In a new documentary, the son of Pablo Escobar shares his experiences of growing up as the child of the most infamous drug lord, describing the contrast between the comforts of his privileged life and its ever-present dangers. Pablo Escobar exerts enormous influence and powers in Colombian drug trafficking and is known for founding the Medellin drug cartel in 1976 to develop a multi-billion-dollar empire, while his family lived with the constant threats of violence.
He recounts in the Escobar by Escobar, a four-part series on Sky Documentaries, a childhood of lavish gifts, designer goods, and a lifestyle few could even imagine: his father had given him his first motorbike when he was four years old. By the time he was 11, there were 27 motorbikes. Just 27!”
Cocaine production in Colombia at that time spanned some 200,000 acres. From Miami alone, ‘My dad earned between 50 and 70 million dollars per weekend,’ he disclosed.
Yet, the shine and glamour were not something that Juan Pablo could simply turn a blind eye on. He is now 44, the same age that his father was when he was murdered, and often reflects on the devastation caused by Escobar.
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“My father wanted to bring chaos to Colombia, and he succeeded,” he said. “He used terrorism as a weapon to bend the government and society to his will.” “When you’re born an Escobar, you have no right to peace or happiness.”
The world was shocked back when Pablo Escobar surrendered to the authorities on a deal that allowed him to build and reside in his own prison, La Catedral. A year later, he busted out of jail and forced his family to hide with him.
Juan Pablo says, “My father asked us to stay with him because we weren’t safe outside. We moved between safe houses, always blindfolded, never knowing where we were, only that we were with him.”
Protection lasted a few months under resilience, as nowhere was deemed safe by the family. Eventually, they sought protection from the Colombian government as Escobar’s enemies fought tooth-and-nail to cut off any potential escape routes.
Juan Pablo recalls their final moments together at Casa Azul: “Before we left, my father hugged me. He wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words. It was the first time I saw him cry.”
Pablo then followed them in his car, honking a few times, before driving away. “That was the last time I saw my father alive,” Juan Pablo reflects. “It felt like a final goodbye.”
Pablo Escobar was shot dead in a hail of bullets almost 16 months after his escape from La Catedral, and his 16-year-old son was left with an uncertain future.
Juan Pablo says, “The day was a very sad day for our family, but then it became the moment in which my fate was sealed. All of a sudden every weapon in Colombia was turned against me.”
In the archival footage, a teenage Juan Pablo is seen swearing out a statement of revenge against his father’s killers—a promise he later regretted.
“He says: Those threats for five seconds turned into 25 years of exile.”
The Escobar family applied for several different states of asylum in various countries but all were turned away. Finally, they fled from Colombia to Mozambique, Brazil, then entered Argentina, where Juan Pablo assumed the identity of Sebastián Marroquín.
