Killing Pablo - Pablo Escobar

Killing Pablo Pablo Escobar was a Colombian drug lord who ran the Medellín Cartel. He controlled and profited off of the largest amount of cocaine that was brought to the United States. He was estimated to be worth $5 billion and named one of the wealthiest men in the world by Forbes magazine. His massive wealth bought him status and power, inside of Colombia. In 1982 Pablo Escobar ran for a substitute position in the Colombian Congress. He won and began using his newfound status to travel the world. During this time, Pablo did everything in his power to ensure the origin of his fortune was not exposed. He paid the press and media to run flattering stories about him and his fortune. He also began his own newspaper Medellín Cìvica, which also ran countless articles portraying him in a positive light. He claimed many times his fortune was due to bicycle rental, and construction companies. Inside of Colombia the connection between drug cartels and Pablo was not a well known fact. However, other countries all around the world knew who Pablo really was. With his wealth and his new status in politics, he argued against the extradition treaty Colombia had signed with the United States. The treaty implicated that Colombia would send suspected drug traffickers to the United States to be tried. He began to pay elected officials to push for the legalization of trafficking cocaine to North America. He began having influence and power within Colombian politics. However, when rumors began about the true origin of his massive fortune, his clean image and political status was removed. Justice Minister Rodrigo Lara began making an antidrug campaign that was against “hot money”. Lara was in a political party called the “New Liberals”, which was headed by Luis Galàn. The party saw Pablo and his Medellín faction of liberals as a threat. Lara went after Pablo because he was knew who Pablo Escobar really was. He wanted to make an example of him and his