The True Story of Killing Pablo (2002)
Directed, Written, and Produced by David Keane
While I was not expecting this one to be my initial post, here it is. I have spent the past week or so watching various films about Oaxaca, Chiapas, Allende and Pinochet, Fujimori and Noriega, and for whatever reason, this History Channel documentary is the first one I will write about.
Keane has an extensive background producing many TV series and documentary that touch on issues ranging from U.S. foreign relations and prison life in the United States to contemporary issues of the Taliban and Al Queda, and conflicts in Africa and Latin America.
While the ubiquitous Che is a figure that is examined in Keane’s work The True Story of Che Guevara (2007), The True Story of Killing Pablo is a TV documentary that I first caught a glimpse of some years ago while geeking on the History Channel, which was a common activity of mine while I had cable. This hour and a half long film, as long as you’re not watching it on TV, tells the story of the infamous Columbian criminal Pablo Escobar. The film focuses primarily on his demise though it does offer some pretty good arguments as to how exactly Escobar was able to build his empire and maintain such a stronghold on not only the Columbian marijuana and cocaine export sector, but also the nation of Columbia and it’s people as well.
Keane’s work is largely based upon the research and work of Mark Bowden, who appears throughout the documentary. The film’s legitimacy is marked by interviews and accounts from many of the key players in the combined U.S. and Columbian efforts to bring down Esobar, including then U.S. ambassador to Columbia Morris Busby and several leaders of the aptly titled “Search Bloc”, Bloque de Búsqueda, which was a government-sanctioned patrol squad of several hundred soldiers whose sole purpose was to seek out members of the Medellin cartel and, ultimately, to bring them to justice, along with Pablo Escobar, of course. The film also features interviews with high-ranking Columbian governmental officials, many of whom survived assassination attempts by Escobar, as well as a candid interview with Carlos Castaño, a former member of the Medellin cartel AND a former leader of Los Pepes, a paramilitary group that formed to basically terrorize members of Escobar’s family and of the cartel itself is the period leading to Escobar’s demise. Los Pepes later transformed into the AUC, a paramilitary guerrilla group formed in response to FARC, led by Castaño.
Interestingly enough, we also hear from an unnamed gentleman who sits in a shadow and whose voice has been altered. This man tells viewers of the involvement of Delta Force, a special operations force which “may or may not exist” and whose existence has not REALLY been confirmed by the U.S. Department of Defense.
It has been my experience with History Channel documentaries or specials that a sense of mystery and intrigue must accompany the story. Fittingly, the documentary draws to it’s end by discussing Escobar’s fatal head wound. According to accounts of members of the Bloque de Búsqueda who were present at the time of Escobar’s death, Escobar met his demise by way of a gunshot inflicted by a member of the task force. Whether this shot from a distance by way luck or from point blank range as a wounded and helpless Pablo Escobar lie in wait of eventual execution, the evidence presented points to a Columbian being ultimately responsible for bringing an end to the life of the murderous leader of the Medellin cartel. The United States, though not recognizing Delta Force, has accepted responsibility for having trained the Bloque and herein lies the controversy; could it have been a shot from a highly-skilled Delta Force Operator that ended Escobar’s tyrannical reign? The U.S. does not accept responsibility for Escobar’s death and seems to blame it on the Columbians.
This concise and succinct depiction of the events leading to Pablo Escobar’s death is a great example of the breadth and complexity of many issues throughout Latin America. Unfortunately, as is all to often the case, Pablo Escobar’s death did not bring an end to the widespread violence and death in Columbia. As the Medellin cartel crumbled, it opened up the market for the Cali cartel, Medellin’s primary rival. To “pick up the slack” so to speak, other organizations such as the AUC and the FARC began trafficking and picking up where Pablo and Medellin left off. The violence between cartels in Columbia still persists today.
This film raises an interesting thought. It equates active military involvement in Escobar’s death with his assassination attempt of unfavorable presidential candidate, interviewed in the film, in which two U.S. citizens lost their lives. At this point, Escobar became a national security threat and a clear and present danger. While the United States expressed concern about the drug trafficking, it was not until American lives were actually lost that military action was taken. Will this be the eventual situation with the cartels in Mexico? As narco-trafficking cartel violence increases in Mexico, it has yet to significantly spill across the border. While I have speculated for some time as to exactly when the U.S. will become involved militarily with the Mexican cartels, this is a case the case of the Medellin cartel stands to reason.
To wrap up as this has become longer than expected, Keane’s work is a definite must see for Latin Americanists. Though it is a little heavy on the side of the U.S./Columbian depiction of events, something tells me Keane’s may have had some difficulty obtaining interviews from past members of the Medellin cartel. Though it may not be for this blog, another of Keane’s works The True Story of Charlie Wilson is one that I will definitely be on the look out for based upon my opinion of this one.
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