My father, Pablo Escobar, the most notorious drug lord in history

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Sebastián Marroquín finally feels free. As the only son of the most famous drug lord in history, he has spent the past 17 years hiding his identity — until now.

After his father died in a hail of bullets in Medellín in 1993, the boy christened Juan Pablo fled Colombia with his mother and sister, changed his name to Sebastián Marroquín and eventually settled in Argentina, where he now makes an honest living as an architect. These days, he is a man troubled by the anguish his father caused to millions but one who is working hard to right the past. It has only been in recent months that he has started speaking publicly about the Escobar family’s violent, cocaine clouded legacy.

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The catalyst for his catharsis is My Father, Pablo Escobar, the gripping documentary that traces Marroquín’s journey of reconciliation with the sons of two of Escobar’s most famous victims. The film is already one of the most successful Spanish-language documentaries of all time and has enjoyed sold-out screenings at movie festivals such as Sundance and Amsterdam. It make its premiere on UK screens on More4’s True Stories at 10pm tonight.

“The gift that the film has given me and my family is that the world now sees us with different eyes. Some of the prejudices against the Escobar family have finally disappeared,” says the 33-year-old, whose resemblance to his late father is striking: a beefy frame topped by a curly-haired head offset by puffy cheeks, a double chin and deep-set black eyes. All that is missing is the moustache.

“To be a relative is not the same as being an accomplice. You can’t choose your relatives,” he says.

Pablo Escobar gained notoriety in the 1980s as the planet’s most successful coke peddler, building a billion-dollar global cartel responsible for up to 80 per cent of the world’s cocaine market. As his power and net worth grew — Forbes ranked him as the world’s 7th richest man in 1989 — Escobar applied increasing deadly pressure on those who tried to topple his empire, namely government officials, journalists and rival dealers. Thousands died on his orders: torture, drive-by shootings and car bombs were his favourite methods of doling out death. Despite the gruesome tactics he employed in eliminating his enemies, Escobar remains a hero to many Colombians, a modern-day Robin Hood who showered millions on Medellín’s poor.

Full story: My father, Pablo Escobar, the most notorious drug lord in history – Times Online