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Biography

Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (1949-1993)

Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria, more known as Pablo Escobar, was born on December 1, 1949 in Antioquia, Colombia. He died at the age of 44 (December 2, 1993) in Medellin, Colombia by the police in a shooting. He was a Colombian drug trafficker who practically dominated over 80 percent of the cocaine exported to the USA, placing him in the list of the 10 wealthiest people in the world, according to Forbes Maganize. . He introduced himself in these negotiations during 1970s in collaboration with the Medellin Cartel organization in which he took part. He won popularity between citizens due to his charity projects and soccer clubs. However, the terror campaigns as a result of his murder of thousands shifted the public opinion against him.

Personal and Professional Life and Legal problems

He was married to Maria Victoria Henao Vellejo for 15 years (1976-1991) and they had two children: Juan Pablo and Manuela.

Escobar´s death in December 2, 1993 by Medellin police.

In 1991 on account of the pressure to extradite Pablo, his lawyers and Colombian government reached an agreement: Escobar would pass five years in jail but he would build his own prison and not be arrested by the US or any other government. The prison was called La Catedral, with a lot of luxuries and the ability to communicate with the outside world, and Escobar also had full control over the security team.

Background

PRI (Political party that controlled Mexico during 50 years)

Political background

In 1976 Huge oil reserves are discovered in the Bay of Campeche, one of the largest fields in the world. Jose López Portillo, who had just been elected, promises to use the oil money to fund a campaign of industrial expansion, social welfare and high-yield agriculture that left Mexico with the world’s largest foreign debt.

In 1985 Mexico is in deep financial crisis. An earthquake in Mexico City kills nearly 10,000 people and a couple years later, a hurricane in Yucatán leaves the city in a even more critical situation. Many grassroots organizations for human rights and civic action movement are formed and the PRI´S corruption increases.

In 1992 President Carlos Salinas signs the American Free Trade, even though the media, the opposition and the leftist Partido Revolucionario Democrático (PRD), which begins to win growing support among the electorate. Due to the amount of corruption that is discovered in his government, he is exiled.

In 1994 The latest PRI candidate, Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon, is elected president and immediately faces a banking crisis. The country was affected by a devaluation of the peso, which triggered the worst recession in over half a century. The United States tries to help the economy by loaning them money.

In 1997 The corruption-plagued PRI suffers a shocking defeat, losing the mayoralty of Mexico City (also known as the Distrito Federal, or DF) to PRD candidate Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas by an overwhelming margin.

Media background

Before the Mexican Revolution of 1910, powerful people in the government and the church successfully bribed journalists (embutes) in order to change what was displayed in the media. Afterwards, the newspapers El Universal and Excelsior were created. Moreover, during the next two decades, the spread of radio news became very popular all over Mexico. However, the media was run by the wealthiest and most influential people of the country so they were never criticised (patronage). They created a system of mutual favors in order to preserve their privileges. Therefore, the PRI party took advantage of this during the next 70 years primarily using Televisa (a TV channel).This explains why there was no censorship: all of the people running it had inside sources within with the government so they just broadcasted what they chose. The owners would not benefit by promoting protests or revolutions. They used gracetillas (propaganda paid by the government).

For most of the second half of the XX century, the politicians that ruled the country and other powerful people manipulated the media, mainly through journalism using bribes. PRI used the National Intelligence Agency and the Centre for Information and National Security to spy on journalists. The profession was very difficult because if they did something that the power did not agree with, they could be threated or murderered, since the police and the drug cartels were involved. Essentially, the people that were in charge of the news, usually were uneducated and not very professional.

At the end of the XX century, journalism started to change. Some journalists began to focus more on civil society activities than on the official elite discourse of the post-revolutionary regime to report more accurately on Mexican civic, social and political reality. Also, the radio was slowly growing in their broadcasting (1970s), therefore, in order to attract the maximum audience possible, they improved their commitment and professionalism, raising competition which eventually caused bribes to decrease.

Escobar's influence on media during the time of his reign

Over the course of his life, Escobar consistently worked towards fame and power. He established this by promoting his public image through various media outlets, getting involved in Columbian politics, and, of course, through his drug cartel business. Many believe that one of Escobar's breakthroughs while transitioning from mere drug dealer to public figure was through his relationship with Virginia Vallejo. After appearing in a series of ads in 1982 for Medias De Lido pantyhose, Columbian television star and journalist Virginia Vallejo's attention was caught by the notorious drug lord. After having declared his desire towards her, Escobar invited Vallejo to his villa, not only due to his attraction towards her, but also due to the influence Escobar knew she could provide for him. His true feelings towards her were and continue to be debated; although the pair seemed mutually infatuated with each other, many believe he was using her with the mere purpose of increasing his fame. Vallejo's reputation was a key aspect in Escobar's rise to fame. During an interview with Vallejo in 1983 Escobar spoke of his charity programme Medellín Sin Tugurios or Medellín Without Slums, after which he established a positive public image that gained him national fame.  This led to his transformation into El Paisa Robin Hood or The Godfather, as he would come to be known amongst the public and especially in the media due to his self-proclaimed role as a “man of the public”.

Another source with which Escobar promoted himself was through the Columbian newspaper Medellín Civico, founded by his uncle, Hernán Gaviria Berrio, and partially founded by Escobar himself. In Medellín Civico, he indicated his civic attempt to begin a revolution against social inequality and desertion in Medellín. Pablo promoted Medellin Without Slums in the newspaper, where it was said that project would supply a new and improved life for families who suffered in dangerous and harmful environments.

As Colombia’s most famous citizen during this time, he was loved by many in his country, and he used this advantage to victimize himself in the media.

One of the main ways in which he manipulated the media was through discretion about where his money truly came from. During the first few years of the eighties, Pablo used his reputation to become involved in Colombian politics. He decided to run for Congress, and specifically advertised his campaign in less fortunate areas of Medellín. He was first rejected from joining a liberal party run by Luis Carlos Galán because he saw him as a “mafioso”. Escobar then decided to search elsewhere and turned to Alberto Santofimio, a fraudulent senator, who was in charge of another branch within the same party. Once he was officially elected into Congress, he used his power to restore and rebuild tons of rough neighborhoods around Medellín. This provided several hundred families with homes and resources. He also gave many jobs to people in need when the construction was going on. The principal motives behind this charitable work was to build a presentable and empathetic image for himself.