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The noise of dynamite on a sunny day blew out a host of buried memories, welcome and otherwise, among those who’d survived Medellín’s long years of violence. Aurelia Puyo, a female guerrilla who’d grown up upper-class before running away to join the guerillas, allegedly targeted the place in an effort to strike at the heart of the establishment. Escobar had phoned and threatened Horacio not to allow certain politicians into the restaurant.
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But more than 25 years after Mr. Escobar’s death, the six-story building with a penthouse had still caused heated debate, as city officials weighed the potential tourist draw of the site against the urge to move on from a painful past. I was a 21-year-old Peace Corps volunteer when I fell in love with Medellín and the lush countryside that surrounds it. While there, I helped build a school near what would become one of Escobar’s hideouts, and in 2005 I founded the Marina Orth Foundation, an educational foundation for underserved kids. Today, we teach STEM, robotics, English, and leadership in 21 schools. I was just as thrilled (and surprised) when, during the ceremony, I was awarded a medal of courage from Gutiérrez as part of a group of Valientes who stood up for the city during its long ordeal.
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Also at the lunch were the widow and children of Colonel Valdemar Franklin Quintero, the murdered commander of the Antioquia state police department. In 1989, when police were being picked off right and left, Colonel Quintero was a symbol of fearless incorruptibility. Eventually, however, Quintero concluded that his days were numbered, so he dismissed his bodyguards, telling them there was no reason their families should lose their fathers. One of his sons and a nephew also participated in the Medellín ceremonies. Medellín has Pablo problems in all strata of society, not just the poor neighborhoods. The current mafia headquarters, the Oficina de Envigado, is located in the rapidly growing nearby town of Envigado, where Escobar grew up.
Medellín demolishes Pablo Escobar’s museum house, putting an end to the notorious legend
Medellín demolishes Pablo Escobar’s museum house, putting an end to the notorious legend - EL PAÍS USA
Medellín demolishes Pablo Escobar’s museum house, putting an end to the notorious legend.
Posted: Tue, 11 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
It was staged under the auspices of Medellín, Abraza Su Historia (Medellín, Embrace Your History), a branding campaign launched by Gutiérrez. The Monaco also served as the starting or ending point for many of the city’s popular narco tours—including one led by Escobar’s brother. The mansion in La Isla Grande, now government owned, has steadily fallen into ruin. Like some kind of coke-fueled Xanadu, the sprawling complex is already being reclaimed by nature. Stepping into the main mansion—it had been decorated with white tile and marble—the cracked walls still show the 1980s color schemes of pastel blue and coral pinks. The lobby leads to an immense courtyard, shaded with palm trees overlooking the Caribbean sea.
He soon graduated to setting up a distribution channel for cocaine himself while establishing smuggling routes to the United States. Mr. Escobar lived for years in the Monaco Building, a white, six-story edifice with a penthouse apartment on top and his family name still inscribed in fading letters on the exterior. Last Tuesday, a white or cream-colored package, about one foot long and wrapped in plastic with metal seals on the ends, was also found. Forensic tests by Miami Beach police determined it did not contain drugs. The safe was hidden beneath the entrance of what had been a large pink mansion consisting of four bedrooms, a pool, six bathrooms and a garage.
With more than 300 rooms for guests and party-goers, no expense was spared, even down to the gold shower heads in the bathrooms. Escobar’s playground resembled a strip from Miami’s South Beach in its 1980s heyday. For his party home on La Isla Grande, Escobar’s plans were no less ostentatious. He commissioned a giant complex featuring a mansion, waterfront apartments, a palm court centered around an enormous swimming pool and helicopter landing pad. With over 300 rooms for guests and party goers, no expense was spared, even down to the gold shower heads in the bathrooms.
Our night at Casa Malca had been a memorable one. And the morning was off to a gorgeous start.
Any pedestrian could walk along the street and pose for a similar photograph – and in fact, you can still do so today, though the fence has gotten higher. The hotel is also complete with a spa, two pools, three restaurants, a private beach that handmade tiki huts dotted around, as well as an underground adult-only grotto. Now - nearly a decade later - the estate was discovered and purchased by art collector, Lio Malca.
Pablo Escobar’s Home Is Demolished in Colombia, Along With a Painful Legacy
Pablo Escobar's $2.5m home is seized by Colombian authorities after it was turned into a tourist attraction by - Daily Mail
Pablo Escobar's $2.5m home is seized by Colombian authorities after it was turned into a tourist attraction by.
Posted: Mon, 23 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
To what extent Escobar was a genuine benefactor for the working classes of Colombia, versus the hagiographical image he created around himself, is hard to judge. Certainly his public funeral resembled the passing of a popular king, and not a mass murderer. But his popularity in the working classes also benefitted him when he came to run for public office. Asking Jesús and other islanders on Isla Grande whether El Patron did anything for them, the answer was no. I was struck by the overt friendliness of the people of Orika and by the paradox of their island home. They’ve never had a police force according to Jesús, yet through the forest was the fortress of the world’s most lethal drug baron.
But he also carefully cultivated a Robin Hood image with the working classes of Colombia. He built deluxe soccer fields in the barrios, and organized teams and leagues for the children. The street vendors of Cartagena, las Palenqueras sell t-shirts bearing the face of El Patron alongside replica jerseys of the Colombian hero and Real Madrid forward James Rodriguez.
The Hacienda also offers visitors a detailed history of Escobar's life and death, all documented through photos, newspaper records, and interviews with people who were close to him. Perhaps most striking is the famous 1993 photo of Escobar's lifeless body after the shootout with the Colombian government that ended his life now prominently displayed on a wall in his former home. At the far side of the island, hidden and secluded between the tropical forest and the Caribbean Sea, lies a grandiose complex of luxury buildings. At the height of his powers, Pablo Escobar was responsible for around 80 percent of the world’s cocaine. He headed the Medellín drug cartel, smuggling over fifteen tons of cocaine into the United States every day.
His name appears on the title of the house and in the paperwork transferring the property to the current owners. It is well known that the former boss of the Medellin Cartel had accumulated such an immense fortune that he hid part of his profits in secret compartments, in the walls of his house, and even buried them in the floor. When Miguel Mato, who was operating an excavator, knocked down the last walls on the 7,336-square-foot home, which sits on a 33,000-square-foot lot overlooking Biscayne Bay. Malca regularly rotates many of his pieces to keep things interesting for his returning guests.
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