The Influence of Pablo Escobar and the Urbanization of Medellin, Colombia

By: Molly McEntee and Thomas McInerney

Research Kit

Introduction

This research kit will be focused on Medellin, Colombia, during the era of Pablo Escobar, starting in the 1980s. It will be looking at the influence of the Medellin Cartel and Pablo Escobar during the Post-Narco Urbanization era in Colombia and how it forever changed and influenced Colombian history today. Additionally, this research kit will focus on Medellin’s more modern-day urban transformation.

Research Questions:

• Why did the people of Medellin, Colombia, support a known drug dealer and the drug cartel, Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel, was it for a spot in the Colombian government?
• Should the Colombian government use narco-tourism and the story of Pablo Escobar to their advantage or start to remove the association of Escobar and the Medellin Cartel from their image?
• How has Pablo Escobar’s legacy shaped the city, and what understanding can be gained from its lasting effects on Medellin?
• Do you think that without the influence of Pablo Escobar, the comunas and infrastructure in Medellin, Colombia, would have received the same amount of funding for renovations?

These questions connect to urbanization because it looks at how industrialization created comunas. This is significant because the conditions that industrialization created allowed for a drug cartel to take over. This area began to urbanize because Escobar and the cartel were putting drug money back into the community by improving the conditions of the very poor areas.

Narrative/Overview

    Pablo Escobar’s Mugshot

In 1949, Pablo Escobar was born in a small village where his family would be considered a lower-middle class. Escobar moved to Medellin, Colombia during the 1960s, when his life of crime started. Over the years, Pablo moved from petty crimes to drug dealing, first marijuana then to cocaine. Escobar soon realized that he was able to capitalize on dealing cocaine in the 1970s and this is when he created the infamous Medellin Cartel. Once he saw his influence and power over people, he realized he wanted to be a part of the Colombian government. Escobar became power hungry and saw that the citizens in the commons were in desperate need of a leader who was going to them since the government during this time did not see that these people were suffering in unlivable conditions. Since Pablo’s father and godfather were both active politicians while he was growing up, he already had a strong interest in and understanding of politics. While Escobar was incarcerated, he spent time with another politician who helped him figure out how to get the people of Medellin on his side for the vote. 

The Comuns in Medellin, Colombia

Once Escobar was out of jail, he started doing social work focused on the comunas. Comunas are “informal urban developments; many of them settled on the hills surrounding the city, are still seen as threatening places by inhabitants; people who are in poor economic status and high crime rate” (Casacol). He realized that since the comunas are overpopulated, it would be the perfect target to focus on since this is where a majority of the votes come from. Escobar spent “part of his huge fortune on social projects to gain the sympathy of the population and access to Congress” (Naef, 2018). The comunas were the specific part of the community that Pablo Escobar focused on since it was the poorest area and needed the most help. The money of the Medellin Cartel was laundered through the comunas and was used to create much-needed new infrastructures. Pablo “organized and funded nearly a hundred neighborhood committees to undertake community projects. He sought to eradicate the slums of Medellin with the construction of 5,000 homes, partnering with the former director of city planning, who offered a plot of land for each house” (Rubio, 2013). The people who lived in comunas were desperate to make money and needed a new leader to look to in order to give them hope for a better life; Pablo saw this need and took full advantage of this opportunity. 

Pablo Escobar realized that he could not avoid his arrest any longer he negotiated a deal with the Colombian government about his surrender. This deal allowed him to build his own “jail”, a shortened sentence, and little to no supervision from the Colombian government while incarcerated. Escobar renovated an old rehabilitation center in the mountains of Colombia and turned it into his jail, known as “La Catedral.” Juan Escobar, the son of Pablo Escobar, expressed that “my father’s cell had a 250-square-foot living room and then, through the door, a bedroom with a large bathroom, also 250 square feet in size” (Escobar, 2016). He then continued to explain that in the bedroom there was an amazing view of the city and “a wooden bookshelf held a twenty-nine inch Sony television and the collection of James Bond movies that we’d started watching together. Besides the window was his office area, with a desk, a sofa, a zebra skin decorating the carpeted floor, and a fireplace to alleviate the cold, then came the bathroom with a bathtub and steam room, a clothing closet, and a hiding place-of course-where he stashed money and weapons” (Escobar, 2016). Pablo Escobar’s imprisonment was anything other than imprisonment, he finessed the system due to his money and power that he held. His lifestyle changed drastically but was still better than most Colombian people’s. 

As we all know, Medellin wasn’t always like it is today. Escobar’s drug empire in Medellin came with violence and corruption, but the city never lacked money or urban decay during his rise to power. Although Escobar was an evil and problematic man, he loved his city of Medellin and wanted to improve the poor parts of it in order to garner support. “He organized and funded nearly a hundred neighborhood committees to undertake community projects. He sought to eradicate the slums of Medellin with the construction of 5,000 homes, partnering with the former director of city planning, who offered a plot of land for each house” (Zamora, 84). Although true, these efforts were through money laundering and property speculation (Mcguirk, 2014). After Escobar’s death in 1993, the city had to recover from the corrupt acts of the Medellin Cartel slowly. The influx of drug money had come to a halt, and Medellin’s economic and urban growth was no more. It wasn’t until 2003 when Fajardo was elected, did Medellin start to improve its urban environment substantially. 

Not only did Escobar pour money into the city of Medellin (for political and public image reasons), his effect on the city in terms of money and infrastructure continued for decades after his death. Although Escobar and his cartel had such a disastrous effect on Medellin, people in the city continued to tell his story. Instead of wiping the history of the Medellin cartel away, it has continued to be discussed to this day, and thousands of tourists come to Colombia each year to learn more about Escobar and the cartel. Although true, some people speculate that a lot of the tourists’ intentions are ill-mannered, as they are visiting more as a fan rather than someone who wants to learn more about what occurred (Grace, 2019). With television shows and movies dramatizing Escobar’s power, more people than ever are interested in Escobar’s life. Although true, the story of Escobar is such a significant part of their past that it would seem almost wrong to ignore it. Additionally, what better way is there to turn such a negative time into something of learning and economic growth? It seems like it might be smart to remind the citizens of Medellin and people around the world of the horrors that occurred so that individuals can make efforts to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself.

New Infastructure in Medellin, Colombia

Recently, it seems that the people of Medellin have come to peace with what happened during the cartel days. This is because, in 2019, the city decided to demolish the Monaco building” which was a property that Escobar built in the 1980s (With the Demolition, n.d).  The demolition of the building was somewhat symbolic as it was destroyed with explosives, and it reminded them of an explosion that occurred in the building back in 1988 due to a feud with the Cali cartel. The mayor at the time, Federico Gutierrez, and his team set out to embrace their past, or “Medellín abraza su historia” which translates to “Medellin embraces its history”. By doing so, the mayor hopes to create a place for reflection and a place to pay tribute to the people harmed by Escobar’s savagery. Hundreds of the citizens of Medellin supported this effort by watching the implosion of the building occur from a safe distance, marking a new time in the city’s history. In addition to the demolition of the Escobar building, Gutierrez marks this act as the beginning of rebuilding Medellin’s culture (With the Demolition, n.d). As you can tell, the people and government of Medellin know how they want to move forward pertaining to Escobar and his cartel. Since most of the world is already aware of Escobar’s impacts on the city, Colombia, and the world, it would seem silly to try and push their past away. By embracing what happened to their city, they can honor those that were harmed and educate the ill-informed. This is similar to how the United States has a day to remember 9/11 and a memorial to help do so. 

New Infastructure in Medellin, Colombia

Recovering from its violent and murderous past of the 1980s and 1990s, Medellin has had one of the most revolutionary urban transformations of any city to date. Beginning with Sergio Farjardo receiving the vote for mayor in 2003, the city began to direct some of its focus on the poor and underprivileged areas of Medellin. Specifically, Medellin has aimed to improve schools and transportation routes that will help modernize urban life. These changes account for the latest forms of civic engagement with a focus on social development. Many examples of new projects in Medellin have shaped the city that it is today. One example of this is their aquatic center, which is four large pools connected to a garden. This center is used for competitions, recreational swimming, and swimming lessons which all aid in exploring connections between people in the city. Another example is Ruta N, which was made as a sustainable building that connects to public streets and buildings surrounding it. Another more drastic form of modern urbanization is the implementation of four sports arenas that sit next to other stadiums and football fields. This project incorporated the four sporting arenas together in a public space, making it a common place for citizens to hang around. 

Narco-heritage is a huge part of current-day Medellin, Colombia’s culture and history. Narco-heritage is defined as “objects, sites, and practices embodying and representing the illegal production, as well as consumption, of narcotics” (Naef, 2018). People are fascinated by the story of Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel due to the fact it’s rare to see a known criminal have so much power and influence in a country and politics. Narco-tourism is essential to Medellin’s culture because it receives the most attraction and money from visiting tourists. These tours bring tourists through all of the sites that are related to Pablo Escobar, for example, the comuns, places he has lived, buildings and places he built for the Medellin people, and his “La Catedral.” 

Henry Alford published an article for The New York Times on January 20, 2013, titled I Just Got Back From Medellin! explaining the unexpected experience, he had in Colombia. The headline of this article said, “I never thought I’d be saying that. But the cartel days are gone, and parks, museums, and nightlife have arrived. Just don’t tell anyone you took the Pablo Escobar tour” (Alford, 2013). Throughout the article, Alford expresses how surprised he was that he felt safe traveling through Medellin, Colombia, and also about how clean and updated the public transit and city were while exploring. It is clear that Medellin is trying to drastically change and renovate the city from its narco image, but no matter how hard the city tries, Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel will also have an influence on the city’s history.

Robert Mazur was an undercover informant for the United States who was tasked with infiltrating Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel drug ring. Robert Mazur recounts his first-hand experience in his book, The Infiltrator: My Secret Life Inside the Dirty Banks Behind Pablo Escobar’s Medellin Cartel, published in 2016. Mazur soon became known as Robert Musella with a backstory of having Mafia ties and being able to launder mass amounts of drug cartels’ money. It took him years of hard work to establish himself as a legit money launderer in Florida and create multiple strong connections to Colombian cartels. As Mazur moved through the ranks, he met more and more important people connected to these powerful cartels and started laundering small amounts of their money to prove himself. During this process, he was learning so much new information that no one outside of the drug trade had any idea about. 

Soon he was trusted by the Medellin Cartel and was also laundering large amounts of money from them. As Mazur became more trusted, he was being trusted with more and more information about the Medellin Cartel and Pablo Escobar’s operations. Due to his incredibly hard work, the D.E.A. finally had enough information and proof to take down Escobar and his cartel. Robert Mazur’s experience and intel showed the people that Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel were dangerous and serious drugs that people cannot mess with. This book shows just how secure and legit this operation was. The Medellin Cartel and Pablo Escobar were experts in running the drug trade.

Primary Sources Annotated Bibliography

Alford, H. (2013, Jan 20). I just got back from Medellin! New York Times (1923-) Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/i-just-got-back-medellin/docview/1814944048/se-2

Henry Alford wrote an article for The New York Times about his first-hand experience in Medellin, Colombia. This article provides insight to readers about how Medellin has improved the city and is overall improved from the era of Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel. Alford explains his surprise about the new and improved Medellin, Colombia because he went into this experience expecting the city to be very similar to the rundown and drug era, like how most people today still expect it to be. He also emphasized how a huge part of the economy still relies on Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel because there are still so many narco-tourism tours and buildings that profit off showing the history of Pablo Escobar.

Escobar, J. P (2016). Pablo Escobar, My Father. Translation by Andrea Rosenberg. Thomas Dunn Books, St. Martin’s Press.

Juan Pablo Escobar wrote a novel telling outlining his life about what it was like having the most infamous drug lord as a father, Pablo Escobar. Juan goes into vivid detail about his upbringing and about what his life was like being raised by a drug lord. Escobar gives readers so much information that many people did not know. For example, when his father built “La Catedral” he explained what it was like going to go visit him and what the building looked like. Since he was young, he did not really comprehend who his father was to the rest of the world. Juan Escobar thought that his upbringing was normal when he was younger since that was all he knew, but upon growing up and reflecting on his life, it became clear that his upbringing was other than normal.

Mazur, R. (2016). The Infiltrator: My Secret Life Inside the Dirty Banks Behind Pablo Escobar’s Medellín Cartel. Back Bay Books.

Robert Mazur was an undercover informant for the United States who was tasked with infiltrating Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel drug ring. Throughout his book, he details this extensive and tedious experience working with various Colombian drug cartels. Mazur explains to the readers what it is really like to be a part of a dangerous drug cartel. Since he was an informant for the government, his years of hard work helped gather evidence and information that would have been impossible to gain.

Secondary Sources Annotated Bibliography

Naef, P. (2018). “Narco-Heritage” and the Touristification of the Drug Lord Pablo Escobar in Medellin, Colombia. Journal of Anthropological Research, 74(4), 485–502.  https://doi.org/10.1086/699941 

Patrick Naef has done extensive research on Pablo Escobar, the Medellin Cartel, and Medellin, Colombia compiling it into a research journal. Naef focuses on narco-heritage, which he defines as “objects, sites, and practices embodying and representing the illegal production and consumption of narcotics. The current analysis deliberately presents a broad conceptualization of heritage, ranging from tourism to popular culture and encompassing objects such as buildings, television shows, movies, and graffiti.” In current-day Medellin, people from all over the world travel to take these narco-tourism locations attached to Escobar’s name because of the intriguing historical stories. Naef also goes into great detail about who Pablo Escobar was starting from his very early childhood. He provided insight into his rough and poor life and explained Escobar’s milestones leading up to him becoming one of the most well-known drug dealers ever. 

Rubio, M. (2013). Colombia: Coexistence, Legal Confrontation, and War with Illegal Armed Groups. In K. Casas-Zamora (Ed.), Dangerous Liaisons: Organized Crime and Political Finance in Latin America and Beyond (pp. 76–106). Brookings Institution Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7864/j.ctt4cg80v.7 

Mauricio Rubio, in extreme detail, explained the political atmosphere in Medellin, Colombia during the 1980s and 1990s during the height of Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel. As Escobar became more powerful and started paying off politicians in order to get what he wanted and be able to keep his drug cartel strong. Once Pablo Escobar was elected into Congress, another politician exposed Escobar as one of the biggest drug lords and one of Colombia’s most dangerous/violent people. Escobar did not like this, so he had a member of his cartel murder these politicians. He soon removed himself from Congress in order to keep his cartel.

Mcguirk. (2014). Radical cities : across Latin America in search of a new architecture. Verso: Medellin: Social Urbansim (pp.160-177). https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/jmu/reader.action?docID=6090814&ppg=161

Mcguirk mainly discusses the social urbanism that takes place in the city of Medellin following the election that took place in 2003 where Sergio Farjardo gets elected as mayor. Mcguirk mentions how recent projects in the past 15 years or so are what has been contributing to the increase in social urbanism. Additionally, Mcguirk talks about Sergio Farjardo in detail, specifically about his leadership and contribution to the city. Lastly, Mcguirk briefly discusses Medellin’s economic and urban state before Pablo Escobar came into power with the Medellin Cartel. 

 (2021, February 16). Dust and ashes: What Remains of Escobar’s legacy. Colombia Country Brand. Retrieved from https://www.colombia.co/en/updates/dust-and-ashes-what-remain-of-escobars-legacy/

In this writing, the author highlights the demolition of a building constructed by Escobar called the Monaco building. This was significant because it helps the citizens of Medellin embrace and recover from its violent past. Additionally, this article explains how this event is just the beginning of more changes to come in Medellin. 

Grace is a writer and copywriter from the U.K. She’s had the pleasure of living in 5 countries (2020, January 24). The house where Pablo Escobar was killed: Narco-tourism or an important symbol? Medellin Living. Retrieved December 14, 2022, from https://medellinliving.com/where-pablo-escobar-was-killed-narco-tourism-important-symbol/

This writing highlights how Escobar and the Medellin cartel still have lasting impacts on the city of Medellin from their story. People in Medellin created tourist spots for people to visit pertaining to Escobar’s life and death. The article contemplates if “narco-tourism” is good or not and if it should be occurring.

Zamora, K. C. (2013). Dangerous liaisons: Organized crime and political finance in Latin America and beyond. Brookings Institution Press. 

This book discusses organized crime that has occurred in Latin America. Specifically, it mentions Escobar’s cartel and his impact on the city of Medellin and Colombia.

Glossary

Comunas: “informal urban developments, many of them settled on the hills surrounding the city are still seen as threatening places by inhabitants; people who are in poor economic status and high crime rate”

Social Urbanism: “aims to promote the improvement of urban life quality and territorial inclusion, especially by directing investments toward socially vulnerable areas and integrated solutions of social housing and urban support infrastructure”

Narco-Tourism: “kind of tourism in which domestic and foreign people visit one or more specific areas of a country, with the intention to acquire, consume and transport drugs, mainly marijuana, cocaine, and heroin, and even to visit plantations and clandestine laboratories to get to know the elaboration process”

Civic Engagement: “promoting the quality of life in a community through both political and non-political processes.”

Property Speculation: “an approach to real estate investment where anticipated profits are based on predicted changes in local market conditions rather than physical improvements or rents.”