Hvem daterede Pablo Escobar?

Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria ( / ɛ s k o b ɑːr /, spansk: [ˈpaβlo eˈmiljo eskoˈβaɾ ɣaˈβiɾja]; 1. december 1949 – 2. december 1993) var en colombiansk narkobaron og narkotikaterrorist. Det anslås, at hans kartel leverede 80 % af den kokain, der blev smuglet ind i USA, mens han var på toppen af sin karriere. Da tjente han over 21,9 milliarder dollars om året og var en af verdens rigeste. Han blev ofte kaldt "Kongen af kokain" og var den rigeste kriminelle gennem historien, med en estimeret kendt formue på 25-30 milliarder dollar i begyndelsen af 1990'erne (svarende til 48,5-58 milliarder dollars i 2018).

Escobar blev født i Rionegro, Colombia, og voksede op i det nærliggende Medellín, hvor han kort studerede på Universidad Autónoma Latinoamericana, men stoppede, inden han fik en universitetsgrad. Han indledte sin kriminellle løbebane med biltyverier, smugling af cigaretter og salg af falske lotterisedler. I 1970'erne begyndte han at arbejde for forskellige smuglere, der ofte kidnappede folk og krævede løsepenge. Siden slog han sig på salg af pulverkokain og etablerede de første smugleruter i USA i 1975. USA's narkotikamarked voksede eksponentielt på grund af den stigende efterspørgsel efter kokain, og i 1980'erne blev anslået 70-80 tons kokain afsendt fra Colombia til USA hver måned. Escobars narkotikanetværk var kendt som Medellín-kartellet. Magtkampe med rivaliserende karteller i ind-og udland førte til massakrer og mord på politifolk, dommere, lokalbefolkning og fremtrædende politikere.

Ved valget i 1982 blev Escobar valgt som suppleant til repræsentantskabet for Colombia som en del af Liberal Alternative Movement. Han sørgede for, at der blev bygget huse og anlagt fodboldbaner i det vestlige Colombia, hvilket gjorde ham populær i lokalbefolkningen. Men Colombia blev "verdensmorderens hovedstad", og Escobar blev eftersøgt af de colombianske og amerikanske myndigheder. I 1993 døde Escobar af skud efter en lang politijagt, én dag efter hans 44 års fødselsdag.

Virginia Vallejo García (born 26 August 1949) is a Colombian author, journalist, television and radio director, anchorwoman, model, columnist, socialite, and political asylee in the United States of America.

She is one of the most relevant media personalities of her native country, known for her interviews of presidents, politicians, international celebrities, musicians, authors and scientists. She has been international editor of television newscasts and also anchorwoman, when she won twice the prize as the best anchorperson of Colombia. Her programs for TV Impacto, her own company, obtained the highest ratings compared to her competition. She was image and model of Di Lido pantyhose, with commercials made in Venice, Rio de Janeiro, San Juan, Bogotá and Cartagena de Indias. She has been invited by foreign governments, like Israel and Taiwan, to cover historical events. Virginia was the only Colombian journalist in charge of the radio transmission of the “Wedding of the century” between Charles and Diana, in London, on July 29, 1981, and the first journalist to interview Pablo Escobar in 1983, when he was just an aspiring politician. She also presented other type of programs, like musical shows with the most famous singers and orchestras of her time. Due to her voice, education, beauty and elegance, Vallejo has become an icon of the Colombian media, and thanks to her unique story, a contemporary legend. She is now a bestseller author, translated to many languages.

On 18 July 2006, the DEA took her out of Colombia in a special flight to save her life and cooperate with the Department of Justice in high-profile cases, after she had signaled several Colombian presidents and politicians as beneficiaries or accomplices of the leading cocaine cartels.

In 2007, she published her first book, Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar, which led the Colombian Supreme Court to reopen the cases of the Palace of Justice siege in 1985, and the assassination of the presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán in 1989. The book was translated to fifteen languages and made into a movie in 2018, with the Spanish actress Penélope Cruz in the role of the journalist.

Since 2006, Virginia Vallejo lives in Miami, Florida. In 2009, she became a columnist of a Venezuelan opposition newspaper, and, in 2019, television journalist for the international channel Actualidad RT. On May 1, 2025, she launched her new book, El alucinante País Dorado, the first of a trilogy of novels inspired in the recent history of Colombia and her personal life.