Pablo Escobar

Pablo Escobar

The paper traces Escobar's life from humble peasant beginnings to powerful cocaine drug dealer and kingpin. The paper discusses the sound financial decisions Escobar made as well as the way he invested in legitimate projects using the funds he gained illegally. The paper explores the influence Escobar had and the way he worked, ultimately unsuccessfully, to establish a no-extradition clause into the Colombian constitution.

Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria was born on December 1 1949 and died on December 2, 1993

Pablo Escobar was a man of power and riches during his time in history.

He become famous as a Colombian drug wholesaler . Pablo Escobar beacome so rich and powerful in the drug business that in 1989 , Forbes magazine had listed him as the seventh richest man in world. richest man in the world.He is actually considered to be one of the most most brutally cruel, determined and prevailing drug dealer in history.

Pablo once told his mother that he wanted to be "big" someday but I don't think this was what she had in mind. Pablo started out making money by sneaking into grave yards at night and stealing the tombstones from the deceased he would then sand blast the engraving off of the tombstone and sell them as new grave markers to the Panamanians. By age twenty Pablo was also an accomplished car thief. His small time crimes would never amount to what he was going to become. His reputation grew after a well known Medellin drug dealer named Fabio Restrepo was murdered in 1975 ostensibly by Escobar,all of Restrepo's men were informed that they now worked for Pablo.. It was here that he began his pattern of dealing with the authorities by either bribing them or killing them.

During the 1980s, Escobar became known internationally as his drug network gained notoriety; El Cartel de Medellнn is said to have controlled a large portion of the drugs that entered into the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic with cocaine brought mostly from Peru and Bolivia, as Colombian coca was initially of substandard quality. Escobar's product reached many other nations, mostly around the Americas, although it is said that his network reached as far as Asia

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Escobar bribed countless government officials, judges and other politicians, and he often personally executed uncooperative subordinates and had anyone he viewed as a threat assassinated, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of individuals. Corruption and intimidation characterized the Colombian system during Escobar's heyday. He had an effective, inescapable strategy that was referred to as plata o plomo; Spanish for money or lead, intended to mean "accept a bribe or face assassination."

Escobar, a heavy pot-smoker cultivated a relaxed, informal life style with his friends and associates. Escobar was not as friendly to his enemies he was vicious and feared by everyone. For example when one of Escobar's bombs brought down an Avianca Airliner in Colombia in November 1989, Killing 107 people, he become one of the most feared terrorists in the world.

At the height of his empire, Escobar was estimated by Forbes magazine to be the seventh-richest man in the world, with his company Medellнn Cartel controlling 80 percent of the world's cocaine market. His organization had fleets of planes, boats, submarines and expensive vehicles. Vast properties and tracts of lands were also controlled by the cartel under Escobar due to the almost limitless influx of cash during this period. Estimates are that the Medellнn cartel was taking in up to $30 billion annually at its zenith.

While seen as an enemy of the United States and Colombian governments, Escobar was a hero to many in Medellнn; he was a natural at public relations and he worked to create goodwill among Colombia's poor. A lifelong sports fan, he was credited with building soccer stadiums and sponsoring little league soccer teams in the city. He worked hard to cultivate his Robin Hood image and frequently distributed money to the poor. The population of Medellнn often helped Escobar by serving as lookouts, hiding information from the authorities, or doing whatever else they could do to protect him

A lifelong sports fan, he was credited with building soccer stadiums and sponsoring little league soccer teams in the city. He worked hard to cultivate his Robin Hood image and frequently distributed money to the poor. The population of Medellнn often helped Escobar by serving as lookouts, hiding information from the authorities, or doing whatever else they could do to protect him.

After declaring an end to a series of previous violent or terrorist acts meant to pressure authorities and public opinion, Escobar turned himself in to the Colombian government in order to avoid extradition to the United States or assassination by a rival cartel.

Escobar was confined in what became his own luxurious private prison, La Catedral, which he was allowed to build for his confinement in return for turning himself in.

He negotiated an agreement with the Colombian government whereby he would be jailed for a mandatory five-year sentence and guaranteed no extradition to the United States, if he stopped any further drug trafficking activities.

However, this prison was actually more of a country-club fortress, and he showed little regard for the sanctity of his sentence there. There have been allegations, many of them unconfirmed, that he was often seen outside of the jail: shopping in Medellнn or at parties, soccer games, and other public places.

After an account appeared in the local media showing photos of his lavish jail/residence and claiming that he had murdered several business associates