Living in Medellin, I always wondered. What happened to the relatives of Pablo Escobar? After seeing “Sins of my father” all questions were answered.

Living in Medellin, your are confronted with the dark past of the city. Family, friends & clients ask a lot about the safety in Medellin and about the drug cartel. (In case you haven’t heard my answer: Medellin has totally transformed and is one of the nicest city to live in in South America).

The history of the drug cartel always fascinated me, so I visited Hacienda Napoles, the “Catedral”, the graveyard of Escobar and the place where he was murdered. If your want to jump back into old times, you can watch this interview of Pablo Escobars photographer:

But the movie “Sins of my father” is not just about the past, but the present. How is it like to be the son of one of the most evil persons in history? What does his son feel for the crimes committed by his father? (something similar German people of my age are confronted also corning crimes of our grandfathers).

It’s a fascinating story, worthwhile to see:

Last weekend Adriana and me had a great trip to Doradal, it’s a place about 3 hours drive from Medellin. The place is famous for it’s Hacienda Napoles, 20 years ago the hangout of Pablo Escobar. They say, it used to be the biggest zoo in South America.

It’s really a great trip. On one hand it’s bizarre, you know, that this guy has killed thousands of people, made Colombia suffer for so many years and left a negative image that Colombia still has to battle untill today. And then you get to his Hacienda and they made a "Jurassic Park" out of it. The entry is about 6 USD, you get to see old artefacts of Escobars live like his own colloseum, the ruins of his house, the leftover from his cars and most interestingly the Hippos he imported from Africa and survived until today.

That all is combined with a Zoo. that didn’t seem that interesting to me and a sculpture Park of Dinosaurs. It’s well done, as they put a "sound ambiance" into the Park of growling dinosaurs ..

Now some Videos (archive) and some photos of the trip…

Robin Hood, der das Geld den reichen Amerikanern aus der Tasche zieht und der armen Bevölkerung Kolumbiens zur Verfügung stellt. So würde sich Pablo Escobar wohl am liebsten in die Geschichtsbücher eingegangen. Mit der Realität hatte das aber reichlich wenig zu tun.

In einem gut recherchierten und extrem spannenden Buch könnt ihr die Geschichte Pablo Escobars kennen lernen. Escobar kommt aus einer guten Mittelklasse-Familie aus der Nähe von Medellin. Mit jungen Jahren beginnt er seine Verbrecher-Karriere. Zum richtigen Zeitpunkt ist er am richten Ort, als im Laufe der 70er Jahr die Nachfrage nach Kokain in Nordamerika stark zunimmt. Mit Bestechung und Gewalt sticht er seine Konkurrenten aus und wird zum führenden Kokain-Exporteur nach Nordamerika.

In den 80er Jahren – im Zenit seiner “Laufbahn” – geht er in die Politik. Continue reading →