The Bloody Consequences of Pablo Escobar’s Political Aspirations
PABLO ESCOBAR WANTED TO BECOME A POLITICIAN. THWARTING HIS AMBITIONS INCURRED VIOLENT REVENGE.
Pablo Escobar realised pretty early on that if he wanted to build an empire, if he wanted to be more than just another drug baron that came and went, he could only get so far dealing in ‘plata y plomo’ – silver and lead.
To bend the country to his will, Escobar needed to become a preeminent figure in Colombian politics as well as its drugs trade. If he could get elected to office, he’d be able to cloak himself in respectability and avoid being prosecuted or extradited to the United States.
“Pablo Escobar was a megalomaniac. Not only that, he was rich… he believed in power and that he could change the world through his power ”
Right from the early days in Medellin, Escobar ploughed money into local initiatives. The cocaine Godfather’s tainted millions bought more than just fancy properties – he used them to win the hearts and minds of the poor. Paying for food banks, hospitals and homes for slum dwellers made Escobar a hero, at least initially.
This made perfect sense as a tactic in such an impoverished, unequal city as Medellin. Agent Mike Kane and his DEA colleagues knew they were waging a PR war against Escobar, as well as a drug war. It was clear enough to them what Pablo’s motivations were.
“I don’t think he was necessarily a benevolent man… acting in a Judeo-Christian sense of, you know, take care of my children – I don’t think that was his intention at all. He saw a benefit to providing for the poor people: that being security on his part… He was doing that not for altruistic but very selfish reasons and those selfish reasons were to make sure that the people weren’t selling him out, that they looked upon him as the Robin Hood and he had places to go and hide then, if necessary.
He would blatantly lie to the TV cameras. He would blatantly lie to the reporters and when challenged with those lies he would continue to keep them up almost like whatever they're saying didn't matter.”
“What he said was the truth. That's what he believed and that's what he wanted people to believe.”
Escobar moved on to more formal politics. He led a movement called Civismo en Marcha – which planted trees and rescued endangered animals. Then, in 1982, he finally got elected to Congress – as a stand-in for another guy’s seat. With Escobar finally on the ladder, it seemed like only a matter of time until he started to climb – possibly all the way to the top. But one man made sure that couldn’t happen.
The Justice Minister, Rodrigo Lara Bonilla, denounced Escobar in a speech – accusing him outright of being a drug trafficker. Everyone knew Escobar was crooked, but most people didn’t put their head above the parapet to say so. Publicly humiliated, Escobar was forced to stand down from his seat. His official political career had been thwarted. But Colombia, and its political leaders, would feel his wrath.
Lara Bonilla was gunned down in a motorcycle drive-by shooting. Then, during the 1989 general election, candidate Luis Galan made it clear that if he were elected, Escobar would be on the first plane out of Colombia. But Escobar struck first.
On the campaign trail in Medellin, Galan narrowly escaped after a cartel hitman fired at him with an RPG. Galan insisted his campaign would continue. Weeks later, Galan stepped out on stage to address a crowd of 10,000 supporters in the town of Soacha, 20 miles south of Bogota.
Amidst the jubilant spectators waving their arms in the air, one man had his hands down by his sides. He squeezed through the bodies to a spot in front of the stage, just metres away from Galan as he stepped up to the microphone. He fired several, fatal shots into Galan’s chest. Police later discovered $500,000 had been offered for the hit.
For watching reporters like Guy Gugliotta, Escobar’s single-minded cruelty took the breath away.
“He was probably the most significant terrorist of his time because he attacked the government and I had never seen that happen before. I was working and worked all over Latin America – some really nasty places – but I had never ever seen organized crime try to take down a sovereign government the way he did. Unprecedented.”
With an international terrorist pitted against the sovereign government of Colombia, this was going to be a fight to the death.
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