Will Colombia Pablo Escobar remember?

A proposed law in Congress in Colombia seeks to ban the sale of goods that celebrate the previous drug Escobar. But opinions are divided on them.

On Monday, November 27, 1989, Gonzalo Rojas was at school in the Colombian capital in Bogota when a teacher removed him from the classroom to provide some devastating news.

His father, who is also called Gonzalo, died in a plane crash that morning.

“I remember my departure and my mother’s vision and grandmother waiting for me, crying,” says only 10 years old at the time. “It was a very sad day.”

Minutes after taking off, an explosion was killed on the Avianca Flight 203 race 107 passengers and crew, as well as three people on the floor who had fallen wreckage.

The explosion was not an accident. It was a deliberate attack by the bomb by Pablo Escobar and Medellín Cartel.

While the era is determined by the wars of drugs, bombings, kidnapping, and the rate of high killing in the sky, it was largely deported to the past of Colombia, the legacy of Escobar did not do so.

The famous criminal, who was killed by the security forces in 1993, achieved a semi -worship -like position around the world, which was immortalized in books, music and TV products such as the Narcos Narcos series.

In Colombia itself, his name and face decorates on cups, key chains and shirts in tourist stores that meet the needs of curious visitors.

But the proposed law at the Colombia conference seeks to change this.

The draft law wants to ban the cargo cargo – and to confront other convicted criminals – to help put an end to the glorification of the drug coach who was a central in the global cocaine trade and a large scale responsibility for at least 4,000 killings.

“It is not possible to simply remember the difficult issues that are part of the history and memory of our country through a shirt, or poster sold at the Street Corner,” says Juan Sebastian Gomez, a member of Congress and co -author of the draft law.

The proposed law will prohibit sale, in addition to using and carrying clothes and elements promoting criminals, including Escobar. This means fines for those who violated the rules, and a temporary suspension of companies.

Many sellers who sell goods demand that a law prohibits these goods will harm their livelihoods.

“This is terrible. We have the right to work, and these are the Pablo shirts that sell well in particular,” says Joanna Monteoya, who has a kiosa full of Escobar’s goods in Comuna 13, a famous tourist area in Medellín.

Midlin, Escobar’s hometown, was known as “the most dangerous city in the world” in the late eighties and early 1990s due to the violence associated with drug wars and armed conflict in Colombia.

It was activated today to a center of innovation and tourism, with the sellers eager to take advantage of the flow of visitors who want to get souvenirs for the home – some of them related to Escobar.

“These crooked goods benefit many families here – it helps us to pay our rent, buy food, and take care of our children,” says Mrs. Montaya, who supports herself and her little daughter.

Mrs. Monteoya says at least 15 % of her sales come from Escobar products, but some sellers tell the BBC that it reaches 60 %.

If the invoice is approved, then there will be a specific time period for sellers to learn about the new rules and gradually get rid of their Escobar shares.

“We need a transitional stage so that people can stop selling these products and replacing them with another,” said Congress member Gomez. Colombia says more interesting things to show it more than the drug princes, and that the relationship with Escobar has resulted in stigmatization of the country abroad.

Some shirts, which are sold at about 5 pounds, bears an exchange phrase associated with Escobar – “Silver or Lead?” This symbolizes the choice by the head of Cartel to those who pose a threat to his criminal operations: accepting a bribe or killing.

The store’s assistant, Maria Suarez, believes that the profit gained from sales of Escobar cargo is not moral.

“We need this ban. He has done terrible things and these souvenirs are things that should not be present,” she says, explaining that she feels uncomfortable because her president stores Escobar elements.

Escobar and Medellin Cartel are believed at one time controlling 80 % of cocaine entering the United States. In 1987, it was called as one of the richest people in the world by Forbes magazine.

Some of his wealth has spent the development of deprived neighborhoods, but many people consider this a tactic to buy loyalty from some of the population sectors.

After years of the death of his father, Mr. Rojas remembers him as a quiet and responsible man, who loved his family. For him, the draft law is a decisive moment.

“It is a milestone on the way about how to think about what is happening in terms of marketing Pablo Escobar’s photos in order to correct it,” says Mr. Rojas.

However, he has criticism about the proposals. He believes that the bill does not focus enough on education.

Mr. Rojas has remembered a few years ago when he met a man wearing a green T -shirt with a silhouette from Escobar, and the words of “Pablo, the President”.

He says: “I have so confused that I couldn’t say anything to him about it.”

“There must be more focus on how to deliver different messages to new generations, so that there is no positive image of the Cartile President.”

Mr. Rojas actively participated in the efforts made to reshape the accounts about Escobar and drug trafficking. Along with some other victims, Narcostore.com launched in 2019, a online store that seems to sell elements of Escobar.

But there is no actual product, and when customers choose an element, a video certificate is displayed from the victim. Mr. Rojas says the site attracted 180 million visits from all over the world.

At the Colombia Conference, the draft law faces four stages that it needs to pass before it becomes a law. Gomez says he hopes to cause a reflection inside and outside Congress.

“In Germany, do not sell Hitler shirts or a swastic cross. In Italy, do not sell Mussolini stickers, do not go to Chile and get a copy of the Pinochet ID card.

“I think the most important thing the bill can do is to generate a conversation as a country – a conversation that has not yet occurred.”

The mayor of Midlin – who was also a candidate for the presidency in the 2022 elections – has publicly supported the draft law, describing the goods as “an insult to the city, the country and the victims.”

In El Poblado, a high -end area in Medellín that is popular for tourists, three Americans browse a booth that extends with souvenirs. A one buys a cover with Escobar and prints on the front. He says he wants to remember “history”.

But for supporters of the bill, this is not related to the removal of Escobar from history, but rather to erase a legendary structure for it, and to enhance new ways to honor the victims who killed them – and to recognize the continuous pain of the victims who left behind.