Killing Pablo

Philly.com ^ | Posted on Tue, Nov. 20, 2001 | Phiily.com

[Hacksaw]

Escobar's rise to power: From small-time gangster to the terror of Colombia

Pablo Escobar was arguably the richest and most violent criminal in history. Forbes Magazine in 1989 listed him as the seventh-richest man in the world.

A small-time gangster and car thief from Medellin, the second-largest city in Colombia, Escobar violently consolidated the cocaine industry there in the late 1970s. Elected as an alternate to Colombia's Congress in 1983, Escobar enjoyed widespread popularity among the poor in Colombia, especially in his home state of Antioquia.

He turned his violent methods against the state in 1984, when Colombia began cracking down on the cocaine exporters and extraditing them to the United States for trial.

His campaign of murder, kidnapping, bombing and bribery from then until his death in 1993 forced a constitutional crisis in Colombia. He cowed the government into banning extradition, and his murder campaign against judges and prosecutors so intimidated the nation that it abandoned trial by jury and began appointing anonymous, "faceless" judges to prosecute crimes.

At the height of his power in the late 1980s, Escobar and his Medellin drug cartel controlled as much as 80 percent of the multibillion-dollar export of Colombian cocaine to the United States.

Escobar was blamed for assassinating three of the five candidates for Colombian president in 1989, and for instigating a takeover of the Palace of Justice in Bogota in 1986. More than 90 people died in the subsequent siege, including 11 Supreme Court justices.

When one of Escobar's bombs brought down an Avianca Airliner in Colombia in November 1989, killing 107 people, he became one of the most feared terrorists in the world.

Men working for Escobar were caught that same year trying to buy Stinger antiaircraft missiles in Miami.

A heavy pot-smoker, Escobar cultivated a relaxed, informal style with his friends and associates, but he was so vicious to his enemies that he was feared by everyone. In his battle with Colombian police, he placed a bounty on the head of officers in Medellin, paying higher rewards for killing those of greater rank. By the time of his death at age 44, Dec. 2, 1993, Escobar was considered responsible for thousands of deaths in Colombia, yet he was mourned publicly by large crowds in his home city.

[My2Cents]

I'm sick of you amoral libertarians. You disgust me.

[MrLeRoy]

I'm sick of you amoral libertarians.

It's not "amoral" to recognize that government isn't the proper or effective institution for fighting non-rights-violating immorality.

[toothless]

"I'm sick of you amoral libertarians. You disgust me."

Thanks, thats the best compliment I have had all day.

[Hacksaw]

Also, Escobar is a creation of the war on drugs.

And Ted Bundy was a creation of laws against serial killing.

[Physicist]

Not really. Capone did not target completely innocent civilians and assasinate presidential candidates. He was a violent man, but nowhere near the scale as Escobar.

I see. You're saying it's a matter of degree. If Capone had done those things, then drinking would be wrong.

[toothless]

"And Ted Bundy was a creation of laws against serial killing."

Right. If drugs were not illegal, paublo wouldn't have to kill people to further his business interests. If murder wasn't illegal, Ted Bundy wouldn't have to kill people to...

Wait nevermind, your example is bogus.

[MrLeRoy]

Escobar is a creation of the war on drugs.

And Ted Bundy was a creation of laws against serial killing.

No, unlike Escobar, Bundy didn't reap exorbitant profits that were fueled by the laws he was breaking.

[MrLeRoy]

Nice!

[wildbill]

I have one question that is off the subject of culpability:

Where did all the money go? Did it pass undisturbed by government action to his wife and children just like any other estate? Does the book say?

[Lurker]

And we feel the same about you phoney 'conservatives'.

L

[cinFLA]

You can thank the War on Drugs for that.

You blame the WOD for everything. Even those events that occurred prior to the WOD!

[cinFLA]

And you druggies want to inflict a plague of drugs unlike any ever seen since China.

[cardinal4]

Im not looking for trouble, I just dont understand something, cocaine must be stopped. Legalization will solve nothing but create a health care crisis. I must point out here that the most vocal people on the WOD have never experienced first hand the hell the drugs can put families, schools, communties and governments through. Alcohol is as equally destructive if not more, but its ok. I just dont get the difference. Legalization for the purpose of taxing it would be funny if werent for the seriousness of the situation...unless you want this country to go the way of Holland. Thats just my opinion, but I have no solutions.

[cinFLA]

Also, Escobar is a creation of the war on drugs.

Typical druggie propaganda. Blame the WOD even though Escobar rose to power BEFORE the WOD began!

[cinFLA]

Anarchist Alert.

[cinFLA]

("One man of reason and goodwill is worth more, actually and potentially, than a million fools" AR)

And we have a thousand fools supporting Soros in his quest for drug legalization, a new world order, a national police force, more UN power and absolute gun control.

[MrLeRoy]

Where did all the money go? Did it pass undisturbed by government action to his wife and children just like any other estate? Does the book say?

No idea. bucephalus?

[MrLeRoy]

Alcohol is as equally destructive if not more, but its ok.

Doesn't the second part of your sentence contradict the first?

[dcwusmc]

bite me

[MrLeRoy]

It's not "amoral" to recognize that government isn't the proper or effective institution for fighting non-rights-violating immorality.

Anarchist Alert.

What a foolish post.