Historical Investigation Year 11 PDF

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Investigate the impacts of Pablo Escobar on the Columbian society and the economy. Pablo Escobar, the leader of the Medellin Cartel, shaped Columbia into what we see today. His charitable work can be seen as a front to disguise the unprecedented violence which he exposed Columbia to; devastating their social norms and economic prosperity. Creating infrastructure, giving money to the poor and funding the national soccer team can be seen as a facade hiding the extremist narco-culture, introduction of sicarios, unemployment of peasants and controlling a significant amount of Columbian land. Considered the ‘Robin Hood’ 1, Escobar was the respected outlaw who positioned himself as protecting the poorer uneducated classes who felt abandoned and exploited by the government. To others, he was considered a power-hungry tyrant who, from a young age, would kidnap and kill those who would stand in his way. Pablo Escobar was a product of the society in which he lived in Columbia ; one where during the 1930’s & 1940’s there was a period of widespread partisan conflict, chaos and havoc which is now known as ‘la Violencia2.’ More significantly, the central government did very little to restore balance and order and it resulted in thousands of displaced peasants who migrated from the countryside into the urban centre ultimately creating slums within the city. This is in contrast to 2012, the Colombian city Medellin was named the winner of the ‘City of the Year’; which was held by the Urban Land Institute, a not-for-profit organisation that researches land use and real estate development across the world. 3 This was a dramatic and rapid change because no less than 40 years ago, this city was shaped and moulded for the stomping ground of the most powerful drug cartel; the Medellin Cartel.

1Bowley, J. (2019). Robin Hood or Villain: The Social Constructions of Pablo Escobar. [online] DigitalCommons@UMaine. Available at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/honors/109/ [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. 2Sites.tufts.edu. (2019). Colombia: La Violencia | Mass Atrocity Endings. [online] Available at: https://sites.tufts.edu/atrocityendings/2016/12/14/colombia-la-violencia-2/ [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. 3 International Business Times. (2019). Medellín: How Colombia's Second City Overcame Its Drug Cartel Past. [online] Available at: https://www.ibtimes.com/medellin-how-colombias-second-cityovercame-its-drug-cartel-past-1111226 [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. 10

The Medellin cartel founded by Pablo Escobar ran its operations in Medellin and at one point the cartel was considered to have controlled 80% of the global cocaine trade providing Escobar a personal income of up to US$21.9 billion a year. It is imperative to understand, In the same period of time in the 1970s-80s, Medellin had the largest homicide rate and for every 100,000, 185 people were killed.4 Columbians additionally, have lived in absolute poverty and even in 1973, 70% 5 were still living in poverty. Research suggests this was a result of Colombia's land and wealth being held by a small percentage of the population and there was a significant migration of peasants from rural farms into cities. This created a large supply of labour relative to demand, ultimately impacting wage growth and keeping unemployment low. As there was no control kept by the government, wealthy landowners would hire private armies. Laws in these rural areas were made by these private militaries. This highlights the concept of taking the law into one's own hands and to protect one’s self which can be seen throughout Columbia’s history. This has additionally had an impact on the psyche of Pablo Escobar. Pablo Escobar was a child of La Violencia. Born in 1949, he was subject to some of the worst years of violence. As an adult, the violence had calmed down. However, the impact was it created a generation of Colombians who were accustomed to violence and murder. Many of the lower classes felt distrustful and frustrated at the government in which they now saw was corrupt and unjust. This created the perfect environment for a Robin Hood figure to emerge; someone who grew up poor to redistribute the wealth and power among the poor. He was born in a small town and his mum, Hermilda, was a school teacher and his father, Abel, was a farmer. As he framed his upbringing as poor and humble, by the Columbian standards he was considered middle-class6. With that being said, he was subject to the La Violencia as when

4 (2019). [online] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223984661_Reducing_Violence_by_Transforming_Neighbor hoods_A_Natural_Experiment_in_Medellin_Colombia [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019].

5 Robinson, J. (2015). Scholar.harvard.edu. (2019). [online] Available at: https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/jrobinson/files/the_misery_in_colombia.pdf [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. 6 Theunissen, S. (2019). Pablo Escobar Biography: Colombian Drug Lord and Narcoterrorist. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFvU0bFcpNk 10

Hermilda came to teach at a small town, the conservatives were enraged as a liberal woman were indoctrinating their children with partially biased ideas. The conservatives attacked in the night and attempted to burn down the schoolhouse in which they stayed in for shelter. The mob outside could not manage to penetrate into the building or set fire and the army arrived outside in the early hours to disperse the crowd. As they opened the doors the next morning, the Escobar family saw liberal peasants being hung on the school’s cross beams and decapitated with machetes. The Escobar family left immediately. 7 This sense of violence and anger stayed with Pablo Escobar through his whole life. Pablo was not very different from his peers, he loved soccer and popular music. He was academically gifted and took on leadership positions, being the President of his school's Council for Student Wellness. However, this uncontrolled ambition led him down a destructive and dark path. As a teenager, he would start to hang out in bars in the rougher side of town and commit petty crimes for his enjoyment. Escobar was another teenager brought up in the La Violencia and cared more about gaining wealth the easy way through illegal methods over hard work. What set him apart was his recklessness as he began running street scams 8, selling contraband cigarettes and fake lottery tickets. Pablo had the ability to remain calm and even cheerful when others became frightened and unsteady. This can be seen when Escobar held up a Medellin bank by himself with an automatic rifle. Witnesses had stated that he was being cheerful with the clerks 9. This recklessness mixed with composure distinguished himself from his peers and made him a leader to be followed . After time, he would move to kidnapping, murder and trafficking which made him acquire substantial profits earning him any lifestyle. Having estates, private airports, a zoo filled with exotic animals 10 was not all. He would be surrounded by women for his pleasure and many bodyguards protecting him from the dangerous streets that he had

7Salazar J., A. (2016). La parábola de Pablo |. [online] LIBRERÍAS MARCIAL PONS. (Needs Translation) Available at: https://www.marcialpons.es/libros/la-parabola-de-pablo/9788499425221/ [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. 8Crime + Investigation. (2019). Pablo Escobar. [online] Available at: https://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/crime-files/pablo-escobar [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. 9 Bowden, M. (2019). Extract: Killing Pablo. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2001/apr/29/life1.lifemagazine [Accessed 13 Jun. 2019]. 10Sites.tufts.edu. (2019). Colombia: La Violencia | Mass Atrocity Endings. [online] Available at: https://sites.tufts.edu/atrocityendings/2016/12/14/colombia-la-violencia-2/ [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. 10

influence over. From a child born in suffering, devastation and pain in the la Violencia, he created a lifestyle for himself that he always wanted. Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel lived outside the law. His actions were determined by greed that also helped account for the common people. He was known for being the robinhood of Medellin11 as his cartel did more for the common people than the government. He used his money to build neighbourhoods for Medellin’s poorest, these were the peasants that lived among mountains of trash, trying to pick out valuable items dumped by the garbage trucks. Miria Ines Suarez a peasant that Pablo Escobar built a home for states "May God forgive him if he did bad things, but he helped me, while the government has not done anything for me.”12 He funded many social programs and housing projects to benefit the poor such as the ‘Medellin Sin Tugurios 13’ in which he bought each family living in the city’s garbage dump a house.This area now caters for 13,000 peasants. Outstanding examples of Pablo Escobar’s charity work can be seen through him visiting Medellin Sin Tugurios. He distributed cash and groceries to the unemployed and gave tennis shoes to the poor. Distinctly, his first project which started in 1979 was to establish medical care for low-income individuals, build over 100 soccer fields and work to plant trees along avenues.14 Ultimately this highlighted Escobar’s ambition to promote his populist policies to the masses. As a part of this social program, now having a relationship with the catholic church, he would walk around the slums with two priests giving blessings 15. The impact of this was that many

11 Bowley, J. (2019). Robin Hood or Villain: The Social Constructions of Pablo Escobar. [online] DigitalCommons@UMaine. Available at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/honors/109/ [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. 12dpa International. (2019). Medellin, a city caught between love and hatred for Pablo Escobar. [online] Available at: http://www.dpa-international.com/topic/medellin-city-caught-love-hatred-pabloescobar-171220-99-360398 [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. 13Anderson, J. (2019). The Afterlife of Pablo Escobar. [online] The New Yorker. Available at: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/03/05/the-afterlife-of-pablo-escobar [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. 14 Nationalgeographic.com.au. (2019). How Pablo Escobar Helped The Poor. [online] Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/videos/facing-pablo/how-pablo-escobar-helped-the-poor4855.aspx [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. 15 Nationalgeographic.com.au. (2019). How Pablo Escobar Helped The Poor. [online] Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/videos/facing-pablo/how-pablo-escobar-helped-the-poor4855.aspx [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. 10

people grew to love Pablo and would do anything for him from joining the cartel, spray painting his face on buildings. but most importantly, voting for him in government. Among other cartels, the Medellin cartel poured a significant amount of money into land and buildings including constructing the Columbian skyscrapers. Construction in Medellin quadrupled in the 1980s16 from the money invested by drug Mafias . The impact of this was that it created a city that was beautiful to look at that disguised all the violence in it. They did this through building important connections with political figures in Medellin. The impact of Escobar being responsible for the beautification of Medellin resulted in the politicians turning a blind eye into the cartel’s illegal activities. Through the use of laundering money through the Columbian National Soccer team, the Cartel became the sole financier of the Medellin Regional soccer team National team. As Escobar was the financier, Colombia was able to purchase foreign players and coaches and in 1994, for the first time17, it became one of the premier teams. The impact of this was that it created a sense of pride and hope for the citizens in an era of violence and destruction which resulted in hope and loyalty to Escobar from the Columbian populus. Even though it is stated that Pablo Escobar did more for the common people than the government, it can be seen as a cover to hide all the damages that he and his cartel did to the Columbian society and economy. Escobar ultimately degraded the good social values and the impact was that he was creating and upholding what is known as the ‘narco culture’ 18. This is where there is a willingness to do things outside the law or against the law and glorification of outlaw figures such as Pablo Escobar. Another feature of the narco-culture is

16J Kelly, R. (2019). Illicit Trafficking. [online] Google Books. Available at: https://books.google.com.au/books?id=BFb-iK9-NMEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Kelly,+R.+(2019). +Illicit+Trafficking.&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj_lIfk89biAhVXAXIKHcx8B5oQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage &q&f=false [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. 17 Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS). (2019). COLOMBIA: The Rise and Fall of NarcoSoccer. [online] Available at: https://clas.berkeley.edu/research/colombia-rise-and-fall-narco-soccer [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. 18Lara, A. (2019). [online] Available at: https://theaggie.org/2018/03/13/the-glorification-of-narcoculture/ [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019].

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the narco-aesthetics19 in which women get ‘pimped out’ and have plastic surgery to change their image so that they can be seen desirable ‘in finding a rich man, a drug trafficker’. Additionally, this narco culture had made young men not attracted to hard and honest work and the mentality was all about getting money the quickest way possible. Unfortunately this has been sustained in Columbian culture. Through Escobar’s reign, it had tarnished a generation of young adults who had justified killing, robbing or drug trafficking. This has still created a lasting impact as from 2006-2012 more than 160,000 Mexicans have been murdered as a result of narcotics trafficking20. One of the major consequences of the cartel was the initiation of Sicarios, which were contracted youth assassins. These were mainly people from the slums who would kill for $50 to $10021. This resulted in a huge influx of dirty money into the slums and became the key factor of 300 policeman getting killed among many innocent people.22 This had the effect of a generation that was fatherless as well as indoctrinated youth thinking violence is normal and would do anything necessary for money. Many people believe that the drug industry created more jobs for peasants through cultivation and production. However, throughout the cocaine boom it made the growing of other crops less profitable and reduced jobs in legitimate cultivations such as coffee. At the height of the drug trade, the illegal drug sector employed 6.7% of agricultural workers while the main legal crop employed 12%23. Even though there was a boom in agrarian employment, the long term effect was that there was a decrease in employment by 6%. As the government went to eradicate illegal crops through chemicals, it also made it even more challenging to grow legal crops due to pesticide use resulting in a decrease in productivity over the following years.

19Yagoub, M. (2019). How Colombia's drug trade constructed female 'narco-beauty'. [online] Colombia News | Colombia Reports. Available at: https://colombiareports.com/narco-aestheticscolombias-drug-trade-constructed-female-beauty/ [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. 20FRONTLINE. (2019). The Staggering Death Toll of Mexico's Drug War. [online] Available at: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/the-staggering-death-toll-of-mexicos-drug-war/ [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. 21Browden, C. (2019). Confessions of a drug cartel hitman on the run. [online] The Independent. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/confessions-of-a-drug-cartelhitman-on-the-run-2311664.html [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. 22 YouTube. (2019). Narcotours: Netflix fans uncover the real life of Pablo Escobar.

23 Home.sandiego.edu. (2019). [online] Available at: http://home.sandiego.edu/~kaufmann/hnrs325/Colombia.pdf [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019].

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At the peak of the drug industry’s success, the drug cartels owned ⅓ of the agricultural land. A negative impact can be seen as there was a significant increase of land ownership by cartels which resulted in severe income inequality. The illegal drug trade resulted in short term financial relief to a small number of peasants but displaced a large quantity of those who did not participate in the coca production. They often had to migrate to urban slums. Pablo Escobar was an entrepreneur, drug dealer and a father. He was a respected outlaw that did more for the common people than the government did. However, he also led unprecedented violence which devastated their social climate and their economic prosperity. Ultimately he achieved the only thing he wanted to and this was engraved on his tombstone: Fui todo que quise ser, un bandido (I was all that I wanted to be, an outlaw)24.

24Pablo Escobar, A. and Granier, J. (2019). Pablo Escobar, Angel or Demon (2007). [online] FilmAffinity. Available at: https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film707428.html [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019].

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Reference List Anderson, J. (2019). The Afterlife of Pablo Escobar. [online] The New Yorker. Available at: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/03/05/the-afterlife-of-pablo-escobar [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. Bowden, M. (2019). Extract: Killing Pablo. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2001/apr/29/life1.lifemagazine [Accessed 13 Jun. 2019]. Bowley, J. (2019). Robin Hood or Villain: The Social Constructions of Pablo Escobar. [online] DigitalCommons@UMaine. Available at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/honors/109/ [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019] Browden, C. (2019). Confessions of a drug cartel hitman on the run. [online] The Independent. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/confessionsof-a-drug-cartel-hitman-on-the-run-2311664.html [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. Cerda, M (2019). [online] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223984661_Reducing_Violence_by_Transforming_ Neighborhoods_A_Natural_Experiment_in_Medellin_Colombia [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. Crime + Investigation. (2019). Pablo Escobar. [online] Available at: https://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/crime-files/pablo-escobar [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. FRONTLINE. (2019). The Staggering Death Toll of Mexico's Drug War. [online] Available at: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/the-staggering-death-toll-of-mexicos-drug-war/ [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. Granier, J, Pablo Escobar,(2019). Pablo Escobar, Angel or Demon (2007). [online] FilmAffinity. Available at: https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film707428.html [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. Home.sandiego.edu. (2019). [online] Available at: http://home.sandiego.edu/~kaufmann/hnrs325/Colombia.pdf [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. International Business Times. (2019). Medellín: How Colombia's Second City Overcame Its Drug Cartel Past. [online] Available at: https://www.ibtimes.com/medellin-how-colombiassecond-city-overcame-its-drug-cartel-past-1111226 [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. J Kelly, R. (2019). Illicit Trafficking. [online] Google Books. Available at: https://books.google.com.au/books?id=BFb-iK9-NMEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Kelly,+R. +(2019). +Illicit+Trafficking.&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj_lIfk89biAhVXAXIKHcx8B5oQ6AEI KjAA#v=onepage&q&f=false [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. Krupp, S Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS). (2019). COLOMBIA: The Rise and Fall of Narco-Soccer. [online] Available at: https://clas.berkeley.edu/research/colombia-riseand-fall-narco-soccer [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019].

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Lara, A. (2019). [online] Available at: https://theaggie.org/2018/03/13/the-glorification-ofnarco-culture/ [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. Nationalgeographic.com.au. (2019). How Pablo Escobar Helped The Poor. [online] Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/videos/facing-pablo/how-pabloescobar-helped-the-poor-4855.aspx [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. Robinson, J. (2015). Scholar.harvard.edu. (2019). [online] Available at: https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/jrobinson/files/the_misery_in_colombia.pdf [Accessed 7 Jun. 2019]. Salazar J., A. (2016). La parábola de Pablo |. [online] LIBRERÍAS MARCIAL PONS. (Needs Translation) Available at: https://www.marcialpons.es/libros/la-parabola-d...