The demolition of a controversial Icon

The last domicile of the Colombian drug Baron Pablo Escobar was a swankier eight-storey white block in the middle of a residential area. In the past few years, the property in Escobar's hometown of Medellín was pretty down. On Friday, a good 25 years after Escobar's violent death, it was blown up. This was part of the question, in what Form is the drug boss will be remembered, revered in Colombia, one of the despised and the other still.

Escobar was shot in December 1993 at the age of 44 years by a Colombian special forces unit on the roof of a residential building in Medellín. Recently, the drug boss, the many years on the Forbes list of the richest people in the world had lived, in the exclusive area of El Poblado. The white bunker-like building with the name Mónaco still wore the traces of a car bomb attack with Escobar warring Cali-cartel in 1988 and fell into disrepair.

Park to honor the victims

The renovation of the former luxury home would have cost eleven million dollars (9.7 million euros). Instead, the city wants to spend rather about two and a half million dollars to build, instead of building a 5000-square-meter public Park to honor the tens of thousands of victims of Escobar and his drug cartel.

In the weeks prior to the demolition of the house was covered facade with numerous posters with photos and texts to a total of more than 46'000 victims in the years 1983 to 1994. "Respect our pain, honor our victims (1983 to 1994)" was one of the Slogans.

Manuel Villa who acts as the representative of the municipality of Medellín to the demolition, described the Mónaco in December as the "Anti-icon". The children in Medellín should not wish for in the future, "you want to Pablo Escobar, if you are big," he said.

drug Lord sowed fear and terror

Indeed, the white building was until recently a place of pilgrimage for Escobar trailer. Even foreign tourists were in the building when the daily sightseeing tours in the district. Escobar is still revered by many Colombians, for example, because many of his drug cartel with earned. In addition, some see him as a patron Saint of the poor, houses for the homeless had built.

However, the drug boss, and sowed fear and terror. Alone from September to December 1989, had Escobar hundreds of car bombs detonate at least 3000 people died at that time. For years, the violence of the drug cartel, the public life in Colombia.

According to the interest shown by the demolition of Escobar's last residence. And so viewers were able to watch the spectacular demolition live, were built around the Mónaco specially grandstands. At 11.53 a.m. (local time 17.53 GMT) on Friday, the eight-story collapsed works of the building then. (anf/afp)

Created: 22.02.2019, 19:25 PM