The thing that adds an edge to this neighborhood, however, making it not quite the same as its neighboring barrios, are the massive, proud pop-art murals of Pablo Escobar that adorn the streets, the shrines of the narco that sit in people’s homes and the shared gratitude that these people will seemingly forever have for the infamous, cold blooded capo that tore up Colombia until he met his fate on a Medellin roof top in 1993. PABLO ESCOBAR WINDOWSSalsa music, accordion rhythms and even Miley Cyrus can be heard simultaneously, booming out of various windows and locals wander about getting on with their day catching a bus, walking to school or buying groceries. On either side of the road, narrow passageways with sudden twists and turns drop down or scale upwards navigating between the tightly packed houses. “He is present in our history and memory,” said Wberney Zabala, president of the Community Association and former soldier, adding that “we don’t talk about the supposed bad things about him.”Īt first glance of the main street, the neighborhood is like any other with the characteristic red brick and grey cement houses precariously piling on top of each other up the steep mountain face. In the barrio, the mention of Escobar’s name triggers at least a respectful nod or some sort of mention of gratitude, as opposed to the more customary fed-up-eye-roll at being asked to talk about the widely despised man for the umpteenth time. In this sense Barrio Pablo Escobar, a name ignored by the government, is one of a kind it is a small pocket of roughly 15,000 people in a city of 2.5 million where Escobar continues to be highly esteemed by all members of the neighborhood who felt abandoned by the government. The big difference is the shared sense of inherited affiliation and gratitude that the locals have towards Colombia’s most violent criminal, who was personally responsible for over 4,000 deaths including three Colombian presidential candidates, a justice minister, more than 200 judges, dozens of journalists and more than 1,000 police officers. Originally called “Medellin Sin Tugurios,” or Medellin Without Shanty Towns, Barrio Pablo Escobar is located high up on the eastern slope of Medellin,’s valley and seems very similar to many of the other “barrios” or poorer neighborhoods in the city. But in Barrio Pablo Escobar, the locals regard the notorious drug kingpin as a saint with a “good heart”. Medellin has been making grand efforts to turn its back on its gloomy history associated with the disturbingly violent career of Escobar, emerging as an innovative, forward thinking metropolis. Although Medellin has made great strides in leaving behind the violent history of its most infamous inhabitant, there remains one part of town that heralds the notorious drug kingpin: Barrio Pablo Escobar.
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