In the city, as well as elsewhere in the South American country, shops and street vendors sell clothing, mugs, keychains, car stickers and other items adorned with Escobar’s name and face, some with the drug lord’s catchphrases like ‘Silver or lead?’ Or ‘There’s a time to fight, and there’s a time to be clever’.
Before Narcos, one of the most streamed Netflix series whose third series got an incredible 27 million viewers just in its first week, his life was also portrayed on cinema screens in at least six hit movies, including Escobar and Loving Pablo, starring Penelope Cruz.
But he also spent his money on improving the lives of people in Medellin, building hospitals, stadiums and housing for the poor, and sponsored local football teams, which also led to the nickname ‘Robin Hood’ and him being elected to the country’s Congress in 1982.
But while public fascination with Pablo Escobar is greater than ever, authorities in his home country still see him as a criminal and mass murderer - responsible for the most violent period in the country’s history.
It would also mean no more ‘Escobar tourism,’ which has led to hundreds of thousands of foreign fans visiting his hometown, Medellin, to see the places that marked the mobster’s life - and death.
