Bringing down the Pablo Escobar tour stigma
“You never know for sure when is the right time to get into a story of this magnitude. Alonso Salazar. The former mayor of the city until 2011 writes in the book “La parábola de Pablo”. Referring to how complex the topic is, Pablo, drugs and all that lies behind this market.
The mayor compiles many testimonies, reviews, versions and lessons from many of the actors who have been part of the drug trafficking conflict: from victims, perpetrators, journalists and Pablo’s own family. In the end the Pablo Escobar tour Medellin is just that: history; and behind these events there are many factors that continue to define the socioeconomic course of the city of Medellín: idiosyncrasy, education (or lack thereof), the way we were raised, corruption, lack of opportunities and the fact that we are a city full of contrasts, as we were once the most violent city (1991) and the most innovative city worldwide (2013).
What are the topics to discuss in the Pablo Escobar tour?
Today we are an example in urbanism and infrastructure, it is a long process. In terms of drugs, the outlook remains similar, Colombia produces four more times coca by 2020 than it did 30 years ago. The national and even international policy, considering the treaty with the United States, has been a failed strategy.
The approach is to get travelers through nearly five decades of history, yielding different perspectives on the topic.
Most of the tour guides are locals and certified guides who tell the history impartially.
Tour guides believe that far from stigmatizing the country or glorifying a character like Pablo Escobar, it is important to understand our culture as a whole, assimilating society, its dynamics, living conditions and policies around drug policies, social housing, education and security. https://www.dw.com/es/los-narco-tours-de-medell%C3%ADn/a-40348220
Most of the tours include the following stops:
- Pablo Escobar grave: a place of contrasts, which calls for reflection and to question what kind of idols we have respect for.
- Cathedral (jail): the prison that never was, today is a monastery that houses more than 50 older adults. It stands out due to the view, mountainous background, nature and native birds. With respect to Pablo Escobar, there is not much to appreciate, since much of the original building changed.
- Pablo Escobar mansion: a memorial park that pays tribute to the brave people who died at the hands of pablo. People used to point these tours outrageous, so the government recently torn it down.
- Neighborhood: a place to understand the point of view of people who got benefited from Pablo .
Different Pablo tours in Medellin
- Napoles tour: probably the most expensive place, due to its distance, and where there is less to see, apart from the landscape, there is not much from the original stuff.
- Pablo Escobar museum: has its touch of controversy, his brother roberto, runs the tour who was in jail 8 years and of whom many tourists say, has secrets that no one else will share yet, he may cross the line where they glorify Pablo.
The Pablo tour is a means of reflection, we start from the past to continue building a better future.