Will Pablo Escobar Memoribilia ban the memory of Pablo Escobar?

The proposed law in the Colombia Congress seeks to ban the sale of goods that celebrate former Lord of Drugs Pablo Escobar. But the opinions are separated on it.

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

His father, also called Gonzalo, was killed in a plane crash this morning.

“I remember leaving and saw my mother and grandmother waiting for me, they were crying,” says Mr. Rohas, who was only 10 years old at the time. “It was a very, very sad day.”

Minutes after take -off, an explosion aboard the Avianca Flight 203 killed 107 passengers and a crew, as well as three people on the ground, which were hit by falling debris.

The blast was no accident. It was a deliberate attack by a bomb by Pablo Escobar and his cartel Medellin.

While the era defined by the drugs of drugs, the attacks, the abductions and the high degree of murder of the sky is largely derived into the past of Colombia, the heritage of Escobar is not the case.

The notorious criminal, killed by security forces in 1993, has achieved almost cult status around the world, immortalized in books, music and television productions such as the Netflix Narcos series.

In Colombia itself, its name and face are decorated with glasses, key chains and T -shirts in tourist shops that take care of curious visitors.

But a proposed law in the Colombia Congress seeks to change this.

The bill wants to ban the goods of ESCOBAR – and that of other convicted criminals – to help put an end to the glorification of a drug boss, which was central to global cocaine trade and is widely held responsible for at least 4,000 killings.

“The difficult problems that are part of our country’s history and memory cannot just be remembered by a T -shirt or sticker sold at a street corner,” says Juan Sebastian Gomez, a member of the congress and co -author of the bill.

The proposed law will prohibit the sale as well as the use and wearing of clothes and objects encouraging criminals, including ESCOBAR. This would mean fines for those who have violated the rules and a temporary stopping of the business.

Many sellers who sell the goods claim a law prohibiting this goods will harm their livelihood.

“This is terrible. We have the right to work and these T -shirts of Pablo, especially always selling well,” says Joanna Montoya, who owns a stall, equipped with a full commodity of Escobar in commune 13, a popular Medellin tourist area.

Medellin, Escobar’s hometown, was known as the “most dangerous city in the world” in the late 1980s and early 90s due to violence related to drugs and armed conflict of Colombia.

Today he is revived at the Innovation and Tourism Center, with suppliers eager to make money in the influx of visitors who want to take home souvenirs – some related to Escobar.

“This Escobar goods benefit from many families here – it supports us. It helps us pay our rent, to buy food, to take care of our children,” says G -ja Montaya, who supports himself and her young daughter.

G -ja Montoya says at least 15% of its sales come from Escobar products, but some sellers tell BBC that it is up to 60% for them.

If the bill is approved, there will be a certain period of time for sellers to familiarize themselves with the new rules and to end their stocks from ESCOBAR.

“We will need a phase of transition so that people can stop selling these products and replace them with others,” explains the Gomez Congressman. He says Colombia has more interesting things to show from the Lords of Drugs, and that the association with Escobar is stigmatizing the country abroad.

Some of the T -shirts sold for about £ 5 carry a catch phrase associated with Escobar – “silver or lead?” This symbolizes the choice that the cartel boss gave to those who pose a threat to his criminal operations: accept bribe or be killed.

The Maria Suarez shop believes that the profit earned by the sales of Escobar goods is not ethical.

“We need this ban. He did terrible things and these souvenirs are things that should not exist,” she says, explaining that she feels uncomfortable that her boss is stocking up Escobar items.

It is believed that Escobar and his cartel Medellin have at one time controlled 80% of the cocaine entering the United States. In 1987, he was named one of the most rich people in the world by Forbes magazine.

He spent some of his wealth in the development of deprived neighborhoods, but many people consider this a tactic to buy loyalty from some segments of the population.

Years since his father’s death, Rohas remembers him as a calm and responsible person who loved his family. For him, the bill is a decisive moment.

“This is a milestone in the way of thinking about what is happening about the commercialization of images of Pablo Escobar to correct it,” says G -Rohas.

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

Mr. Rohas remembers one day many years ago, when he met a man dressed in a green T-shirt with a silhouette of Escobar, and the words “Pablo, President”.

“It caused me such confusion that I couldn’t tell him anything about it,” he says.

“There must be more emphasis on how we deliver different messages to the new generations so that there is no positive image of what is the cartel chief.”

Rohas is actively involved in efforts to change stories around Escobar and drug trade. Along with some other victims, he launched Narcostore.com in 2019, an online store that looks selling items with ESCOBAR.

But none of the products actually exist and when customers choose an element, they are shown a video certificate from a victim. Rohas says the site has attracted 180 million visits from around the world.

In the Colombia Congress, the bill is facing four stages that it has to pass before it can become a law. Gomez says he hopes that he is reflected both inside and outside the congress.

“In Germany, you do not sell Hitler or Swastikas T -shirts. In Italy, you do not sell Mussolini stickers and do not go to Chile and receive a copy of the PINOCHET identity card.

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

Mayor of Medellin – who was also a presidential candidate for the 2022 election – publicly supported the bill, calling the goods “insult to the city, country and victims.”

In El Poblado, a Medelin area, popular with tourists, three Americans are looking at a souvenir stall. One buys a cap with the name of Escobar and the person printed in front. He says he wants a memory of “history”.

But for supporters of the bill, it is not a matter of removing Escobar from history, but about deleting a mythical construction of it, promoting new ways to honor the victims he killed – and recognizing the prolonged pain of the victims left behind.