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Pablo Escobar: Hero Or Villain?

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Pablo Escobar was an infamous Colombian drug lord whose reign lasted from 1975 until his death in 1993. During this period, he has been described in a variety of ways from several historians. He has been depicted as a Robin Hood character, who saved Colombia’s middle and lower classes who felt exploited by their government. A person who used his fame and international prestige to help his people and redistribute wealth to the less fortunate (Bowley 6-7). With regards to Colombian officials and Western perspectives, Escobar was named as a violent criminal by them on several occasions. (Bowley 10). It’s been seen that his internationally recognized cartel, the Medellin cartel has caused plenty of problems for the Colombian government. …show more content…

Out of fear, admiration, or respect, people protected Escobar and knew what he was doing was in their best interest. They had been faced with a corrupt government for decades and Escobar took a martyr role and stood up for them. This double sided representation of Pablo Escobar has been the main reason why people can not seem to categorize him under “villain” or “hero.” It seems that it depends on who you are asking that will give you their opinion on who Escobar was. But one thing can not be debated: Pablo Escobar was not a cartoon character or a fictional piece of literature. He was a real person. One who walked the streets and enjoyed the little things life offered. Was he misunderstood? Possibly. But this man rose from the ashes of La Violencia and made a name for himself and those around him. He made sure to be good to Colombia 's less fortunate and distribute his wealth any way he could. He was a family man and always looked out for his own. But he also took down those who didn’t agree with him and controlled approximately 80% of the world’s cocaine trade during his time leading the Medellin Cartel. And because of this, he paid the price on December 2, 1993, when he was shot and killed by Colombian security forces after being on the run for 16 months (Ambrus

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