northwest, Venezuela and Brazil on the east, and Peru and Ecuador on the southwest. From the west, three Andean mountain ranges, the longest and some of the highest in the world, run north and south. From the east, the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers flow through the trees and jungle-covered atmosphere. Because of the valleys and abundant plateaus, most of the population resides here (Colombia). The downtown portion of the east, with its tropical and clean surroundings, also includes the chaos of people, vehicles, and loud sounds of motorcycle traffic. Several buildings of glass, steel, and cement fill the city creating a skyline. Houses made of concrete brick, wood, clay, and straw neighbor these buildings on all sides (Peace).

In the midst of a Columbian civil war era filled with nightmare on every street, the historic legend, Pablo Escobar, was born on December 1, 1949. The son of a peasant farmer and a school teacher, he grew up with the horrifying and often gory events of La Violencia that surrounded his native town, Medelln (Godfather). La Violencia was a period of war between the conservatives and the liberals that resulted in the death of thousands. Guerilla armies made escapades across the country robbing, raping, and killing their enemies. They traveled from town to town, dragging people out of their homes and murdering them (Violencia). Therefore, killings did not define a small portion of Colombia; rather, for decades they were a norm and an accepted way of life.

The war on violence began to spread like wild fire across all areas of Medelln. Guerilla peasants formed and continued to increase what would be described as a bloody battle. However, even though they affected the people, Colombias guerrilla wars had levels of low intensity toward the state and its armed forces. The guerrilla groups functioned independently and could not challenge the armed forces enough to gain control, but the armed forces could not overpower the guerrillas either (Two Wars or One). These traumatizing events, however, provide evidence that the violence and killing in Columbia erupted long before Pablo Escobar.

Growing up in poverty country life, young Escobar knew he wanted to be rich one day. He had drive, ambition, and the everlasting goal to become president of Colombia (Biography of Escobar). Although most remember Escobar as a terrible, selfish man with evil in his blood from the day of his birth, he had ideas and plans to help others. In The Accountants Story, Roberto Escobar explains how he once said, I want to be president of Colombia, and when I am Ill take 10 percent of the earnings of the richest people to help the poor. With those funds well build schools and roads (17). A man of big dreams and high expectations, Pablo Escobar would not settle for anything less than what he desired.

Escobar knew what he wanted; he wanted to be filthy rich and he did not care how he did it, as long as he got there. His criminal life began on the streets of Medelln as a car thief, but he would soon work his way up to the top of the crime ladder (Colombia Connection). As a teenager, he also reportedly blasted off the names on tombstones and resold them to village people and smugglers from Panama (Pablo Escobar). Shortly after, the most dangerous decisions in his life began, which led him one step closer to his ultimate profession as a drug lord.

While Escobar was attending college, he started to really earn money for the first time. Just like his grandfather, he became involved in the contraband. Most leaders of the cocaine industry got their start as assistants in chains of contraband imports. This business dealt with the shipment of goods from the United States into other foreign countries, minus paying for the fees, duties, and taxes required by the government. That way, the people could sell the products a lot cheaper than they would normally pay (Peace). This business not only attracted customers, but it was very profitable to the sellers.

Along with the transport of goods and food, Escobar began to smuggle across tobacco, electronics, and jewelry. This was all thanks to multimillionaire, Alvaro Prieto, who started the business. At first, Escobar only focused on the cigarettes and then inched toward other desirable products. Colombias ideal location created a geographical advantage to be a main source of universal trade. This strongly affected anyone involved in the contraband business to become successful and wealthy very quickly. Colombia soon became a free market economy, rather than a highly controlled one (Enduring Confidence).

The contraband experts, including Escobar, shortly learned of a more profitable business. In the late 1970s, they discovered that exporting drugs, cocaine in particular, would result in larger sums of money not even comparable to the amounts earned in the contraband. This type of trade was even more promising than the marijuana trade. Cocaine exports were much more organized. Therefore, the business quickly grew to immense proportions. Colombian traffickers entered the cocaine market during the highest level of United States demand. This meant they were soon grossing in enormous amounts of money (Smugglers). For Escobar, this was officially the end of the contraband and the start of the ride of his life, the start of the one thing that would make him a living legend.

Today the cocaine business is part of society. It is well-known across the world and has been exposed to various countries. Escobar and his Medelln cartel have made Colombia infamous for the export of cocaine. In fact, Colombias drug industry still remains the most diversified, providing 75 percent of the worlds cocaine supply. Colombians take part in each stage of the industry, from the production, refinement, transportation, and, finally, to the distribution of the product (Drug Economies). Like today, Colombians from the late 1970s knew a lot about cocaine. They knew where to find it, how to make it, and, most importantly, they knew how to sell it. Not only did they know how to sell it, but they were good at it.

This increasingly popular drug, cocaine, comes from the leaf of a coca plant, which is grown in the jungles of Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, and Ecuador. Even before people began to sell it and use it as a drug, it was vast among the jungles of Peru. The Indians first used it as medicine and chewed it to give them energy. It happened over 150 years ago when a German scientist discovered how to extract the white powdery substance that made people feel good (Bowden 14-16). The leaves are transferred to laboratories hidden in the depths of Colombias rain forests where the coca is made into cocaine. It is then shipped to other countries such as Panama or Mexico. As soon as the cocaine reaches its next destination, it is loaded onto boats and planes and shipped to the United States. Once it reaches major cities like Miami, New York, and Los Angeles, wholesalers sell to dealers across the country (Colombia Connection).

The start of this massive drug trade lies in a man named Cucaracho, the Roach, who asked Escobar and his cousin Gustavo to accompany him to Peru. There they would make a deal regarding the business. Gustavo was Escobars closest worker in the business and almost considered his partner. The deal given to them was that they would travel to three different countries transporting the cocaine. First, Escobar would drive to the border of Ecuador and drop of a package. Then, he would get in a different car, travel across Ecuador, and deliver a package at the border of Colombia. Finally, he would drive that same car to his final destination in a neighborhood in Medelln called Beln. This is where he would make the drugs by refining the coca paste in laboratories before shipping it to market to sell (Escobar 30-31).

Before long, Escobar rose to power and gained much control over most of the crime that occurred in Medelln because of this drug. He was responsible for 80 percent of the cocaine transported into the United States. Escobar began to order people to be killed if they got in his way (Colombia Connection). A famous Colombian drug lord, Fabio Restrepo, was killed due to Escobars commands. Escobar took over his organization and expanded it. In 1982 under the New Liberalism party, he ran for the Chamber of Representatives in Colombia and was elected. However, he was kicked out of the Congress and expelled from New Liberalism. He fought back by having the head of that particular party, Luis Carlos Galan, assassinated during his campaign for presidency (Smugglers). According to Minster, Escobars rise was complete (Biography of Escobar).

At the peak of Escobars power, he was one of the most feared criminals in the world. In fact, Forbes magazine named him seventh richest man in the world in 1989. He had his own empire, several cars, plenty of planes with their own landing strips, mansions, and apartments across Colombia. It is also reported that he had a private zoo (My Father). Escobar obtained so much illegal money that he had to disguise the source of it through businesses such as car dealerships, hotels, auto shops, interior decorating, modeling agencies, real estate companies, retail stores, restaurants, and graphic design firms. His personal wealth reached a shocking number of $24 billion at one point (Peace).

Pablo Escobar also wanted to be well liked by people and not just viewed as a violent outlaw. Therefore, he spent millions of dollars building schools, parks, stadiums, churches, and even housed the poor. He supplied the local people with jobs and interest-free loans, made the working-class wealthy, and assisted thousands of kids in escaping ghetto life (Colombia Connection). Escobar even offered to help Colombia pay off its $13 billion dollar foreign debt (War Against Drugs). Ordering the murder of hundreds may have been a far too recurring command of Escobars, but he tried to show a good side. He helped his society and used his money for something positive and useful.

In 1976, Escobars first serious situation with the law occurred. He was caught on one of his drug transportations to Ecuador. Of course, he got out of this first one because he ordered the officers to be killed. Soon the case was dropped (Biography of Escobar). It did not matter to Escobar who the person was; if he or she gave Escobar any inconvenience, they were going to die. He was a drug smuggler with brutality, but he knew how to use violence strategically and in his favor. At the same time, he gave his family full attention and was a devoted husband and father (Godfather).

A few years later a treaty was signed between Colombia and the United States allowing the extradition of any Colombian citizen found guilty of exporting drugs. Pablo Escobar and his cartel formed the Extraditables, a group who released violence that placed all of Colombia in fear. The drug traders convinced the National Constituent Assembly to rewrite the constitution, prohibiting the extradition of Colombian citizens. As soon as Escobar fulfilled this task, he turned himself over to the authorities, but only on the condition that he could create his own prison with lenient rules (Smugglers). The prison, La Catedral, was not much of a prison at all. Not only did Escobar hand pick his guards and workers, but these headquarters contained a waterfall, a soccer field, and a Jacuzzi (Biography of Escobar).

The United States military and the Drug Enforcement Agency joined forces to attack the Extraditables. A United States trained task forced called the Search Bloc was formed to hunt down Pablo Escobar and his allies. He escaped from prison a couple times before a successful force went after him (Peace). Colombian police colonel, Hugo Martinez, was in charge of tracking down Escobar. Within the first two weeks of the hunt, 200 cops were killed. The drug lord managed to avoid capture for three whole years. Finally, Martinezs army was able to isolate Escobar by destroying his cartel and placing a highly technological satellite surveillance on his radio communications. This led the Colombian police force to the safe house where the refugee was killed on December 2, 1993. They gunned him down as he attempted to escape on the rooftop. The life of the legend ended with a gunshot in his torso and leg and lastly, one through his ear (Hugo Martinez). The worlds most wanted man would finally meet his maker.

Escobar was no ordinary criminal; he was an outlaw. An outlaw is remembered for years to come, an outlaw lives on far past their death, and an outlaw stands for something. Some call him a king, some call him a menace. Regardless of the variation of opinions, Pablo Escobar remains and always will remain one of the greatest outlaws in history.