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Entertainment August 21, 2017
Abraca-see ya!
Photo @pixelmovecom via TwitterWe know when you think prison, you probably think barbed wires, aggressive guards and mush for lunch. However, Pablo Escobar’s prison was nothing like that. He basically kept the same amenities he experienced in the world of the free, minus the zoo and his cars. And for reasons still unknown, people called his prison in Medellin, “La Catedral.”
“Narcos” fans got a good glimpse of La Catedral in season two, and it was just as wild as Netflix depicted. However, it didn’t stay that way for long. After Pablo escaped, it ironically became home to hermetic monks, religious pilgrims and low-income senior citizens. But before the property could be reallocated to the holy and vulnerable, it was a war zone for Pablo and the Colombian government during his riveting escape.
Pablo constructed the Cathedral to be a fortress. And we’re not just talking about the building itself; we’re talking about every possible angle to make sure you have an upper hand over your enemies, just in case. What’s even more surprising, though, is that the Colombian government agreed to every bit of it.
Pablo negotiated a huge plot of land that he could use to build himself a prison. Using his own funds, he contacted the people who built prisons in Colombia and handpicked them to do the job. And it was great because this location gave rise to thick layers of fog, which would make him nearly invisible to aerial attacks.
He also insisted on building the prison on a steep hill. This created an angled advantage for assaults and made it easier to spot enemies advancing. He also negotiated a built-in plan to keep his rivals at bay. The only people allowed near the building were the Colombian national police. And even they had to remain at least 12 miles away from Pablo Escobar’s prison at all times.
To top it all off, Pablo Escobar also had a series of machines guns and rifles buried on the premises in a place of easy access. Pablo knew he was in a position of power when he agreed to surrender himself to the government. Because of this, he milked his privilege for everything it was worth.
You certainly don’t get to the top without this type of strategic planning.
Pablo Escobar’s prison housed a number of people: other drug lords, serial killers, politicians, professional soccer players, prostitutes and beauty pageant queens. They all knew Pablo was the king. He footed the bill for the sauna, the bar, a disco room that also acted as a wedding reception hall, big screen TVs, a gym and a billiards room. They got meals from award winning chefs and joined luxurious banquets, all on Pablo’s dime. The lavishness of the prison gave rise to its other names as well, including “Hotel Escobar” or “Club Medellin.”
And undoubtedly, the way things were run in the prison sent a message: everyone was there by Pablo’s grace and patronage. However, as the story usually goes, some people did not like this established hierarchy and refused to fall in line. Due to a conflict of interest of this nature, Pablo murdered Kiko Moncada and Fernando Galeano. This action directly led to the rise of Los PEPES, and it also started the series of events that led to the Colombian government’s raid on La Catedral.
The perfect person to outline Pablo Escobar’s prison escape was his son, Sebastián Marroquín, someone who got an inside look on everything and who Pablo trusted enough to share important information. In his article on the Daily Beast, he explains that Pablo knew about the Colombian government’s plan to move him to a different prison in advance. News spread quickly that not only did Pablo kill both Galeano and Moncada, he was also still running his cartel from the inside. After the American government found out about these things and added pressure to the Colombian government, the Colombian president at the time, César Gaviria, decided to move Pablo to a real prison.
This obviously did not go over well with the king of cocaine. So, naturally, he was ready to hightail it out of there.
On the evening of the big escape, the Colombian army arrived at Pablo Escobar’s prison to escort him. However, Pablo’s hand-picked prison guards pointed their weapons at them and demanded they leave because they were trespassing. And under Pablo’s agreement with the government, this was technically true. However, the army would not leave.
Instead of storming the prison, they sent in the vice secretary of justice, Eduardo Mendoza, and the prison director, Colonel Hernando Navas Rubio.
As always, Pablo first tried reasoning with the men. He might have even offered them a bribe to make it all go away so he could continue his lavish life behind bars. But when both men refused to concede, things quickly escalated.
Shortly after negotiations broke down, Pablo tied up Navas and Mendoza. They acted as the insurance policy that Pablo needed to make it out of his prison alive. If they had the lives of both important men from Bogóta, then they knew the Colombian army wouldn’t storm the prison until they were safely out.
First, the lights went out. The Colombian army got anxious. Their trigger fingers started twitching because they realized the battle started but Navas and Mendoza’s captivity kept their hands tied. Once everything descended into darkness, Pablo Escobar calmly grabbed the men and lead them through the escape route he built during the construction phase. A rigged, weakly mortared wall aided their escape into the night.
Now at a crossroads, Pablo directed his guards to lead Navas and Mendoza out of the perimeter to safety. While this happened, Pablo, his brother Roberto and eight more of Pablo’s men fled into the fog. Soon, a huge bang sounded as the Colombian army tore down the entrance of Pablo Escobar’s jail. They searched every room with their guns ready to plow down anyone in their way.
During the twelve hours it took the army to realize they left, Pablo Escobar and his men safely settled in his Medellin house. They swam in his pool and smoked cigars while “explosions and the commotion of the soldiers who’s stormed the prison” left with nothing but their wounded pride.
Now, according to Tom Griggs from The Airship, monks walk that same land and turned what was left of the building into a church, a cafeteria, a library, a memorial for cartel victims and a refuge for people on pilgrimages. On a wall inside the the new establishment holds a huge photo of Pablo Escobar behind prison bars, wearing a fur hat. Under the photo reads the words, ” Those who don’t know their history are condemned to repeat it.”
