The proposal is criticized by vendors who sell his merchandise to tourists from around the world, but backed by those who believe the country should shed its image of mafia bosses.
The bill proposes fines of up to $170 for vendors who sell merchandise that depicts Escobar and other convicted criminals, and would enable police to fine those who wear t-shirts, hats and other garments that “exalt” the infamous drug lord.
The proposal has been widely covered by newspapers in Colombia, where Escobar is seen as a murderous figure, linked to one of the most violent periods in the nation’s history.
At the same time, the drug trafficker’s image is also heavily commercialized by locals who are eager to cash in on the growing fascination with the drug lord, among some tourists from North America, Europe and other Latin American countries.
Souvenir vendors in Bogota’s historic La Candelaria neighborhood said they were opposed to the initiative, which has been criticized as attempting to limit freedom of speech.
“I think it’s a dumb law,” said Rafael Nieto, a street vendor who sells magnets, and t-shirts with Pablo Escobar’s face on them, as well as more traditional souvenirs.
Nieto said he would stop selling Escobar merchandise if the bill is approved, to “avoid problems” with police. But he added that members of Colombia’s Congress should instead focus their energies on lowering the city’s crime rate, and let him carry on with his business.
“It’s not a trend that I came up with” Nieto added. “The Mexicans, the Costa Ricans, the Americans, are always asking me for Escobar” merchandise.
Another street vendor, who asked to be identified only as Lorena, said that she has also stocked up on items that depict the drug dealer, such as shot glasses, and magnets, because it is what international tourists are demanding, along with souvenirs depicting coca leaves.
“When you work as a vendor, you try to sell what is most popular,” Lorena said. “Everyone has their own personality, and if there are people who like a murderer, or a drug trafficker, well, that’s their choice.”
Escobar ordered the murders of an estimated 4,000 people in the 1980s and early 1990s, as he established the powerful Medellin cartel and amassed a $3 billion fortune that made him one of the world’s richest people at the time.
The drug lord was gunned down in 1993 on a rooftop in Medellin, as he tried to escape from the search block, a unit of more than 300 police officers backed by DEA agents that was dedicated exclusively to capturing him.…Read more by MANUEL RUEDA Associated Press
